The 1922 British Mount Everest expedition was the first mountaineering expedition with the express aim of making the first ascent of Mount Everest. This was also the first expedition that attempted to climb Everest using bottled oxygen. The expedition attempted to climb Everest from the northern side out of Tibet. At the time, Everest could not be attempted from the south out of Nepal as the country was closed to Western foreigners.
The 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition had explored all the eastern and northern surroundings of the mountain. In searching for the easiest route, George Mallory, who would also be a member of the 1924 expedition (and the only person on all three expeditions in 1921, 1922, and 1924), had discovered a route which, in his opinion, would allow an attempt on the summit.
After two unsuccessful summit attempts, the expedition ended on the third attempt when seven Nepalese porters died as the result of a group-induced avalanche. Not only had the expedition failed to reach the summit, but it also marked the first reported climbing deaths on Mount Everest. The expedition did, however, establish a new world record climbing height of during its second summit attempt, which was subsequently exceeded in the 1924 expedition.
Preparations
The attempted ascent was – notwithstanding other aims – an expression of the pioneering thinking that was common in the British Empire. As the British were unsuccessful as the first to reach the North and South Poles they tried to go to the so-called "third pole" – to "conquer" Mount Everest.
Cecil Rawling had planned three expeditions in 1915 and 1916 but they never happened due to the outbreak of the First World War and his death in 1917. The expeditions in the 1920s were planned and managed by the British Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club in a joint Mount Everest Committee.
The surveying activities in 1921 allowed the creation of maps which were a pre-condition for the 1922 expedition. John Noel took on the role of official expedition photographer. He took with him three movie cameras, two panorama cameras, four sheet cameras, one stereo camera and five so called "vest pocket Kodaks". The latter were small lightweight cameras that could be taken by the mountaineers to great heights. These cameras were intended to allow climbers to document a possible summit success. Additionally they took a special "black tent" for photographic work. Thanks to Noel's efforts, many photographs and one movie chronicled the expedition.
During the 1921 expedition they had seen that the best time for a summit bid would be April–May before the monsoon season. The expeditions in 1922 and 1924 were planned according to this knowledge.
Bottled oxygen as a mountaineering aid
The 1922 expedition can be seen as the start of the enduring question of "fair means" and controversies about using of bottled oxygen in the "death zone". Alexander Mitchell Kellas was one of the first scientists who had pointed out the possible use of bottled oxygen for accessing great heights. At this time the available systems (derived from mining rescue systems) were in his opinion too heavy to be a help at great heights. Kellas was part of the Everest reconnaissance expedition in 1921 but died on the way to Mount Everest. That expedition had taken bottled oxygen with them, but it was never used. Few paid much attention to Kellas' innovative ideas, possibly because his scientific work belonged strictly to the amateur tradition.
More attention was paid to the pressure vessel experiments of Professor Georges Dreyer, who had studied high-altitude problems the Royal Air Force encountered in World War I. According to his experiments—which he did partly together with George Ingle Finch—survival at great heights could only be possible with the aid of additional oxygen.