C. G. Bruce

Born in 1866, C. G. Bruce was a British Army officer and one of the best-known mountaineers of his time. He served in India, became closely associated with Himalayan climbing, and gained a reputation for energy, humor, and toughness in extreme conditions.

Bruce played a leading part in the earliest British Everest efforts and is closely linked with the 1922 and 1924 expeditions. He also helped introduce and champion Sherpa climbers within major Himalayan expeditions, and his books reflect both the ambition and the rough practical reality of exploration in that era.

He died in 1939. Today he is remembered not only as an expedition leader and mountaineer, but also as a lively writer whose work captures the excitement of adventure before Everest had ever been climbed.