Letters from Everest: A First-Hand Account from the Epic First Ascent

by George Lowe

Sixty years after the first ascent of Mount Everest, this unique book of letters celebrates, in a very personal way, this most majestic of mountains. With exclusive access to the private archives of pioneering New Zealand climber George Lowe, this is a welcome tribute to an unsung hero. The conquest of Everest in the summer of 1953 was one of the twentieth-century's greatest triumphs of exploration. George Lowe's exploits on the mountain would become legendary. He was one of the lead climbers, forging the route up Everest's Lhotse Face without oxygen, and later cutting steps for his partners up the summit ridge. In this touching book, a trove of unpublished letters from the Lowe collection are brought together for the first time, to describe the day-by-day moments of this historic expedition as never before. In clear and elegant prose, this is a unique testimony of a superlative human achievement.

Genres: Travel, Audiobook, Mountaineering, Nonfiction, History

176 pages, Hardcover

First published May 28, 2013

Reviews

[Gerald Sinstadt]

Letters from Everest is exactly that: a collection of unedited letters written back to family in New Zealand by George Lowe, a member f the 1953 expedition led by John Hunt that first conquered the world's highest peak.

It is not only about climbing at altitude, its techniques and dangers. It also deals with the logistics of portering tons of equipment, of relationships between the thirteen westerners and their large body of sherpas, of the extremes resorted to by competing journalists, and of the political sensitivities involving, Nepal, Tibet and an India still hungover with resentment of the days of the raj. And it is not without humour.

Lowe's style is never flowery but it conveys a vivid sense of an unprecedented and perilous adventure. His disappointment at not being chosen for the final assent is clear but never descends into bitterness. Lowe was in the immediate line of support on the great day, the first to hear the news as Edmund Hilary and Tensing began their descent. "Well," said Hilary, "we knocked the bastard off." The reader is left with the clear understanding that this was a great triumph of teamwork.

The book came to me as a present. I have no interest in mountaineering but I was gripped from first to last by the combination of Lowe's understated eloquence and the complementary skill of Dan Stevens, reader of the audio version. Separated by sixty years, they are a brilliant partnership.

[Shaun Barnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scared of heights, and with his left arm virtually devoid of muscle – the result of a bad break followed by several operations – the young George Lowe was an unlikely candidate to become a mountaineer. But a holiday job at the Hermitage, Mt Cook, saw him graduate from bottle-washer to glacier guide, and it was there he also met Ed Hillary – on a bus. The two resolved to climb together, beginning a partnership that famously took them both onto the upper slopes of the world’s highst mountain.

While still learning their craft in the Southern Alps, mention of the Himalayas first came up in conversation. Ensconced in Haast Hut during a five-day storm in about 1950, the pair grew bored with playing draughts on a makeshift piece of cardboard, using lumps of carrot and parsnip. Talk turned to higher mountains, and the young mountaineers resolved to set their sights on the Himalaya. Lowe and Hillary teamed up with Earle Riddiford, and largely thanks to the latter’s great drive and organisational ability, the first New Zealand Himalayan expedition resulted in 1951. Success on that trip later led to Lowe and Hillary’s inclusion in the 1953 British Everest expedition.

Instead of writing many short letters to family and friends Lowe took the novel approach of penning long, detailed letters, which were sent to his sister in New Zealand, who laboriously copied them out for wider dispatch. The result is a unique collection of letters, which because they were written in the moment and not in retrospect, have a rare freshness and immediacy. Lowe’s sense of humour shines through, and often it’s the most amusing observations that he takes trouble to record. For example: ‘Later John Hunt and Mike Westmacott came up with butterfly nets and began chasing butterflies. They are collecting specimens for the British Museum. It was fun watching them stalking up to a shrub with a net poised – it seemed incongruous that these hardy mountaineers should be such crack-pot looking butterfly catchers.’

Lowe gives readers insights into the trials and triumphs of expedition life, from the excitement of seeing the big peaks on the approach march: ‘Yesterday I got my first view of the snows. We crossed a little pass on the walk in – the valleys are full of green spring growth – and then Michael and I spotted simultaneously the peaks; incredibly high and blurred by haze away behind. The outline of these Nepal peaks is quite fantastic. There are no rounded mountains here. They jut and sweep up with quite exciting angles – always fluted with ice channels and looking from a distance quite impossible. It was a thrill to look at these hills. If I came 20 times I would still get a kick out of the looking.’

As Huw Lewis-Jones, historian and friend of Lowe’s, writes in the introduction, these previously unpublished letters ‘describe the day-to-day moments of this historic expedition as never before. They provide us with a rare glimpse of private hopes and very public achievements.’

