1935 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition
After exceptionally rancorous arguments involving the Mount Everest Committee in London, Eric Shipton was appointed leader following his successful trekking expedition to the Nanda Devi region in India in 1934.
However, a very large number of lesser peaks were climbed for the first time and a southern route up the Western Cwm was identified as a possible line of approach if Nepal could ever be persuaded to change its policy of not admitting climbers.
Eventually, the expedition would have considerable influence on post-war British efforts on Everest from Nepal, with Shipton himself leading the 1951 southern reconnaissance.
The mild-mannered Ruttledge (who was 50 years old and walked with a limp) took the brunt of the criticism and in March 1934 his offer to resign from the leadership was accepted by the committee which expressed its regret and said it was in any case unlikely there would be an expedition in the near future.
Unable to continue with Ruttledge but unwilling to appoint Crawford, who many on the committee saw as the cause of the trouble, as late as March 1935 the leadership was being offered to at least seven other people, all of whom declined.
[2] Eric Shipton had been to Himalaya when he had taken part in the 1933 Everest expedition after which he and Lawrence Wager had travelled back to Sikkim separately from the rest of the party using an entirely unexplored route.
[5][6] Shipton and Tilman started planning a return trip for 1935, this time hoping to reach Nanda Devi's summit by its South Ridge.
In February 1935, before that trip had been started, Shipton spoke about Nanda Devi at a Royal Geographical Society meeting and received a "rapturous" reception by a large audience who was attracted as much by his charisma as his mountaineering achievements.
[7][note 2] Following Tibet's unexpected offer, the Mount Everest Committee decided on an attempt on the summit for 1936 but preceded by a reconnaissance in the current year.
[12] Tilman initially regretted having to abandon the Nanda Devi summit attempt but Shipton persuaded him by the lightweight exploratory nature of what was being planned.
He consulted a nutritionist at the Lister Institute to determine an efficient diet producing 4000 Calories a day in conjunction with locally sourced food.
Lentils, dried vegetables and powdered milk were on the menu with the addition of cod liver oil along with ascorbic acid and ferrous sulphate tablets.
[13] This contrasted with the caviare, foie gras, quails' eggs and lobster of 1933 and even Shipton later admitted "In 1935 I went rather too far the other way: it was bad policy to force people who were quite unused to rough food to make such a complete break with their normal diet.
With the help of Karma Paul, who had been on all the Everest expeditions since 1922, they engaged fourteen Sherpas but Shipton decided he needed perhaps a couple more and a nineteen-year-old was selected.
The party headed north through Sikkim into Tibet and then travelled west towards Everest on a route through Sar – further south and nearer to Nepal than earlier expeditions had used.
[15][17] Earlier from Nyonno Ri they had had a fine view of Everest in unusually good weather conditions and it has since been speculated that, had they made a dash for the summit, they might have succeeded.
[20] While moving camp III slightly higher they discovered the remains of Maurice Wilson, the eccentric British solo climber who had died in 1934.
[18] They went on to set up camp next to a food dump that had been left in 1933 – Carlsbad plums from Fortnum and Mason and chocolate were now added to the menu much to the relief of most of the party.
[18][22] On 16 July they started to descend from the Col.[18] Reaching the traverse they found there had been an immense avalanche which had carried away both old and new snow to a depth of about 6 feet (2 m) and this showed that their ascent had actually been very hazardous.
[note 6] Looking down to the Western Cwm in Nepal Shipton thought this might provide a route worth exploring for a southern attempt on Everest's summit.
When Shipton was assembling his team for the 1951 Everest reconnaissance he received an application from an unknown New Zealander at a time when British climbers were strongly favoured.
