History’s Most Famous Explorers: George Mallory
Wikimedia CommonsGeorge Mallory.
George Mallory was a pioneer in Mount Everest exploration. He became a member of the inaugural Mount Everest Committee in the U.K. and was a part of the first team of climbers to make a full-scale attempt at reaching the mountain’s summit.
The committee orchestrated three expeditions to Mt. Everest all of which Mallory was a part of. The first in 1921 was simply a reconnaissance mission for the purposes of mapping out the mountain and to figure out if there was a climbable path to the summit from the north side.
The second in 1922 was the first ever recorded summit attempt by a climbing team. Mallory was one of the first humans to climb beyond 26,000 feet on a mountain.
The third Mt. Everest expedition and second summit attempt that Malloy would make in 1924 would be his last. At 37-years-old, he suspected that this would be the last time he’d ever be given the chance to reach Everest’s summit anyway.
He and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine began their ascent from their C-6 high camp, which rests about 26,800 feet above the base, on the morning of June 8.
Wikimedia CommonsThe 1921 Mount Everest expedition group.
One of the members from their team claimed to have seen the duo climbing in the early afternoon that same day but eventually lost sight of them. It was the last time Mallory and Irvine were seen again.
The nature of Irvine and Mallory’s disappearance was widely debated once news hit home. Some even hypothesized that Mallory may have reached the summit, making him the first to do so.
Mallory’s body was discovered on Everest at 26,760 feet in 1999, and it was concluded that he had died from a bad fall. While there was no evidence on his person that indicated he had reached the summit, it was said that Mallory brought a camera with him on his final climb.
Explorers hoped that maybe if Mallory’s body was found, the camera would soon follow. But no such camera has been discovered.
