Hugh Ruttledge, Early pioneer of Mount Everest
Hugh Ruttledge 1884-1961
"Men who are knocked down but rise again to continue a battle are not ignominiously beaten"H.R. 1937
The distinguished looking gentleman you see above got within a stones throw of the peak of the worlds highest summit some 20 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay finally achieved the staggering feat.
The 1930's were golden years, the last hidden corners of the world were beginning to reveal themselves to mankind, great explorers like Scott had conquered the very poles of the earth, all that remained untrodden was the planets highest elevation
One of Britains early Pioneers, Hugh Ruttledge was at home in some of the worlds harshest unknown terrain, amongst other things Ruttledge led 2 assaults on the unconquored holy grail of the alpine club, Mount Everest, in 1933 and 1936.
Hugh Ruttledge first lead a team of gentlemen explorers and native Tibettan sherpas, totalling some 90 individuals, on an ascent in 1933, Ruttledges Strategy was one of a very slow aclimatisation and ascent, Sadly two of his earlier compatriots Mallory and Irvine had perished during a 1924 attempt at high altitude, Ruttledge was therefore determined to let his team aclimatise gradually in order to succeed in the thin environment above 26,000 feet
During Ruttledges 1933 assault, a member of his team Mr. P. Wyn-Harris found an ice axe, now known to have belonged to his fallen comrade Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, another point worthy of note is that one of Hughs sherpas, Tenzing Norgay, was with Sir Edmund Hilary when they finally conquered the peak in 1953
Ruttledge, middle row, centre, with his 1933 expedition team
Hilary et al, no doubt benefitted greatly from the wealth
of knowledge that the early trailblazer Ruttledge passed on to them regarding Everest, In 1934 Hugh Ruttledge wrote a best seller called simply "Everest 1933" (The US version was named "Attack on Everest"), In 1936 his last attempt to conquer Everest was terminated prematurely due to an early Monsoon, later that year Ruttledge wrote his second book "Everest, the unfinished adventure" which inspired many others with his dream of boldly going to the very rooftop of the world.
Map showing the trek from Darjeeling to Mt Everest on the 1933 expedition
Click above to E-mail Sean J. Ruttledge
Back
to the Ruttledge History & Genealogy page
