If you are a mountaineer who likes to pursue adventure, we are sure that climbing Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, is your biggest dream. This has been the dream of every mountaineer throughout history. Even though much more advanced methods are used today, a hundred years ago, people were trying to climb without even an oxygen tube with insufficient equipment and died. This is how the George Mallory story begins.
George Mallory was an accomplished mountaineer, and if he were alive, his name would go down in history as one of the first to climb Mount Everest. Unfortunately, he did not return from his last expedition, and what happened to him remained a mystery for many years. His body has been found, but there is another unsolved mystery. Did George Mallory and his friend Andrew Irvine make it to the summit of Mount Everest or die halfway through?
First, let’s get to know our hero, a former soldier; Who is George Mallory?
George Herbert Leigh Mallory, with his full name, was born on June 18, 1886, to a large family in the small English town of Cheshire. Having met the world of climbing at Winchester College, Mallory became more interested in mountaineering and teaching at the Charterhouse School after graduating from Magdalene College in Cambridge.
When the First World War began, George Mallory joined the army and served in the Somme. After the war ended and he returned home, he could not continue to teach again. Because Mallory, who already had an adventurous spirit, also decided to follow the adrenaline feeling that was heightened by the war.
He went on his first expedition without oxygen support:
George Mallory was a member of the Alpine Club, one of England’s most prestigious mountaineering clubs. The club decided to organize an expedition to Mount Everest, which was known at the time but not yet conclusively mapped. Of course, for Mallory, this was a big opportunity. He immediately resigned from his job and set off with his teammates.
The first expedition in 1921 did not aim to reach the summit. The team led by George Mallory mapped it out to 7,000 meters. But Millory couldn’t continue because he didn’t use an oxygen cylinder, which he felt was against the mountaineering practice. Well, it was Mount Everest opposite him, he would consider that the second time around.
The second time around, the whole team almost fell under an avalanche:
George Mallory and his team went on their second expedition on June 7, 1922, this time much more prepared. The journey that started on the North Side was a success, but there was the world’s highest mountain in front of them and their surprises did not end. When the team exceeded 8 thousand meters, 7 people died as a result of an avalanche.
It was a great luck that not everyone fell under that giant avalanche. George Mallory and his team would seize this chance. They would go to Mount Everest, which they started to get to know a little better with each new trip, this time by making preparations in a way that would take all the negative conditions into account, in a planned manner. But you know what they say, when people are making plans, God smiles from above.
George Mallory was unaware of his final ascent to Mount Everest:
In 1924, the team began preparations for a third expedition. This enthusiasm of George Mallory also attracted the attention of the press. When the Times newspaper reporter in the region asked why they had been fighting for such an escalation for years, George Mallory gave a historic answer; ‘Because it is there.’ i.e. ‘Because it’s there.’
This time, as the team was much more prepared, they set up a camp by climbing to 8170 meters much easier than the previous attempts. But George Mallory couldn’t wait. On June 6, they set out with Andrew Irvine, a more inexperienced but enthusiastic mountaineer friend. The target was the top. Unfortunately, they were never heard from again.
What happened to George Mallory and Andrew Irvine remained a mystery for many years:
The fact that the duo did not come back was of course on the agenda of the world press, especially in England. Of course, since we are talking about Mount Everest, no one has been able to start a search and rescue operation to see where they are. During a different ascent in 1936, an ice ax thought to belong to Andrew Irvine was found.
There is an interesting claim on the subject. Chinese mountaineer Zhang Junyan, who climbed Mount Everest in 1986, reported finding a dead Englishman at 8,100 meters. He submitted an oral report to the Chinese Mountaineering Association. Unfortunately, there was no investigation into the continuation of the incident, as he died the next day as a result of an avalanche.
George Mallory’s body was accidentally found on Mount Everest:
As part of a program organized by the BBC in 1999, a British team of mountaineers set out to find the body of Andrew Irvine, who had previously had an axe. They found a frozen body at 8,157 meters. Found below the spot where Andrew Irvine’s ax was found, the garment tag of this body read G. Leigh Mallory. The team had found the body of missing mountaineer George Mallory by sheer luck. After investigations, Mallory was buried there with an Anglican rite. Andrew Irvine’s body has still not been found.
So how did George Mallory die?
George Mallory’s body was largely preserved by the cold weather. Out of his pocket was a brass altimeter, pocket knife, snow goggles and letters. But the camera they took with them could not be found. However, Kodak said they could recover the footage if the camera was found.
The cause of death did not appear to have been caused by a fall because he only had a broken leg and no other fractures in his body. What was interesting was that he had a hole in his forehead the size of a golf ball, just right for a snow ax. It is estimated that Andrew Irvine, advancing ahead of him, dropped his ax, which bounced off a rock and struck George Mallory, mortally wounding him on the forehead.
Let’s come to the still unsolved mystery even today; Has George Mallory climbed to the summit of Mount Everest?
According to Sir Edmund Hillary, who made his name in history as the first person to climb the summit of Mount Everest, it is highly probable that George Mallory and his friend have reached the summit. Since the snow goggles are not worn but in their pocket, it is thought that when the sun angle is considered, the duo reached the summit and this accident occurred on the way down.
Another proof is understandable, if not scientific. Before George Mallory left the house, he told his wife that he had taken the photograph of his daughter with him and that he would bury it there if he made it to the top. There was no photograph of the girl among the items found on the body. For this reason, it is thought that George Mallory climbed to the top of Mount Everest, buried the photograph of his daughter and died in an accident on the way down.
We talked about the story of George Mallory and his friend Andrew Irvine, who lost their lives while climbing Mount Everest and whose body was found many years later. One can’t help but think, has he thought, while taking his last breath, that he wished he had never left my warm home?
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