On 8th June 1924, two men left Camp VI (26,700 feet) to make an attempt for the summit of Everest.
Camp VI was the highest camp of the British 1924 Everest expedition.
On the same morning, another British climber, Noel Odell, was making his way up from Camp IV to Camp VI. Odell was a geologist and he was collecting fossils from the slopes of Mount Everest. Odell recalls that it was not the perfect morning to climb Everest. " Rolling banks of mist" were sweeping across the mountain and covering the north face. Neither the face nor the summit ridge could be seen by Odell. There was also a sharp wind which was making climbing very difficult.
Suddenly at 12.50 pm the mist cleared and Odell spotted high above on the ridge, a black dot climbing a rock step, which Odell at that point identified as the Second Step. Soon after Odell saw another black dot following the first black dot. But before Odell could be sure that the second black dot had joined the first, the mist rolled in and blanketed the mountain and this fantastic vision was lost forever.
The two dots that Odell saw were George Mallory and Andrew Irvine "going strongly for the summit of Everest".
Mallory and Irvine were never seen again.
Mallory body was found by Conrad Anker in 1999. Irvine has not been found. A few weeks ago some startling news emerged from Mark Synott who was part of a Nat Geo expedition to find Andrew Irvine in 2019. Synott mentioned that he had evidence to prove that Irvine had been found by the Chinese and also his camera. The camera film could not be processed by the Chinese and with it died the secret of the last climb of Mallory and Irvine. See the link below for the article.
https://www.salon.com/2022/04/08/the-third-pole-mount-everest-mark-synnott-mystery-china/
But the legend of George Mallory and his last climb lives on.
In this post we take a look at some photographs and other memorabilia from the Everest expeditions of 1921, 1922 and 1924.
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| The 1921 expedition team - Mallory sitting first left |
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| Mallory and Irvine boarding S. S. California on their way to India in 1924 |
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| Irvine working on oxygen cylinders on the1924 expedition |
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| Members of the 1924 expedition - Standing from left Irvine, Mallory, Norton, Odell, Macdonald. In front: Shebbeare, Bruce, Somervell, Beetham. Members not in the photo : Noel, Hingston, Hazard. |
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| Norton and Somervell with their sherpas before the summit attempt |
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| Route map of Norton and Somervell's attempt |
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Norton set an altitude record in 1924 without oxygen reaching 8570 metres which remained unchallenged until Messner and Habeler climbed Everest in 1978 without oxygen Last photo of Mallory and Irvine leaving for Camp VI 1924  The list of provisions for the summit climb found on Mallory's body - he planned to be on 2 cylinders of oxygen. Please note the rations on the left!    Map showing position of Odell and the last sighting of Mallory and Irvine  |
"..... some day you will hear a different story..." George Mallory
All photographs reproduced above are copyright of Royal Geographical Society, John Noel Photographic Collection and their respective owners.
I met Odell in the early 1980s
ReplyDeleteHe was a Fellow of my old college
He was quite convinced they made it to the top
It remains a romantic possibility although the last 600 feet are well inside the death zone
I would like to believe it too but Conrad Anker who found Mallory in 1999 says that free climbing that second step would have been an enormously difficult task - the point where Odell saw them was possibly the first step which is easier to climb and the way he said they were ascending points to the gradient of the first step and not the second step - but we again dont know - Mallory was a superb climber so maybe they did it?
DeleteIf Odell had seen them near the THIRD step they might have reached the summit on time. Also, Mallory didn’t possess the picture of his wife when he was found. He had promised to leave it behind on the summit.
Deletehe did not bring the wife picture haven forgotten his compass, camera too. they probably did not made it to summit. around 20% chances Mallory did it, which is a suicide mission, maybe his bold style made him suffer from summit fever. 0% oxygen left at 2 step and continuing for 3 hours up. 2 bottles per man confirmed. top pro everest hikers said he did not make it to the summit. can't get any closer than that.
ReplyDelete