How would it feel to climb in exact replicas of the clothing used
by Mallory and Irving on Everest in 1924? That's the question posed
by Graham Hoyland in this week's Times.
Hoyland, the great nephew of Howard Somervell, one of the 1924
Everest expedition team, has now been to the mountain some eight
times in an effort to work out whether the pair could have climbed
the mountain.
The one factor he felt he hadn't considered was the effectiveness
of the team's clothing and equipment, so this spring he returned
using exact replicas of the clothing created by a research project
and founded by the Mountain Heritage Trust - see previous articles
linked below.
The 1924 clothing - pictured above, right - consisted of layers of
natural fibres like silk, wool and cotton. Hoyland remarks that
despite wearing eight layers of material around his waist, 'it all
felt warm, light and comfortable'.
He goes on to conclude that the clothing certainly wasn't an
impediment to climbing the mountain and gave him great insulation
combined with excellent freedom of movement. However he speculates
that while the 1924 kit is fine for active use, there's no way it
would be up to an overnight emergency bivvy on the mountains and this
may be how Irvine met his end.
Interesting stuff, you can find it at www.timesonline.co.uk
Heroic Dose
