Lure of the Mountains: The Life of Bentley Beetham 1924 Everest Expedition Mountaineer

Beetham (1886-1963), a schoolmaster, naturalist, rock climber, ornithologist, and writer, was the primary photographer of the British Everest expedition of 1924. This is the first published biography of Beetham and charts his life from childhood in Darlington, to rock climbing in the Lake District and selection by the Mount Everest Committee as a member of the infamous and ill-fated 1924 Everest Expedition on which George Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappeared high on the mountain. Many of Beetham's images, including those made on the 1924 expedition, were for over 25 years curated by Michael Lowes and are reproduced in this book. His images of Tibet are ‘an important historical record of Tibetan culture and a way of life that in modern times has rapidly begun to disappear’. Beetham was a highly skilled rock climber and a pioneer of new routes in the Borrowdale Valley, where he established such notable climbs as Little Chamonix on Shepherd's Crag, and Corvus on Raven Crag. Lowes, like many other pupils Beetham inspired, was introduced to climbing by his teacher in the Lake District on club trips, and over the years he became a valuable source of information and expert on Beetham's life and work.