I believe Mallory and Irvine did reach the top of Mt. Everest
Recently I read Jeffry Archer’s ‘Paths of Glory’ which is based on the true story of a British mountaineer Mr. George Leigh Mallory. This kindled my interest to know more about Mallory and his attempt to reach the top of Mt. Everest, the highest mountain peak on the earth standing at 29,028 ft.
For those who are not in the know, George Leigh Mallory was the first person recorded to be known to have led a team to conquer Mt. Everest. After two previous failed missions in 1921 and 1922, Mallory made his last attempt in 1924 with Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine as his climbing partner. A Google search will throw up hundreds of links containing variety of information on Mallory’s expedition in 1924. But why this should evoke so much interest?
George Mallory led the climbing team in April, 1924 from Tibet side. A team comprising George Mallory, Noel Odell, Edward F. Norten, Howard Somervell and Andrew Irvine reached Camp IV (at about 23,000), and Norton and Somervell were the first ones to launch the attack without oxygen. The two is understood to have gone beyond Camp VI and Norton had managed to reach an altitude of 28,125 ft, a feat at that time. He could not proceed further after he was snow-blinded as he had removed the goggles. The two were also exhausted. The two returned to Camp leaving the job unfinished.
1. George Mallory with wife 2. Andrew Irvine
After the failed attempts of Norton and Somervell, George and Irvine set off for the summit on the morning of 08-06-1924 (some put the time at around 8 a.m) from Camp VI (at about 27,000).They were last seen by Odell from Camp V(at about 25,000 ft). He reported that he spotted the two climbing a prominent rock-step, either the First or Second rock step, around 1 p.m. From the second step stone the summit is reported to be at a distance of about 800 ft. Apart from Odell’s reporting there is no evidence on record to prove that Mallory and Irvine had climbed thus far. Odell’s account of what he saw is also a subject of controversy for accuracy. If one has to take his immediate recording of what he saw then Mallory and Irvine were near the second step.
Mallory and Irvine did not return to their camp and it is assumed that these two mountaineers died on the same day or the next.
The mystery is whether they reached the summit. There is no evidence to prove that they had indeed made it to the summit.
On 1 May 1999, a frozen body was found on the slopes of Mt. Everest , at about 26,760 ft, by an expedition team led by Conrad Anker. The body was well preserved due to cold conditions, and was identified as of Mallory’s with the help of the name tag on the clothing found on the body. The body was found 300 metres below the spot where Irvine’s (Mallory’s companion) axe was found in 1933. It was believed that Irvine (or Mallory) was carrying a camera however the expedition team could not locate the camera. The photos taken in the camera could prove to be a valuable piece of evidence and can throw light on whether the climbers had actually reached the summit. The camera is still missing and is lying somewhere in the mountains.
There is another theory that Mallory would have actually reached the summit and caught in the bad weather while climbing down. One of the things that was found on Mallory’s body was his wallet. It is said that Mallory had carried his wife’s (Ruth Mallory) photo in his wallet and he was supposed to place the photo on the summit. When the body was found, the team recovered his wallet which, however, did not contain his wife’s photo. This strongly suggests that Mallory would have made it to the top. However, those who reached the summit subsequently did not find any evidence of this.
Among other things, Mallory’s goggles were found in his pocket. Considering the snow-blindness suffered by Norton a few days earlier, Mallory would not have risked removing the goggles during day time when he was pushing towards the summit. This would suggest that he was not wearing the goggles as he was climbing down after the sunset, after making it to the summit. This also co-relates with their departure time from Camp VI.
Many experts feel that, even if Mallory and Irvine had reached the top, it would not be considered as real ascent as the climbers did not come down alive. Irrespective of what others say, I would love to think that they had actually reached the top. Jeffry Archer’s well written book does exactly this.
View this link for photographs of Mallory, his body and the belongings that were found on his body in 1999. http://images.rgs.org/search.aspx?EventCategoryID=2
