"I found myself talking with my feet" – 50 years of the Everest Southwest Face Expedition 

Great mountains write great stories – and one such story was written 50 years ago today on Mount Everest. With Doug Scott and Dougal Haston's ascent of Everest's Southwest Face and the summit reach, the ultimate goal of the 1975 Everest expedition led by Chris Bonington was achieved. 

An expedition of superlatives 

The ascent was a highlight of classic expedition mountaineering and was characterized by detailed planning and a gigantic logistical effort. It was an expedition of superlatives – for the first time, the Everest climbed on a route that did not straddle any of the ridges. It was also the first time that Everest had been climbed by British people. The expedition was also extraordinary in terms of speed: it was the fastest ascent of Everest up to that point, from reaching Base Camp to summit success. The change of direction made necessary by the onset of darkness Biwak Scott and Haston's bivouac, just below the South Summit (8765 m), was the highest bivouac ever built. However, the expedition's great successes were also overshadowed by the death of mountaineer Mick Burke, who disappeared during his summit climb. 

The prehistory – development of the ridges 

In the years following the first ascent by The documentary Hillary and Norgaywho had reached the summit via the Southeast Ridge, the next major development on Everest was the first successful ascent of the Northeast Ridge. In 1960, Chinese mountaineers scaled the highest mountain in the world using the route already explored by British expeditions in the 1920s and 30s. Finally, in 1963, an American expedition followed, reaching the summit via the West Ridge (with a detour to the North Face) and through the Hornbein Couloir. The expedition led by Dyhrenfurth also achieved the first traverse of Everest. This opened up the most important ridge ascents and turned attention to the unclimbed flanks and walls. 

The path to the 1975 expedition – First attempts on the southwest face 

The first exploration of the Southwest Face was carried out by Japanese teams in 1969 and 1970. They ascended the lower section toward a couloir in the center of the face (Great Central Gully) and then through it. This route was also chosen by all subsequent expeditions. They then attempted a left turn toward Left-Hand Gully, but in both years they got no further than approximately 8000 meters.  

Further attempts were made by the 1972 European Everest Expedition in the pre-monsoon period under the experienced expedition leader Herrligkoffer, as well as by a British expedition in the same year in the post-monsoon period. This expedition, already led by Chris Bonington, provided valuable experience even though the summit was not reached. In 1973, another attempt was made by Japanese alpinists. These expeditions all had something in common: They attempted to climb under the large rock band to the right toward the southeast ridge and reached approximately 8300 m.  

For 1975, Bonington He again obtained a permit and planned to ascend following the Japanese line of 1969/70 through the left couloir, setting up the last camp before the summit on the snowfield above. This meant a long traverse across the snowfield toward the South Summit, an ascent from there, and a return to Camp 6.  

The expedition style at the summit – the logistics 

For the 1975 South Face expedition, Chris Bonington was again expedition leader, with Hamish MacInnes as his deputy. The expedition members were mostly men with experience on the Southwest Face, such as Dougal Haston, Doug Scott, Mick Burke, and Nick Estcourt. Also included were Mike Thompson, Martin Boysen, Peter Boardman, Paul Braithwaite, Ronnie Richards, Dave Clarke, Allen Fyffe, and Mike Rhodes. In addition, there were doctors, camp managers, and, of course, the Sherpas essential to success. A 33-person team of climbing Sherpas, led by Pertemba Sherpa, ensured the high camp supplies, while another 20 porters ensured the transport of loads through the Khumbu Icefall.   

Logistics were crucial: to ensure supplies, 4000 meters of fixed ropes were expected to be laid. Twenty-four tons of equipment and eleven tons of food were brought from Great Britain. Since the snowfields on the southwest face were too steep to build tent platforms, special box tents with reinforced roofs against rockfall were developed and brought along. The equipment was trucked from Europe to Kathmandu, flown from there to Khunde, and then carried by hundreds of porters to Mount Everest Base Camp. 

