Everest climber’s 1922 archive found in box sells for over $46,000

By Ed Chatterton

A remarkable archive belonging to the unsung member of Britain's pioneering 1922 Everest expedition team has sold for almost $46,970 after being discovered in cardboard boxes.

Arthur Wakefield was among a group of British climbers who became the first to attempt to scale the world's highest peak 104 years ago.

His diaries and photographs were only expected to fetch $5,370 at auction after recently being unearthed by his granddaughter - before selling for eight times their estimate this week.

The documents provide a fascinating and sometimes chilling insight into the team's doomed attempt - including describing how they watched an avalanche sweep seven Indian porters to their deaths.

Wakefield - a physician and climber described as a 'real-life Action Man' - also chronicled the brutal conditions on Everest adding: "The whole climb is one mass of, apparently, loose boulders."

The 1922 expedition failed to summit but it did establish a new world record climbing height at the time of 27,300 ft (8,321m) as well as being among the first reported climbing deaths on Everest.

The attempts of the expedition members led to them receiving Olympic gold medals for alpinism at the closing ceremony of the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix after capturing the public's imagination.

Wakefield's archive sold at Rare Book Auctions in Lichfield, Staffordshire, yesterday (Wed) after being described as "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a piece of Everest history."

Wakefield served as a Sharpshooter in the Second Boer War, a Medical Officer in the First World War at a Casualty Clearing Station during the battle of the Somme, and worked alongside Wilfred Grenfell in Canada.

The archive, which included handwritten journals kept during the 1922 expedition, described the activities of Wakefield's fellow climbers, including George Mallory.

Mallory – the most enduring name from the expedition – would attempt the feat again in 1924, when he would tragically lose his life.

Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew "Sandy" Irvine were last seen ascending near Everest's summit, prompting speculation as to whether they reached it before they died.

Mallory's body was eventually discovered during the 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition, but the mystery continues to fascinate historians.

The 1922 expedition similarly ended in tragedy, something that would haunt Wakefield for the rest of his life.

In the journals, he describes a huge avalanche killing seven Nepalese porters – the first reported deaths on Everest.

He wrote: "At 2.15, glancing up from my writing, I saw the N Wall, where the climbers had been a moment before, become completely white.

"Realizing that a disaster had occurred I hurriedly collected a few coolies with shovels, ropes, & 1st aid equipment, & set off at 2.30 as hard as I could go, Noel [John Noel] waiting to bring up hot drinks etc.

"At 3.30 I met Crawford [Colin Grant Crawford] running down, much exhausted. I learnt from him that all the whites were safe.

"A little later I met the two survivors of the 9 coolies who had been swept over the crevasse by the avalanche, both bruised & v. much shaken, but otherwise uninjured...Mallory [George Mallory] departed early to report to Gen. Bruce.

"The coolies decided not to bring the corpses down. While Crawford & I built the cairn with the coolies' help, Somervell wrote the inscription."

Wakefield's diary entries capture the challenging conditions on Everest and he wrote. "The whole climb is one mass of, apparently, loose boulders, & in places these loose boulders have to be used for holds.

"The whole climb seemed to me v. unsafe for this season."

Wakefield's vital role as physician is also documented. He put: "Crawford and I planned to go higher the next day. He having had four sleepless nights I gave him an injection of morphine."

A keen photographer, Wakefield took lots of images during his various adventures, and so the archive included previously unseen depictions of activity during the Second Boer War and First World War, as well as life in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The collection also included Wakefield's atmospheric photographs of Everest, in which the members are dwarfed by their majestic surroundings.

Wakefield (1876-1949) sent numerous letters to his family during his travels, often addressed to "my dear home folks", again recording for posterity a vast array of historic events.

US and UK based bidders battled it out before five lots of Everest material sold to one private UK collector while four lots of Canadian interest sold to a major buyer in the US.

Director of Rare Book Auctions, Jim Spencer said: "Everything came together.

"We tried to create a magic formula with this collection: fresh to market, tantalizing descriptions, lots of photographs, catalogue links sent to museums and institutions, but, importantly, very conservative guide prices - incredibly conservative, as it turned out. We wanted the offering to be tactically tempting.

"This was simply an amazing archive. One collector spent hours viewing the material and was just in awe, repeatedly saying it was worthy of being in a museum.

"We both kept saying how fortunate it was that Arthur Wakefield kept journals, took photographs, sent letters, and, most pleasingly of all, that the family kept it all safe. Every scrap of paper was treasured. This is what keeps history alive.

"The vendor, a descendent of Wakefield, was keen to find a good home through auction.

"We guided low to bring everyone to the party, and, thankfully, it created huge interest and paid off."

The collection, which was offered in 12 lots, fetched a total hammer price of $46,230.