Left: George Mallory and Andrew Irvine © RGS/The Sandy Irvine Trust, from "Ghosts of Everest" ; Right: 1924 North Face locations © Pete Poston

Mount Everest:
The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine's Fate

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Celebrating my 50th birthday on pitch 3 of Prodigal Son, Zion National Park, Utah.

This page maintained by Pete Poston, a Professor of Chemistry at Western Oregon University. You can access his academic homepage here.



Introduction [top]

"I'm quite doubtful if I shall be fit enough. But again I wonder if the monsoon will give us a chance. I don't want to get caught, but our three-day scheme from the Chang La will give the monsoon a good chance. We shall be going up again the day after tomorrow. Six days to the top from this camp!"

--from George Mallory's last letter to his wife prior to disappearing on Mt. Everest with his partner Andrew "Sandy" Irvine in 1924

Mallory's last written words to his wife reveal a man torn by doubts, but still determined to make one last attempt on the summit of Mt Everest before his strength and the good weather ran out. On his third and last expedition to the mountain, Mallory and his partner Andrew Comyn Irvine climbed up to their last camp at 26,700 feet high up on the North Ridge of Everest. On the next day - June 8, 1924 - they were briefly seen by fellow expedition member Noel Odell about 1000 feet below the summit, before the monsoon clouds moved in and they disappeared forever.

Few clues as to the fate of the pair were uncovered in the 75 years between their disappearance and the discovery of Mallory's body by members of the 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition. An ice ax later shown to belong to Sandy Irvine was found at the base of the First Step in 1933. Nothing else was discovered until Tom Holzel reported that in 1975, a Chinese climber named Wang Hongbao, had discovered the body of an ancient "English Dead" at around 8100 meters (click here for more on Holzel's 1986 MENFREE expedition to search for M&I). This body, originally assumed to be Irvine's since it lay almost directly below the ice ax site, ultimately proved to be that of Mallory's. It was clear that he had died in a fall, and the twisted, broken rope that was wrapped around his body indicated that he was tied to Irvine at the time. But there was no proof one way or the other that they had made the summit - 29 years before Hillary and Tenzing - since their camera was not found.

And then in 2001 Jochen Hemmleb and Eric Simonson revealed in their book "Detectives on Everest" that a second body had been discovered even earlier - in 1960 - by Xu Jing, leader of the 1960 Chinese expedition that was the first to successfully climb Mallory's route. If true, this body can only be that of Sandy Irvine. And the camera that he might be carrying....will it solve the mystery?

Britain's Alpine Club has issued a statement concerning climber's bodies in the mountans, and therefore applies toany groups searching for Irvine. The Irvine family has in the past has asked that they be contacted regarding the treatment of his body, possessions, and any photographs taken. In summary, the Irvine family wishes that the body not be damaged, that his personal possessions be returned to the family, and that the family be allowed to preview any photographs prior to publication.

News Websites [top]

Mallory & Irvine Research Expeditions (1986-2005) [top]

Everest Historians and Climbers [top]

Everest Historians

Everest Climbers - Past and Present

Centers, Collections, and Societies [top]

Everest Geology [top]

Early Everester Collections - these expeditions had several geologists who were among the first to map and study Himalayan geology.

Current Research -

Photoanalysis in the Mystery of Mallory & Irvine [top]

  • Jochen Hemmleb displayed a 1:1000 scale orthomap of the North Face of Mt. Everest at the Detectives on Everest Exhibit at the Washington State Historical Museum in Tacoma, WA. Hemmleb meticlulously recorded on this map the locations of all search areas, camps, and artifacts located in 1999 and 2001. I took these somewhat blurry images with my digital camera that can be viewed here: map01, map02, map03, map04. Please note that the jpegs of Hemmleb's map are public domain because cameras were allowed at the exhibit. The 1:1000 scale map was obtained by Hemmleb from Alpine Research.
  • Inspired by Hemmleb's previous analysis, here is an orthomap of the North Face of Mt. Everest where I have added the locations of all known artifacts and camps associated with the mystery (except for the 1924 Camp 6 which is off the map to the east - or left - at 26,700'). By tracing the fall line back up from Mallory's grave, the approximate location of his fall can be estimated, somewhere in the Yellow Band between 8300 and 8400 meters - the same area that Xu Jing in 1960 may have passed through while taking his direct line back from Camp 7 (see Detectives on Everest for more details). Please note that the orthomap that I used to mark the locations is from Alpine Research and you can purchase this map here.
  • A reconstruction of Jochen Hemmleb's Photoanalysis used to help locate the 1975 Chinese Camp 6 (it turned out to predict a location that was too high but was good enough to find the "English Dead". Compare to Tom Holzel's analysis in the next paragraph). Please note that the orthomap that I used to recreate the analysis is from Alpine Research and you can purchase this map here. The photo of the Chinese Camp 6 was scanned from Ghosts of Everest
  • Tom Holzel has given his permission to display a jpeg of his search area for Sandy Irvine that he constructed back in 1999. Holzel's approach was to track the movements of a party of Chinese climbers in 1975 who were pinned down by a storm on their way to the final location of the 1975 Chinese Camp 6. Holzel calls this intermediate camp "5b", and he believes that this is the camp that Wang was in when he located the "English Dead". Comparison of this Camp 5b with Jochen's orthomap indicates that Camp 5b was probably at the same position as the 1960 Chinese Camp 6.
  • Tom Holzel has also given permission to use his photo of Odell's route up the North Ridge of Everest in search of Mallory & Irvine as given to him by Odell himself.
  • Is that an extra pair of goggles Mallory's holding in this famous North Col photo taken by Noel Odell, or is it a gauge used in the oxygen apparatus? I believe it's actually the gauge based on this quote from Odell's appendix on the use of oxygen in "Fight for Everest 1924":

    "An attempt was made to do away with the rigid arm supporting the instruments, that passed over the left shoulder, since it proved to be a considerable encumbrance. Instead the instruments - i.e. flow meter alone - was connected up with the rubber tubing conveying the gas from the cylinders to the mouthpiece, which passed under the right arm.IT WAS SUSPENDED FROM THE COAT IN FRONT IN A VISIBLE AND COMFORTABLE POSITION (emphasis added). The p needle-valve close beside it, accessible to the right hand. In this way the total weight was reduced considerably, and the only hampering of movement was caused by the lower ends of the cylinders, which were in the way when going down steep rocks facing outwards. This arrangement uge can only be read by someone else at the wearer's back, an obvious diadvantage."

  • Do these rust marks found on the face of Mallory's altimeter mean anything? Follow these links for a view of the altimeter and rustmarks: pic1, pic2, pic3. Please note that all photos are copyright of the 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition and the altimeter photo was originally published in Ghosts of Everest.

Mount Everest Routes, Maps, Photos and Satellite Images [top]

Video and Books [top]

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