1924 Clothing Heads To Everest

If you're an OM regular, you may remember a story a few months back about how researchers painstakingly constructed exact replicas of the clothes used by the 1924 Mallory and Irvine expedition to Everest.

When the results were unveiled at the Clothing For Extremes conference at Rheged, they suggested that the 1924 clothing system - below right - with its multiple layers of wool and sillk were surprisingly well adapated to high altitude mountaineering, offered adequate insulation and weatherproofing and were less bulky and easier to move in than many modern alternatives such as those modelled by high altitude climbing specialist, Alan Hinkes.

Now the replica clothing is to be tested in real conditions when Graham Hoyland - a mountaineer and one of the team who discovered Mallory's body - returns to Everest next year. It's the ultimate test of the clothing system, in real conditions.

Hoyland, who believes that Mallory and Irvine succeeded in climbign the mountain, told the BBC: '"I guess I will find it much easier to move across the terrain, but I imagine the wind will be really cutting."

Full story on at news.bbc.co.uk