Mount Everest reconnaissance from Nepal

After World War II, with Tibet closing its borders and Nepal becoming considerably more open, Mount Everest reconnaissance from Nepal became possible for the first time culminating in the successful ascent of 1953. In 1950 there was a highly informal trek to what was to become Everest Base Camp and photographs were taken of a possible route ahead. Next year the 1951 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition reconnoitred various possible routes to Mount Everest from the south and the only one they considered feasible was the one via the Khumbu Icefall, Western Cwm and South Col. In 1952, while the Swiss were making an attempt on the summit that nearly succeeded, the British practised their high-altitude Himalayan technique by attempting Cho Oyu, nearby to the west.

During the 1930s Eric Shipton had become the pre-eminent Everest mountaineer although he was nowhere near as well-known to the general public as George Mallory – Shipton's fame would come following his 1951 Everest reconnaissance – but in mountaineering circles he was highly respected. He had been on all four Everest expeditions of the 1930s and had led one of them. However, he was not so well regarded as a leader by some of the mountaineering establishment in London who were elderly and had a rather military approach to climbing mountains. Shipton was a keen exponent of informal, lightweight trekking with an emphasis on exploration rather than on reaching summits.

Prompted by Shipton, in 1945 the London-based Alpine Club asked the Viceroy of India, Lord Wavell, to approve a proposal for an attempt on Everest in 1947. It would be led by Shipton and approach the mountain from the north through Tibet. Wavell replied that an expedition would be impossible because of the current political unrest – this was the situation that would lead to the Partition of India in 1947.

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Wikipedia