Bill Gourgey is a Popular Science contributor and unofficial digital archeologist who enjoys excavating PopSci’s vast archives to update noteworthy stories (yes, merry-go-rounds are noteworthy).
A century ago, in May 1924, Popular Science covered one of the earliest attempts to scale Mount Everest. When the story hit magazine stands in 1924, the outcome of the much-anticipated expedition was still unknown. But the team of British explorers was more prepared than any previous expedition team and included Everest climbing veterans like George Mallory. The 1924 feature, republished below this article, offers a glimpse into the early days of extreme mountaineering.
Oxygen, for example, is to be carried to the climbers in tanks to compensate for the deficiency of this life-giving gas in the rarefied air enveloping the upper portions of the mountain. The members of the expedition know that they can climb to within about two miles of the top with relatively little difficulty. They are reasonably certain, after the spectacular feat of Captains Bruce and Finch two years ago, that the most hardy of them can ascend a mile and a half farther.
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