Much lesser known is the story of Orange-born George Finch, who 30 years earlier, in 1922, came agonisingly close to beating them to the summit.

George Ingle Finch was born on August 4, 1888 and grew up on the family farm, Nubrygyn Station, to Orange's north.

It's said he used to chase wallabies up the slopes of Mount Canobolas, and the the thrill of reaching the peak and looking out over the view inspired his passion for mountaineering.

He went to school at Kinross Wolaroi (then known as Wolaroi Grammar School), where he impressed his teachers with his natural talent for sciences.

When he was 14 his family moved to Europe. There, he continued his studies and had the opportunity to climb some of the great Alpine peaks.

Finch made a name for himself and in 1922, despite considered an "outsider" by the snobby British climbing establishment, was invited to join a British expedition to climb Mount Everest.

On the climb, he pioneered two technologies that are still in use today: Oxygen cylinders for high altitudes and an eiderdown coat that was the precursor the modern puffer jacket.

Neither were embraced by his British companions. They frowned at the bottled oxygen, considering it a form of "cheating" and laughed at his bright green jacket made from hot air balloon fabric, preferring their suits of wool and tweed.

Nevertheless, Finch's innovations would serve him well.

The 1922 expedition saw three attempts to reach the peak.

The first was by a group led by George Mallory that did not include Finch. They attempted the climb without oxygen, but were forced to turn back after reaching 8225 metres.

Finch was then allowed to make his own attempt. He left base camp with Geoffrey Bruce, the nephew of the leader, Charles Bruce.

With the assistance of oxygen, they reached 8326 metres, higher than the previous group and higher than any human had ever climbed before.

It had been a long climb, however, and Bruce was exhausted. His breathing apparatus was damaged and it became obvious his life was in jeopardy.

With the summit of Everest just 500 metres away, there was no choice but to descend.

A week later, Mallory and a troupe of climbers and porters set out on a third and final attempt, this time with oxygen. At 7000 metres they were hit by an avalanche and seven porters were killed. The survivors retreated and returned to England.

The altitude record set by Finch and Bruce would stand for more than three decades, until Hillary and Norgay, with their oxygen tanks, reached Everest's peak in 1953.

Finch gave up climbing in 1931 after three friends died on a climb, but his legacy lives on in modern mountaineering.

He continued to enjoy a distinguished his career in science and in 1944 he received the Hughes Medal from the Royal Society of London. Other winners of the medal have included telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell and world famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.

Finch's son was the academy-award winning actor Peter Finch.

George Finch died on November 22, 1970.

Further reading on his extraordinary life can be found in Robert Wainwright's 2015 book, Maverick Mountaineer.

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