George Mallory
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George Herbert Leigh Mallory (June 18 1886 - June 8 1924) was a British mountaineer.
Mallory was born in Mobberley, Cheshire, the son of a clergyman. He was the elder brother of Trafford Leigh-Mallory, the Royal Air Force commander. As a young child, George Mallory was an avid climber, and climbed many trees and buildings to hone his budding skills. In what is perhaps his most famous moment, when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, he replied with the statement, "Because it is there", now forever associated with the mountain.
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Education and family
In 1896, George attended boarding school in Eastbourne after completing preparatory school in West Kirby. At the age of 14, he won a mathematics scholarship to Winchester College. In October of 1905, Mallory entered Magdalene College, Cambridge to study history. During his time there, he became friends with John Maynard Keynes.
On July 29, 1914 he married the daughter of a local architect in Charterhouse. As Britain was now embroiled in World War I, a distant honeymoon was out of the question. Instead they went camping. Locals became suspicious about two young people in the woods and thus were subsequently arrested on suspicion of being German spies.
On September 9, 1915, George's first daughter, Frances Clare, was born. His second daughter, Beridge Ruth, was born on September 16, 1917.
In 1919, he returned home after serving in World War I.
Climbing history
In 1904, Mallory and a friend attempted to climb Mont Vélon in the Alps but turned back shortly before the summit due to altitude sickness. In 1911, Mallory climbed Mont Blanc.
In 1921 while on a reconnaissance mission exploring routes up to the North Col of Mount Everest, he climbed several lower peaks near Everest to gain an understanding of the region's geography.
In 1922, while Mallory was leading a group of climbers down from the North Col of Everest in waist high snow, an avalanche swept over the group, killing seven Sherpas.
On June 8, 1924 George Mallory and Andrew Irvine attempted to climb to the top of Mount Everest via the North Col route. One observer reported seeing them on the summit but no evidence thus far has proved they reached the top. They never returned to high camp and died somewhere high on the mountain.
In 1995, Mallory's grandson, George Mallory II, reached the summit of Everest.
Lost on Everest
In 1975, a Chinese climber named Wang Hongbao reported seeing the body of an English man near the summit. Unfortunately, Wang was killed a day later in an avalanche before the location could be precisely fixed.
On May 1, 1999, an American expedition, sponsored in part by Nova and BBC, found the frozen body of George Mallory at 8,000 metres (27,000') on the north face of Mt. Everest. However, they could not locate either of the two cameras that the two had apparently carried with them. Pictures from these cameras could finally settle the question of whether they did in fact reach the top before they died. In 2004, another expedition plans to return to the area in an attempt to find the cameras. Experts from Kodak have stated that if one of the cameras is found with film, there is a good chance that the film could be developed to produce "printable images" due to the nature of the black and white film that was used.
Aside from the missing cameras, two details noted when Mallory's body was discovered are tantalizing, although not conclusive in their own right:
- Firstly, Mallory's daughter has always said that Mallory carried a photograph of his wife on his person with the intention of leaving it on the summit when he reached it. This photo was not found on the body when it was discovered. Given the excellent preservation of the body and its garments, this lack points to the fact that he may have reached the summit and deposited the photo there.
- Secondly, Mallory's snow goggles were in his pocket when the body was found, indicating that he was killed at night. This implies that he and Irvine had made a push for the summit and were descending very late in the day. Given their known departure time and movements, had they not made the summit, it is unlikely that they would have still been out by nightfall.
Commentary
Even if evidence is eventually uncovered proving that George Mallory and Andrew Irvine reached the summit of Everest on that fateful day in 1924, it is debated as to whether history could be changed to state that they made the first ascent. Many mountaineers would say no, because a successful first ascent not only involves reaching the top but also includes returning to the bottom. Indeed, George Mallory's son John Mallory said: 'To me the only way you achieve a summit is to come back alive. The job is half done if you don't get down again.'
References
- Mallory as a Young Man (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/exploration/everest/features/everest1924/youngman.shtml)
External links
- MountainWorld Photography (http://www.mountainworldphoto.com/) - The photographer website from the 1999, 2001, & 2004 Mallory & Irvine Research Expeditions.
- Lost on Everest (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/lost/) - In January 2000, PBS broadcast the story of the 1999 Nova expedition to locate the bodies of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine.
- 2004 Expedition to find the cameras (http://www.everestnews.com/malloryandirvine2004/intros2004qa.htm)
- The British Hero Who Died on Everest (http://elt.britcoun.org.pl/s_mallor.htm)
- Mount Everest 1924 photographs (http://www.mounteverest.uk.com/) - John Noel's photographs from the 1924 expedition.de:George Mallory