On September 2, 1974, the expedition set off from Camp 2 in the Western Cwm to the southwest flank, then to Camp 3 at approximately 7000 m, and then to Camp 4 at 7220 m. The expedition proceeded through Great Central Gully toward Camp 5 (established at 7770 m). The route was equipped with fixed ropes to ensure constant supply by the Sherpas. 

On September 20.09, Estcourt and Braithwaite set out to secure the crucial section through the ledge toward the upper snowfield. After challenging climbing, hampered by heavy equipment and breathing apparatus, they were able to cross the ledge within a day and establish the final High Camp 6 at 8320 meters. 

Given the good progress, it was decided that Scott and Haston would be the first to attempt the summit. The second summit team consisted of Burke, Boardman, Boysen, and Pertemba. The third team consisted of Braithwaite, Estcourt, Ang Phurba, and Richards. From Camp 6, Haston and Scott laid another 500m of fixed rope on the day before their summit attempt. 

The path to the summit 

At 1 a.m. on September 24.09, the two got ready for summit day and left the tent around 03:30 a.m. Since they couldn't rule out the possibility of having to bivouac, they brought a bivouac sack, a stove, and two extra oxygen cylinders each. However, they left sleeping bags and a tent at camp to avoid being slowed down by the weight. Doug Scott set out without any warm down clothing—just his unlined waterproof jacket. 

The two climbed on their fixed ropes to the end of the snowfield and from there continued up the rocks toward the South Summit. After taking a brief rest in a snow cave, they continued to the summit. Dougal Haston climbed the Hillary Step – with more than inadequate protection. Doug Scott admitted in Chris Bonington's book "Everest: A Tough Nut" that at times he only held Haston's rope with his teeth so he could photograph him. In the late afternoon, the two reached the summit, becoming the first Britons to reach Everest. On the way back, they encountered darkness and were forced to bivouac just below the South Summit in the aforementioned snow cave. After a harsh night marked by cold (Scott estimated the temperature at -50°C), lack of oxygen and sleep, as well as hallucinations and talking to themselves (reported by Doug Scott in Bonington's book), the two alpinists managed to descend safely toward Camp 6.   

The summit day of the second team 

The second summit team set out at night on September 26.09. Boysen soon had problems with his oxygen equipment and lost a crampon, forcing him to turn back. Boardman and Pertemba continued climbing briskly and reached the summit of Mount Everest around 13 p.m. Mick Burke, a cameraman for the BBC, was slow to follow, partly because of his heavy camera equipment. On their descent, Boardman and Pertemba were very surprised to find the exhausted Burke a few hundred meters from the summit, as they had expected him to have turned back like Boysen. Burke decided to continue climbing towards the summit to film and was not seen again after the encounter with the two alpinists. Whether he reached the summit or fell during the ascent is unknown – his body was never found. The Boardman-Pertemba rope team descended towards Camp 6 in a developing blizzard and arrived there in poor physical condition.  

Due to the loss of an expedition member, the bad weather, and the increasing danger of avalanches, the third summit team was canceled. The mountain was cleared, and by September 30.09, all climbers had returned to base camp.  

The Southwest Face Expedition of 1975 – a summary 

The expedition was a high point of siege mountaineering on the great eight-thousanders and demonstrated that even the most difficult walls could be climbed with enormous expenditures of equipment and personnel. At the same time, however, it also made it clear that these types of expeditions had reached a dead end and progress could only be achieved with even greater effort and expense.  

Almost at the same time, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler had successfully demonstrated on Hidden Peak that an eight-thousander could also be climbed in a much more purist style. The two reached the summit of this mountain in alpine style and without supplemental oxygen, supported only by 12 porters who had carried their loads to base camp.  

In a sense, this year marked the end of a chapter in Himalayan mountaineering – and the beginning of a new one.  

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Credits: Cover image: Doug Scott, Chris Bonington Picture Library