A UNIQUE archive of diaries and photographs belonging to a climber on the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition has fetched almost £35,000 at auction in Lichfield. The possessions of physician Arthur Wakefield far surpassed the guide price of £3,000 to £6,000 in the Rare Book Auctions sale. “The expedition ultimately failed to summit, though it did establish a new world record climbing height at the time of 27,300 feet.” The archive, which included handwritten journals kept during the 1922 expedition, described the activities of Wakefield’s fellow climbers, including George Mallory, who would later lose his life during another attempt in 1924. “We both kept saying how fortunate it was that Arthur Wakefield kept journals, took photographs, sent letters, and, most pleasingly of all, that the family kept it all safe.