During the 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition George Mallory and Guy Bullock were exploring the region to the north of Mount Everest hoping to find a route to the summit. Everest's west ridge did not seem promising so they tried to reach the watershed at some point to see what lay to the south. In doing this they discovered Lingtren (but did not climb it) and skirted its flanks to reach a col from where they were able to see the Western Cwm for the first time. However, the prospect of a precipitous descent to the Khumbu Glacier and then an ascent of the Khumbu Icefall led them to reject this route.