Fearless on Everest: The Quest for Sandy Irvine

by Julie Summers

  When I came to write about Sandy’s rowing career it became obvious that I needed a great deal of guidance. Richard Owen, a rower and mountaineer, claims he was inspired at Shrewsbury by the example of Sandy. He spent a whole day coaching me in the art of writing about rowing and another day rowing me up and down the course at Henley in the middle of the 2000 Regatta. I am deeply indebted to him.

  When I began to uncover material on Sandy’s life it all needed documenting and photographing. David Piper has been marvellous in taking many of the photographs of the original material for inclusion here. I gave him horrendous deadlines and he always seemed to meet them. I owe him many thanks and wish him well in his retirement which I hope wasn’t precipitated by my onerous requests. Another key person was Flora Nell who worked tirelessly with me on this project from November 1999 and I have appreciated her support enormously, both from the point of view of research, her criticism during the formation of my ideas, and her efficient and methodical help in presenting the text. It was a race at the end to see whether the book would be finished before her baby son was born. Thomas won by nine days.

  I could never have written this book without the help and support of my immediate family and closest friends. My husband Chris and my three sons, Simon, Richard and Sandy have been endlessly patient and I love them very much. Janice Haine and her daughter Daisy have been wonderful in keeping my three boys entertained, fed and the house in order while I have been hiding away upstairs writing. I will miss Jan’s friendship when we move to Oxford. To Deborah Kearns and Maggie Syversen I say a very big thank-you for keeping me sane and giving me support whenever I needed it. I was advised to write the book ‘to’ someone and it was to these two friends that I turned my thoughts and pen. Carolyn Butler and Nicola James have also helped me more than they could have imagined.

  My editor, Ion Trewin, made a great leap of faith when he agreed to take responsibility for publishing this book. I feel very honoured to have had the chance to work with him. His patience and kindness with me have been greatly appreciated. His editorial team at Weidenfeld & Nicolson includes Alison Provan and Alice Chasey: I thank them for their input as well. Simon Adams copy-edited the book and did a marvellous job for which I am most grateful.

  There are many other people who have helped me with the research for this book. I worked last summer on an exhibition at Shrewsbury School in honour of Sandy’s memory and learnt a great deal from Stephen Holroyd, housemaster of Severn Hill and I thank him for all the information he made available to me. At Merton College Library I met and worked with Sarah Bendall and Fiona Wilkes, who were extremely generous with their time and advice. Roger Barrington braved the PRO and British Library archives on my behalf and unearthed some important material for me, for which I owe him a big thanks. At Magdalene College, Cambridge librarians Dr Richard Luckett and Aude Fitzsimmons were very kind in allowing me to read Mallory’s letters from the 1920s. At the Alpine Club I had the help and assistance of Margaret Ecclestone and Bob Lawford; and at the Royal Geographical Society of Huw Thomas and Joanna Scadden.

  Graham Hoyland at the BBC offered great encouragement when I said I was going to write the book and has been hugely generous in sharing his own Everest experiences with me. When the 2000 search was taking place on the mountain he made a very great effort to keep in touch about the goings-on in Tibet and I am profoundly grateful for his respect for Sandy’s memory.

  In North Wales my father and I learned a great deal from meetings with Andrew Hinchliffe in Llanfairfechan and Peter Wilson in Llandyrnog and I am most grateful for their time and information.

  Other people have played a more personal role in this book, sharing memories and material, reading drafts and I thank them all very much indeed, in particular Russell Brice, Anne Cooksey, Gill Drake, Elizabeth Irvine, Jenny Irvine, Marjorie Irvine, Christopher and Libby Milling, Fiona Morrison, Sheila Pearson, Vera Steele, Rebecca Stephens, Mark Summers and Patrick Toosey.

  Finally, much of this book is the result of a very happy and productive partnership between myself and my father, Peter. His unstinting support and absolute faith in my abilities is hugely appreciated. He chased librarians, churchwardens, archivists and family members on my behalf. More than anything else, however, we have had such fun working together and I could not have teased out half the stories I have about Sandy without his participation, patience, humour and brilliant mind.

  Abraham, George & Abraham, Ashley; Rock Climbing in North Wales G. P. Abraham 1906

  Ashcroft, Robin; The Long Routes: Mountaineering rock climbs in Snowdonia and the Lake District Mainstream Publishing Company Edinburgh 1999

  Beerbohm, Max; Zuleika Dobson Penguin Books

  Boukreev, Anatoli & DeWalt, G. Weston; The Climb St. Martin’s Press, New York 1997

  Breashears, David & Salkeld, Audrey; Last Climb National Geographic, Washington D.C. October 23 1999

  Burnell R D; The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race 1829-1953 Oxford University Press 1954

  Carr, Herbert; The Irvine Diaries Gastons-West Col Publications, Britain 1979

  Clarke, Peter; Hope and Glory: Britain 1900-1990 Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, London 1996

  Coburn, Broughton; Everest National Geographic Society

  Cowburn Philip; A Salopian Anthology: Some impression of Shrewsbury School during four centuries, MacMillan, London 1964

  Davis, Robert H; Breathing in Irrespirable Atmospheres and, in some cases, also Under Water The Saint Catherine Press, London

