London, 1937, 1st edition. 307 pp, 35 plates. The first 'personal' expedition book. Neate says, 'One of his best books, with its revelations of his experiences at the highest camp and his solo attempt on the summit, one of the greatest efforts in Everest history.'
Following that success he was invited to join the 1933 British Mount Everest Expedition during which he climbed to 28,200 feet on the north side of the mountain without oxygen.
This account of the 1933 Everest expedition has long been regarded as one of the great classics of climbing literature. It also benefits from Smythe’s skills as a photographer and his stunning photographs enliven the book.
It also gives an account of the discovery of the ice axe that could only have been Mallory’s or Irvine’s and in a way was responsible for the feverish speculation as to whether they did summit and also the constant searches that have been made for Mallory’s body and now Sandy Irvine’s.
The title “Camp six” refers to the highest camp that the expedition managed to put up. It is coming down from Camp Six that Smythe reported what many believe to be UFOs.
Camp Six was at 27,400 feet. Smythe and Eric Shipton attempted the summit from there. Fierce blizzards beset their ascent hindering their progress and sapping their strength. Shipton was forced to quit and return lower down. Smythe was on his own. He tried to struggle on but wisely realised his strength was no longer there. He turned back to join Shipton at Camp Six. On his way down he reported seeing in his own words:
“I saw two dark objects floating in the sky. In shape they resembled kite balloons, and my first reaction was what on earth kite balloons could be doing near Everest…They were bulbous in shape and one possessed what looked like squat, underdeveloped wings, whilst the other had a beak-like protuberance like the spout of a tea kettle. But what was most weird about them was they distinctly pulsated with an in-and –out motion as though they possessed some horrible quality of life.”
It is a fascinating account at contrast with the rather dull official account by Ruttledge in “Everest 1933.” It does focus on relationships and the real pain and suffering of high altitude mountaineering as few books have. Indeed Smythe looks back with hindsight and asks “did we really have such an unpleasant time in 1933?”
