Prelude To Everest

When Everest was finally climbed in 1953, few remembered Alexander Kellas, the first man to die on an expedition to the mountain in 1921, and who was commemorated alongside the renowned duo of Mallory and Irvine on the memorial at the Rongbuk Glacier. Kellas' expeditions prepared the way for the eventual ascent of Kangchenjunga and of Everest itself, which could perhaps have been climbed earlier had his pioneering work on high altitude physiology been carried forward after his death.

Award-winning mountain writer Ian R Mitchell and scientist George Rodway tell the tale of Aberdeen-born Kellas, who achieved the first ascent of several Himalayan peaks over 20,000 feet, but whose life was to end in tragedy as he became the first 'martyr' of Everest in 1921. Beginning in Scotland's Cairngorms and ending in the majestic Himalayas, Kellas' journey encompasses struggles, explorations, and discoveries which impacted mountaineering from the early 20th century to the present day, and arguably mark him as Scotland's greatest mountaineer.