Into the Silence

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis. As the subtitle describes this is the story of attempted conquest of Everest in the early 1920s by three british expreditions, lead by Mallory and of course not successfull. The story that so many involved in these expeditions were veterans of WW1 is interesting and a major part of the story. The attempt to apply Alpine mountairing techniques to the climbing of the Himalayas is a natural progression for climbers who honed their skills in the Alps. But ultimately was not adequate for the very different conditions of the Himalayas and especially Everest. Technology was tried and started to be perfected, but was not trusted or utilized to its full capabilities. Added to this was the issue of going into countries where it was tough to get permissions, and to areas where Europeans had never been. This is a very thorough narrative and covers everything from travel issues to the class system in the UK at the time that really dictated who was going to be allowed to go on these expeditions.