Mallory and Irvine The Final Chapter

[NYBRAD]

I found the most recent theory very interesting. Much different from when they first discovered the body.
http://www.everestnews2004.com/malloryandirvine2004/stories2004/ourtheory.htm

 

[Puma concolor]

Well, my "yes" vote is clearly in the minority here, but I have to say I like EverestNews.com's theory. I've read numerous books on the subject ("Ghosts on Everest," "Detectives on Everest," Fearless on Everest," "The Wildest Dream," "The Second Death of George Mallory") and have tried to remain open-minded to both sides of the issue. The one thing I keep coming back to, though, is that the terrain Mallory fell on clearly suggests a fall brought on by fatigue and/or darkness. This suggests a Hurculean effort and/or summit fever.

Given that EverestNews had all but an exact location of the "old English dead" on this year's expedition and their climbers failed to find it, I would think that the body has fallen or been swallowed by the small crevasse it was seen in. It will probably never be known for sure and it of course it will never be proven that they didn't make it, but for those who like to believe in the possibility of the improbable (ie Red Sox fans!), a compelling argument can be made. I also have to say that for EverestNews to be saying "yeah, we think Mallory made it" is huge ... these guys are tough. There is nothing "romantic" about their theory.

 

[NYBRAD]

Well said Mark. I feel your pain.
I'm secretly wishing they made it, as well as secretly hoping the Sox win the WS.

I just don't think they ever made it past Second Step .

I think Conrad Anker free climbed it with oxygen, and then had some interesting remarks, but I can't remember what they were?

 

[Puma concolor]

Don't get me started on Anker!

First he rates it a 5.7 and then he changes his mind and rates it a 5.10. That's a pretty big difference. Notwithstanding, the whole question about the second step is why many feel Mallory/Irvine didn't make it. But consider this:

Four four decades, the climbing world pretty much universally rejected the 1960 Chinese claim to have summitted the North Side, citing inconsistencies in their story and the fact that later climbers felt they didn't have the skill for the second step. But in the last few years, comparitive photographic analysis has proved pretty much beyond a shadow of a doubt that they summitted (see "Detectives on Evererst). Included among the unorthodox methods used by the Chinese lead climber during the several hour long battle with the second step was REMOVING HIS BOOTS and doing it in his socks!!! I haven't seen anyone claim that Mallory wasn't a superior climber to even the best of the 1960 Chinese climbers. So could Mallory have surmounted the second step?? I think so. Clearly he gave it a hell of a try. Doesn't mean he made it over, but the arrogant assertions of Anker and Messner that it was impossible given the methods of the day is overly simplistic.

Definitely a favorite topic of mine, NYBRAD. Good poll.

 

[KZKlimber]

I understand that Mallory's body was entangled in a rope that had snapped - which begs the question - why would this be if he was not tied in with Irvine?

How do you think this fits in with the theory?

 

[Puma concolor]

Good question, KZ. I'll probably wind up re-reading a couple chapters in "Ghosts on Everest," but just taking a quick look at the photos of Mallory's body shows rope around his torso and upper legs. There is no rope above him and I can't recall the exact speculation about whether the rope had been spent out. I think most assumed (myself included) that they were tied when Mallory fell. EverestNews' theory simply asserts that when Mallory and Irvine became separated at the Second Step, Mallory kept the rope for possible later use. It has been obvious for awhile that they became separated, but I had believed that Irvine had probably wandered off and got lost after the fall. The idea of pre-fall separation is definitely interesting.

"The Red Sox are coming, The Red Sox are coming" - G. Mallory

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Mallory and Irvine on Everest

A few years ago (before Mallory's body was discovered) I was talking to someone who had been on the Second Step climbing the ladders (the 5.8 or whatever rock) when he happened to look to his left and noticed that the stepped part of the ridge was plastered with snow. Granted that the snow was steep, but in 1924 (a time near the end of the "Little Ice Age," when the snowpack commonly survived into the fall season in Tucks on Mt. Washington), the snow might have been even thicker on the ridge adjacent to the second step, and Mallory was an exceptional snow climber. So, since talking to this climber a few years ago, I had felt that Mallory had probably made the summit and perished somewhere on the way down. But, after learning the location of his body far off route, I had given up that idea. This new idea (technically, this idea is not a theory, not even a testable hypothesis, despite what Webster says) now makes more sense to me, as Mallory very well may have been able to negotiate the couloir route down, even in an oxygen-deprived state of mind. I voted nay before reading the latest piece.