At Advanced Base camp on 22 May 1953, Lowe described the final assault: ‘The big push is underway. The excitement here is terrific. … Right now we look up at the Lhotse Face and see 17 people like ants crawling across the traverse to the South Col. They are about 26,000 ft now! Think what a triumph this is. Today we establish South Col with our main strength down here ready to put in the tremendous final punch. Seventeen people with 30 lb loads, already as high as Annapurna, the highest ever climbed.’

George Lowe’s Letters from Everest provide real delight.

[Luba · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains letters from George Lowe, who was part of the expedition party of the first successful ascent of Everest, together with Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Given his role as a key supporting member, his letters relay much of the honest excitement and struggle encountered en route as well as the party's reception following their success. As a non-climber, I found these fascinating and accessible to read - the letters were destined for family back home so are easily readable of a variety of audiences.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst two made it to the top, so many more played an enormous role facilitating the climb, the victory. The extent of teamwork and friendship shines through in these down to earth fact filled letters home. It’s a beacon, a measure for teams of all sizes attempting to deliver outcomes of all heights, to set their buoys by.

“It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
Sir Edmund Hillary

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshingly non-egotistical account of the first ascent of Everest.

[Cate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. It combines my three favourite things--adventure stories, mountaineering, and letter writing.

[Ellie Cripps · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's not really anything to review here, it's a collection of letters from a seriously interesting period of history, that's it. Worth a read but don't imagine there's anything else here!

[S'hi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read a number of books about Mount Everest over the years, there is something refreshing about this collection of letters where the writer does not even know the outcome of his venture as they are sent out. Rather than being edited to fit into a known frame, they are full of the excitement, frustration and anticipation of the group on the first successful climb to the top.
Details of equipment being tested along the way, as much as the testing of the endurance of the climbers, make this the benchmark against which so much further endeavour can be compared.
George Lowe was such a good writer to be able to capture the experience “as he went”, making this a delightful read. As well as physical endurance, scientific research and descriptive scenes and weather conditions, there are aspects of politics and media management that had to be handled as well. A reminder of what being an all-rounder might mean when teamwork requires flexibility as well as deep specific skills.
Everest may be a long way to go for perspective, but the experience creates an enduring legacy as this small volume attests.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

My love for this knows no bounds. I was moved to tears on several occasions as George described the stages of the journey and the team effort that lead to two men finally reaching the top of Everest. His precise, detailed and personal letters give such an insight into the climb it feels like he is taking you up with him as he goes. His feelings about his team members, about the political decisions and implications of who should reach the top, of the journalist's war for a scoop on the ascent... everything was fascinating.

Besides which the audioversion is read by Dan Stevens who has the most gorgeously, resonant voice and lends such character to the letters, I could have listened forever.

[Susan Fehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A jolly good read.

Excellent letters (and well edited,too, without too much foreword and blah blah) from the 1953 successful Everest attempt. As important as the climb is and was, the consequences should not be forgotten, either. George Lowes letters about the media frenzy and the political capital made out of the climb show that some things just dont change. George is sad but honest about this, just as he is honest about his trying to get higher up the mountain. But what shines through is the meticulous planming, teamwork and good luck that enabled Hillary and Tenzing to summit and that everyone from the low altitide Sherpas to the summit team had a part to play in makimg this happen.

[Christine Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this book a bit hard going, especially at the beginning. However, from a family/geneology point of view it was interesting, as I had grown up with the knowledge that my Dad's cousin was part of the expedition. For mountaineers it would be extremely interesting for the detail that is contained in the letters. Frustrations and disappointments, illness, and triumphs along the way, all shared from a personal view point, writing home to his family and to be shared amongst members of the extended family and tramping club friends etc.
Worth the read from a historical view point as well.

[Fergus Monaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never knew how much preparation needs to be done to achieve high altitudes climbs. I found it very interesting, and learnt something new every chapter. It is probably because i'm a schoolboy, and don't know much. The writing I think is great and very consistent, it made you want to read it more.

I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to read something new and different, and is ready to learn something new.

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all the early accounts from the 20's expeditions trying to climb Everest, this is the first I have read about the successful 1953 team. What a great place to start, the letters offer such personal insight into the climb, close your eyes and you can imagine your there and it's 1953 all over again.

[Ashley Barratt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! 60 years on the letters seem somehow quaint and of another age. Read it for heartfelt understatement of a man who is a unsung hero. He displayed grace and true leadership in his support of Hillary and Tenzing.

[David Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account. Even though Lowe was careful how he worded things he gives a great insight into the tensions that (not surprisingly) develop within the team on such a difficult expedition. Interesting commentary near the end of the politics around Tensing's role, which I found enlightening.

[Todd Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight on the brotherhood of the rope and the first successful of Mt. Everest.