  Dawson H N; Shrewsbury School Register Volume II 1908-1958, Wilding & Son, Shrewsbury 1964

  Eriksen, Stein; Come Ski with Me edited by Martin Luray published by Frederick Muller Ltd, Fleet Street, London 1966

  Firstbrook, Peter; Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine BBC Worldwide 1999

  Gillman, Peter and Leni; The Wildest Dream, Headline London 2000

  Harrer Heinrich; Seven Years in Tibet Flamingo London 1994, first published in German in 1993

  Hemmleb, Jochen & Johnson, Larry A. & Simonson, Eric R.; Ghosts of Everest The Mountaineers Books, Seattle 1999

  Holzel, Tom & Salkeld, Audrey; The Mystery of Mallory & Irvine Pimlico, Revised edition 1996

  Irvine Lyn; So much Love, So little Money Faber and Faber, 1956

  Krakauer, Jon; Into Thin Air Macmillan Publishers, Great Britain 1997

  Lunn, Arnold; The Bernese Oberland George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London 1973

  Lunn, Arnold; The British Ski Year Book 1924 The Federal Council of British Ski Clubs, London 1924

  Lunn, Arnold; Mountains of Memory Hollis and Carter, London 1948

  Lytton, the Earl of; Antony (Viscount Knebworth) A record of Youth Peter Davies, London 1935

  MacNeice, Louis; The Strings are False Faber & Faber, London 1965

  Mallaby, George; From My Level Hutchinson & Co. London 1965

  Mantovani, Roberto, et al; Everest: The History of the Himalayan Giant Mountaineers Books 1997

  Messner, Reinhold; The Crystal Horizon The Crowood Press, Great Britain 1989 translated by Jill Neate and Audrey Salkeld

  Noorden, SB van & Monkhouse, Patrick (Ed); Oxford and Cambridge Mountaineering 1924 The Holywell Press Oxford

  Norton, E F et al; The Fight for Everest: 1924 Edward Arnold & Co London 1925

  Pendlebury W J & West J M; Shrewsbury School: Recent Years Wilding & Son, Shrewsbury 1934

  Pevsner Nikolaus & Hubbard Edward; The Buildings of England: Cheshire Penguin Books 1971

  Pevsner Nikolaus & Sherwood Jennifer; The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire Penguin Books 1974

  Pye, David; George Leigh Mallory Oxford University Press 1927

  Redhead, Brian & Gooddie, Sheila; The Summers of Shotton Hodder & Stoughton 1987

  Ross, Gordon; The boat race: The story of the first hundred races between Oxford and Cambridge, Hodder & Stoughton, London 1954

  Simpson, Joe; Touching the Void Vintage 1997

  Smith L C; Annals of Public School Rowing Blackwell, Oxford 1920<
br />
  Somervell, H; After Everest, Hodder & Stoughton, London 1936

  Strutt ,E L; The Alpine Journal vol XLVI No 249, November 1934

  Younghusband, Sir Francis; The Epic of Mount Everest Edward Arnold & Co, London, 1926

  From journals and specialist publications I have used the following articles:

  The Geographical Journal

  December 1924

  Bruce, Brig. Gen. C. G.; The Organisation and Start of the Expedition pp 434-36

  Bruce, Cap. J. G.; The Journey through Tibet and the Establishment of the High Camps pp443-50

  Norton, Col. E. F.; The Personnel of the Expedition pp 436-43

  Ibid; The Climb with Mr. Somervell to 28,000 Feet pp 451-55

  Odell, N. E.; The Last Climb of Mallory and Irvine pp 455-61

  Vol 90 1937

  Warren, Dr CB; The Medical and Physiological Aspects of the Mount Everest Expeditions pp 126-147

  Alpine Journal

  Vol. 35, 1923

  Longstaff, Dr TG; Some Aspects of the Everest Problem pp 57-68

  Finch, George Ingle; Equipment for High Altitude Mountaineering, with Special Reference to Climbing Mount Everest pp. 68-74

  Vol.37, 1925

  Norton, EF; The Problem of Mount Everest pp. 1-19

  Vol. 44, 1934

  Smythe, F S; Everest: The Final Problem (correspondence) pp 442-446

  Odell, NE; The Ice Axe Found on Everest (correspondence) pp 447-449

  Vol 51, 1939

  Finch, George Ingle; Oxygen and Mount Everest pp 89-90

  Oxford & Cambridge Mountaineering 1924

  Obituary Notices; Irvine, pp 33-37, Mallory pp 38-41

  The British Ski Year Book

  Vol 2, 1924

  Lunn, Sir Arnold; In Memoriam pp 368-372

  Table of Contents

  Foreword

  Family Tree

  Prologue

  A Family Legend

  No Soap in the Bath

  Into the Blue

  The Fight with Everest

  Walking on Metaphorical Air

  Bound for Darjeeling: The Tittle Tattle of Travel

  Under the Finest Possible Auspices: The Trek Across Tibet

  Trust in God and Keep Your Powder Dry

  Going Strong for the Top

  In The Shadow of The Peak

  Epilogue

  APPENDIX 1

  APPENDIX 2

  Postscript 2001

  Acknowledgements

  Bibliography