FIRST ON EVEREST

Hoyland writes with rare authority empathy and insight delivering a vital and beautifully told biography long overdue Sir Chris Bonington renowned British mountaineer Hoyland eloquently charts Somervell s rise through science art and religion to become a mountaineer of the highest repute Brian Hall Boardman Tasker Prize judge and author of High Risk Climbing to Extinction The pioneers who attempted the first climbs of Mount Everest in 1922 and 1924 knew nothing about the mountain other than its height They had to learn the hard way about the lack of oxygen the jet stream winds the illnesses of altitude and the vital importance of the Sherpas They fought cerebral oedema frostbite hypothermia and raging thirst in the cold thin air They had to find a route avoid avalanches and work out what to do when confronted by an insurmountable rock climb at extreme altitude Many of them died Howard Somervell was Mallory s closest friend on the mountain during those groundbreaking first ascents An exceptionally gifted man his life takes us far beyond the mountain he had a double first from Cambridge was a talented artist and an accomplished musician He served as a surgeon at the Battle of the Somme during the First World War and was one of the