Throughout 2020 we developed a new film for the Alpine Club focussing on the first reconnaissance expeditions to Everest between 1921 and 1924. These were pioneering explorative journeys that led to large areas of the Everest region being mapped and new routes being established through the foothills of the Himalaya. This would lead to successive attempts by various climbing teams to scale the mountain, and end in the tragic loss of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine in 1924.
Our film is narrated by Julie Summers, the grand neice of Sandy Irvine, and includes opening and closing statements from Reinhold Messner, Ed Douglas and Victor Saunders. The narrative is underpinned by interviews with some of the world's most prominent mountaineers - including Chris Bonnington, Leo Houlding, Rebecca Stephens and Sandy Allen. It utilises incredible photo and film archives held by the Alpine Club and British Film Institute to contextualise these first pioneering expeditions and highlight some of the immense challlenges the climbers and sherpas faced.
It was an incredible privelage to access these rich archives and hear first hand accounts from climbers who have been responsible for some of the most notable ascents in climbing history. The film has gone on to premiere at Kendal Mountain Festival 2021 and will be screening at festivals worldwide throughout 2022.
