Norton and Somervell establish Camp VI at 27,000 ft

4th June 1924

The rumour that Norton and Somervell were returning to the North Col turned out to be untrue and Sandy wrote in his diary for 4 June, ‘Mallory and I prepared for our oxygen attempt but shortly after breakfast a porter came down to say that N and S had established Camp VI at 27,000 ft and stayed the night there. Great was the excitement in the Camp.’ Noel had his telephoto lens trained on the summit all day but could see no sign of the climbers. Finally, shortly before midday, Mallory and Sandy ‘put the worst aspect on things and decided to go up the NC and be ready to fetch sick men down or make an oxygen attempt ourselves a day later.’ As they climbed they breathed oxygen, using 1.5 litres per minute, and Sandy was pleased to note that it slowed his breathing down at least three times: ‘George and I both arrived at the camp very surprisingly fresh’. Odell, at Camp IV, had been scanning the mountain all morning with binoculars but had seen no trace of Norton and Somervell. Mallory took over the watch and believed that he could see downward tracks some 700 feet below the summit. Sandy could hardly contain his feelings and dashed to his diary to note, ‘I hope they’ve got to the top, but by God I should like to have a whack at it myself.'

While Sandy was at the same time hopeful and envious, Norton and Somervell were facing a series of difficulties, starting with a leaking thermos flask delaying their departure. When they reached the Yellow Band, at about 27,500 feet, they noted a big change in their breathing, as at this altitude their pace slowed dramatically as they were gasping eight or even nine breaths per step. Somervell was struggling to breath, and at 28,000 feet he sat down, understanding that he could not move further. Norton slowly kept going, but he had trouble placing his feet and was developing snowblindness. At 28,126 he decided to go back to Somervell, and the two slowly and painfully made their way down to Camp VI, where they collected their belongings and collapsed the tents, to then proceed to Camp V. But Somervell was moving more and more slowly, and at some point Norton had to wait for him for half an hour. When the pain became too much, he self-performed chest compressions to try and unblock his breathing, and spat out a frostbitten part of his larynx. They finally reached the North Col where Mallory and Odell went towards them to help.