| Description | In 1952 the British Mount Everest Expedition (Himalayan Joint Committee of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club) mounted an Expedition to Cho Oyu Mountain, Nepal as part of several Everest reconnaissance missions being undertaken in preparation for the planned, and ultimately successful, British attempt on Everest in 1953. The objectives for the Cho Oyu mission was primarily to find a collection of men capable of making the attempt on Everest the following year, and to obtain scientific information regarding physiology, oxygen usage, temperatures, wind speeds and other exact information.
This file contains correspondence and reports detailing Dr Lewis Griffith Pugh's plans to accompany the Expedition to undertake physiological studies, test out experimental equipment and to be the Medical Officer for the expedition; it also contains findings, results, and recommendations for the upcoming attempt on Everest. Dr Pugh was able to accompanying the expedition due to a grant of £600 from the Royal Society, and a leave of absence from the Medical Research Council.
Pugh's findings led him to recommend that climbers drink considerably more water than the usually recommended amount of 3 or 4 pints per day. In addition to this, the fundamentality of using oxygen was confirmed, as well as data gathered on when during the climb to start using it and how much should be used at different altitudes, and the use of clothing stuffed with down feathers.
The correspondence and reports are kept together in one file and are in chronological order (as they were received). |