A tricky descent

20th May 1924

When Sandy met Norton, Mallory, and Odell, he was informed of the many obstacles and difficult descent they had had to face. In typical Sandy style, he seems to gloss over how hard their mission must have been, as he notes in his diary: 'They had a pretty exciting time coming down. Norton glissading out of control and George going down a crevasse unseen and unheard by the rest. All were very tired when they got in'. 

This seems, however, a misunderstanding, as those descending had just had to face a very difficult moment. Norton, Odell, Mallory and Lhakpa Tsering had made their way up from Camp III that morning, equipped with Alpine rope and pickets. Their intention was to fix ropes in all the most difficult places on the climb up to the North Col where they would then establish Camp IV, the true jumping-off point for any summit attempt. They were confronted by a series of difficulties, which included getting past a crevasse by climbing an icy chimney. They succeeded to find their 1922 camp and a new, easier access to the col, but, by that point exhausted, they had a tricky descent, with a few accidents that might have been fatal, including Lhakpa slipping and Mallory falling into a crevasse.