Tigers of the snow

When the British went to Everest in 1921, they hired porters. Yet by 1953
these Porters had become the famous ‘Tigers of the Snow’.
The book describes the decisive moment in the transformation of ‘coolies’
(porters and labourers) into the Sherpas as climbing legends: the German
expedition to Nanga Parbat in 1934.

During that disastrous climb, the Europeans unroped from their inexperienced
porters and fled to safety leaving them to stay on the mountain and help each
other as best they could.