A two-year long project to create replicas of the climbing gear
worn on the 1924 Everest Expedition reached fruition today with the
unveiling of the clothing at an outdoor clothing conference held at
Rheged.
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Mallory's Boots - better
than you might think.
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The project began in 2001 when artefacts found with George Mallory's
body on Everest in 1999 were transferred to the National
Mountaineering Exhibition at Rheged in Cumbria. Experts from four
universities with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the
Pasold Research Fund Ltd cooperated to produce exact replicas of
Mallory's clothing, which can be tested to assess its effectiveness
and performance.
The team expect to be able to disprove the myth that George
Mallory was climbing Everest dressed poorly for the elements. Dave
Brook from the University of Leeds, an expert in analysing textile
performance, tested the materials thoroughly and revealed results
showing that we could learn from the past.
It was no easy task however, team member Vanessa Anderson comments:
"This project involved a lot of detective work to piece together
the past. I used historical sources to determine how these garments
were constructed and tracked down suppliers who could recreate the
fabrics for me- in many cases, the original suppliers such as
Burberry, who wove the cotton gabardine for the jacket, and Smedleys
of Matlock, who produced a replica wool-silk vest.
"What impressed me is the strength and quality of the materials
they used and how well they were tailored to withstand conditions on
Everest."
The four universities involved in the project were Lancaster,
Southampton, Leeds and Derby, where Vanessa Anderson, who
reconstructed the garments as the research project for her MA in
Performance Sportswear Design. The testing of the finished garments
was done by the Performance Clothing Research Centre at Leeds
University's School of Textiles.
We'll be bringing you a firsthand report from the Clothing for
Extremes Conference in the near future.
