A little history...
The north side of Everest is steeped in history with multiple attempts throughout the 1920’s and 1930's. The first attempt was by a British team in 1921. Mallory led a small team to be the first human to set foot on the mountains flanks by climbing up to the North Col (7003m). The second expedition, that of 1922 reached 27,300 ft before turning back, and was the first team to use supplemental oxygen. It was also on this expedition that the first deaths were reported when an avalanche killed seven Sherpas.
The 1924 British expedition with George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine is most notable for the mystery of whether they summited or not. If they did summit, that would precede Tenzing and Hilary by 29 years. Mallory’s body was found in 1999 but there was no proof that he died going up or coming down thus the importance of finding the camera and potential photos of a summit.
It was a Chinese team who made the first summit from Tibet on May 25, 1960. Nawang Gombu (Tibetan) and Chinese Chu Yin-Hau and Wang Fu-zhou who is said to have climbed the Second Step in his sock feet, claimed the honor. However without a summit photo, many doubted the summit claim. In 1975, a successful summit was claimed by the Chinese when the ladder on the Second Step was installed.
Tibet was closed to foreigners from 1950 to 1980 preventing any further attempts until a Japanese team summited in 1980 via the Hornbein Couloir on the North Face.
But it is who summited first that dominates Everest folklore. Was it Mallory and Irvin in 1924, or Tenzing and Hillary as we know in 1953. Some even speculate it was British climber, Maurice Wilson in 1933.
With the mystery dominating Everest gossip for almost a century, teams have looked in vain for positive proof of a 1924 summit. There have been valiant efforts throughout the years. In 1933, Irvine’s wooden ice axe was found in the fall line of the climber’s last known route. A Chinese porter reported seeing an “an english dead” in 1960 but there were no pictures.
Then in 1999, a team led by IMG founder Eric Simonson conducted a serious search. Conrad Anker found Mallory’s body on the north side below the Chinese reported location. Neither Irvine’s body nor the camera was located. Simonson returned in 2001 to look for the camera, without success. It was the classic needle in the haystack search complicated by snow cover.
While the discovery of Mallory’s body created excitement throughout the climbing world, it did not provide any evidence of a summit. In fact it just fueled the speculation.
The north side started to attract more climbers in the mid 1990s and today is almost as popular as the South side when the Chinese allow permits. In 2008 and 2009, obtaining a permit was difficult thus preventing many expeditions from attempting any route from Tibet.
The Northeast ridge route
The northeast ridge route begins from the north side of Everest in Tibet. Expeditions trek to the Rongbuk Glacier, setting up Base Camp at 5,180 m (16,990 ft) on a gravel plain just below the glacier. To reach Camp ABC (Advanced Base Camp), climbers ascend the medial moraine of the east Rongbuk Glacier up to the base of Changtse at around 6,100 m (20,000 ft). Camp I is situated below the North Col at 6,500 m (21,300 ft). To reach Camp II on the north col, climbers ascend the glacier to the foot of the col where fixed ropes are used to reach the North Col at 7,010 m (23,000 ft). From the North Col, climbers ascend the rocky north ridge to set up Camp III at around 7,775 m (25,500 ft). The route crosses the North Face in a diagonal climb to the base of the Yellow Band reaching the site of Camp IV at 8,230 m (27,000 ft). From Camp IV, climbers will make their final summit push. Climbers face a treacherous traverse from the base of the First Step: 27,890 feet (8,500 m) – 28,000 feet (8,500 m), to the crux of the climb, the Second Step: 28,140 feet (8,580 m) – 28,300 feet. (The Second Step includes a climbing aid called the "Chinese ladder", a metal ladder placed semi-permanently in 1975 by a party of Chinese climbers. It has been almost continuously in place since, and ladders have been used by virtually all climbers on the route.) Once above the Second Step the inconsequential Third Step is clambered over: 28,510 feet (8,690 m) – 28,870 feet (8,800 m). Once above these steps, the summit pyramid is climbed by means of a snow slope of 50 degrees, to the final summit ridge along which the top is reached.
