Lost on Everest: A Century of Unsolved Mystery

More than a century ago, a man was asked a question at a lecture he was giving in the United States. The answer to that question defined the closing stages of the golden age of adventure and exploration. The question was ‘Why climb Everest?’. The answer was ‘Because it’s there’. The man who gave this answer defined future generations of mountaineers and gave birth to one of most enduring mysteries of the 20th Century - one which still endures in the 21st, and more importantly remains unsolved.

The man was George Leigh Mallory, who, along with his young climbing partner Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine attempted in 1924 to summit Mount Everest from the treacherous North Face on the Tibetan side. They were seen for the last time on June 8, 1924, a few hundred feet short of the summit. According to Noell Odell, the man who saw them, they were going strong. Then the clouds rolled in and Mallory and Irvine were never seen again.

In 1999, an expedition was launched to try to find the bodies of Mallory and Irvine and the camera carried by Irvine, which carried a roll of Kodak film. Kodak believed the film, preserved by the extreme cold, could still be developed, potentially solving the mystery of whether they reached Everest's summit 29 years before Hillary and Norgay's successful ascent in 1953.

American mountaineer Conrad Anker, part of the team, made an astounding discovery - the body of Mallory sprawled on the

. Although Mallory’s remains were remarkably well preserved, the expedition failed to find the clue that could solve the mystery - the camera. However, other clues suggested Mallory and Irvine were able to summit Everest.

Mallory’s snow goggles were in his pocket, which suggested he (and possibly Irvine) were on their descent. But here, a significant clue was missing - a photograph of Mallory’s wife Ruth. He had promised Ruth if he made it to the summit, he would place her photograph there.

Last month, exactly 100 years on, another expedition came across a foot on the slopes of the North Face. A closer examination of that revealed a name tag - A. Irvine. It was Sandy Irvine’s foot.

The tale of Mallory and Irvine’s 1924 expedition to Everest has continued to fascinate and flummox mountaineers and historians. Mallory was perhaps the best climber of his generation. The 1924 expedition was his third Everest foray. Mallory first visited Everest in 1921, where he discovered a potential route to the summit. In 1922, he and his team reached 27,000 feet - the highest altitude achieved at that time - but a monsoon thwarted their ascent. The expedition ended tragically when an avalanche struck during their descent from the North Col, claiming the lives of seven climbers - the first fatalities on the mountain.

In 1924, Mallory was 37, and he knew that this would be his final chance to conquer Everest. He chose the inexperienced 22-year-old Irvine as his climbing partner. Mallory knew that supplemental oxygen would be key for a successful summit. Irvine was just the man for the job as he knew how to work the rather primitive oxygen apparatus. After going through the motions of establishing camps along the way the pair finally reached the camp from which they would make the final assault. In their path lay the second step - a hundred-foot cliff which they would have to free climb. The second step was the crux of the climb. Today climbers scale it with the help of a ladder. But Mallory and Irvine had to do it in a free climb at 28,000 feet with 7,000 feet drop to the bottom of the mountain. And there lies the heart of the myth (or mystery) - did they do it or not?

But what is it that drove that generation to take these incredible risks? Why do it in face of such overwhelming odds? Why be away from one’s family and home for months and months? The answer perhaps lies in the gruesome experience that the First World War, of ‘The Great War’ of 1914-18 had offered such men. An entire generation had been wiped out in the trenches of Europe and the far-flung corners of the British Empire. For the survivors, it was perhaps a sense to make the most of what life had to offer. Mallory had served in the trenches of the Western Front and saw the carnage of the Somme. The quest for Everest offered a final frontier, a higher purpose. Wade Davis, in his monumental book ‘Into the Silence,’ suggests this pursuit of transcendence was what propelled Mallory and others from his generation.

Mallory and Irvin1e till this day lie on the North Face. But the mystery still demands a final answer.

(The author is a practising advocate at the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh and a military history enthusiast. Views personal.)