Climber and WW1-veteran George Mallory coined the iconic explanation, and Mount Everest, the Reconnaissance is the epic recount of the 1921-expedition where he participated along with A. F. R. Wollaston and Charles Howard-Bury.

Sadly, Mallory died on an Everest-expedition three years later, but he might – or might not – have been the first on top of Everest. That is a fascinating story in itself, which you can read much more about in this really great story in National Geographic.

The goal of the 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition was to explore how it might be possible to get to the vicinity of Mount Everest and to discover possible routes for ascending the mountain.

The mission was a success, as it secured valuable knowledge for future expeditions. For instance, by determining that a good route might be to approach the East Rongbuk glacier via the Rongbuk glacier and then follow the North Col route to the summit.

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Mount Everest, the Reconnaissance, 1921