Mallory, Irvine and Everest, page 26
• Before he fell, Mallory had been descending without gloves, for a period long enough for both hands to suffer frostbite.
• Mallory fell an indeterminate distance, between about 300 and about 700 feet vertically.
• Given the single puncture wound to his forehead, and no other damage to his face, Mallory did not slide face-down.
• Given the final orientation of his body and his crossed legs, Mallory’s fall had some element of rolling motion in additional to his movement downwards. His outstretched arms may be a consequence of a rolling fall rather than a voluntary positioning.
The rope
The climbers found, entangled around Mallory’s body, a rope:
Anker: ‘… a white, braided cotton rope [was] tied to his waist, about three eighths of an inch in diameter. The rope was tangled around his left shoulder. About ten feet from his waist, I could see the frayed end where the rope had broken …’16
This naturally raised the question of whether, at the moment of his fall, Mallory had been roped to Irvine. If so, Mallory should have had rope injuries; and Irvine, if he had perished in the same event, should be on or near the same fall line. Absent any pathology report, the evidence and the climbers’ recollections led to no conclusion:
EverestNews: ‘We asked some of the climbers who found Mallory. They told us they saw no rope injuries (except that the rope was frozen into and around his body).’17
Pollard: ‘… George Mallory did NOT have rope burns, or other clear indications that the rope pulled into his body, when he fell.’18 [upper case in original]
Simonson: ‘The Mallory rope was cut by the 1999 team with a knife to get it off his body (it was tightly wrapped and frozen around it). Later, we tried to compare the cut ends which had been cut by knife with the ends from 1924…to see if there was a difference. It was inconclusive …. we couldn’t really tell one way or the other, if, for example if the 1924 end had been cut or broken in a fall.’19
To this author, as a non-climber, the simplest interpretation is that Mallory was equipped for roping up with Irvine if necessary; the rope does not tell us that the two were roped together when Mallory fell.
Artifacts
Mallory’s right boot was still on his foot. His left boot had disintegrated; all that was found of it was part of the leather upper. The climbers removed the right boot and what remained of the left; these were eventually donated to the Royal Geographical Society, which periodically has placed them on public display in London and at Chester Cathedral in England.
The climbers took samples of what remained of Mallory’s clothing. These samples, in themselves, have never led to any meaningful research on Mallory and Irvine’s climb or on the manner of Mallory’s death. The samples did provide a basis for the manufacture of a replica of Mallory’s climbing outfit (excluding his boots), on which we reported in chapter 4.
Among the artifacts that the climbers removed, the following might have had some forensic significance:
• the envelope of the letter from ‘Stella’, on which we reported in chapter 11, and which appeared to bear Mallory’s notes of five oxygen cylinders and their respective pressures
• ‘… a pair of goggles. The frames were bent, but the green glass was unbroken.’20
• ‘… adjustable webbing straps attached to a metal spring clip (to hold an oxygen mask to the flying helmet) …’21
• ‘a single fingerless glove’22
• ‘… a smashed altimeter … with a range from 20,000 feet to 30,000 feet … Inscribed on the back, in fine script, was ‘M.E.E. II’23 … The hand was missing from the dial …’24
• and finally, a discovery by Politz on 16 May 1999: ‘… a wristwatch. The glass was gone from its face, and the minute and second hands were broken off, but the short hour hand pointed to between one and two, a little closer to two. (Later, the hour hand was accidentally broken off as they carried the watch down to Base Camp.)’25
Hemmleb would later recall that no-one had reported finding the glass from the watch or the altimeter, or fragments of the glass, in Mallory’s pockets. Therefore, there could be an inference that the glass of both items had been broken before Mallory put them in his pocket.
Figure 13.6. The watch found in Mallory’s trouser pocket; a photograph taken before the hour hand was lost. (Thom Dharma Pollard)
Here we should record that the watch was found to be in working order. The spring had run down, and when it was re-wound, the watch started working again.
This author’s interpretation of the artifacts, from the perspective of a non-climber, is as follows:
• Mallory and Irvine had at least five cylinders of oxygen, all full or nearly full, available at Camp V on 6 June 1924, or at their Camp VI on 7 June. How many they carried on the last climb, we cannot say.
• The goggles carried in a pocket, tell us that, as Politz was the first to observe, Mallory fell at a time of day when goggles were not needed; either in the residual daylight after sunset, or in darkness.
• The straps for the oxygen mask tell us that Mallory fell when he was not using oxygen.
• The single inner glove, in a pocket, tells us that Mallory had lost one inner glove, a pair of outer gloves, and possibly also a pair of mittens.
• The altimeter and the watch tell us nothing about Mallory’s and Irvine’s last climb.
Here we may recall the injunction of Sherlock Holmes about the dog that did not bark in the night. The following items were not found on or near Mallory’s body, or in any radius of the body that was searched in 1999 or on subsequent expeditions:
• an oxygen cylinder, a carrying frame, an oxygen regulator, a breathing tube or fitting, an oxygen mask, or any part of any of these
• an ice axe or any part or fragment of one
• a compass
• a torch or lantern
• a camera, film or any part thereof (nor, as we observed in chapter 11, would we expect it).
Finally, in Mallory’s pockets, the climbers found an assortment of personal items, none of which could shed light on the nature of his climb; and no rocks of any kind.
From the condition of Mallory’s body, from all the objects known to have been found, and from those not found or never reported, we can reasonably conclude that Mallory fell after sunset, and had not been prepared to be in the open at that time of day. He was on a descent; he was not carrying oxygen cylinders; his hands were frostbitten but his face and feet were not. We do not know whether he fell on 8 June 1924 or later (though it could hardly be later than 9 June). We do not know whether he was with Irvine, or alone.
Pollard and Politz
For a climber’s perspective on Mallory’s fall, and one which seems to have no preconceived narrative, this author acknowledges the generosity of Pollard and Politz. On 11 August 2022, Pollard published this conversation with Politz, about the events of 1 May 1999, when the team discovered Mallory’s body:
Pollard: ‘[you] went down to the Mallory site, by going way out west from Camp Six, not that far, and zigzagging down …’
Politz: ‘… my goal was to go up there, are we sure the camera hadn’t just fallen out? Yeah, so the idea with the metal detector was to sweep the area, sweep up high, down … and I walked straight down to George Mallory. I don’t know if I deviated more than fifty feet. And so I walked down his fall line … and I’m pretty sure he fell out of this gully I was going up into.’
Pollard: ‘So, 27,000 feet approximately, would you say?’
Politz: ‘… below the Yellow Band, yeah, steep gully, it’s real slabby rock, would have been very difficult to down-climb … but how Mallory fell, that’s a whole ‘nother discussion.’26
Figure 13.7 includes this author’s approximation of the down-climb that Politz made on 1 May 1999, from the steep gully in the Yellow Band, to Mallory’s body. The high point of that track, in the gully, is at about 27,300 feet.
In short, Politz believes that Mallory did not fall from high in the Yellow Band, but from near the base, in the gully. If that was so: what Mallory was doing there, and where he was going, or trying to go, is indeed another discussion.
Figure 13.7. An approximation of the down-climb by Andy Politz on 1 May 1999. (Base image © CNES / Airbus / Google Earth. Climb track adapted from map of 1999 search areas and findings, by courtesy of Jake Norton. Legend and graphics by author)
2001 and beyond: an odyssey
With Mallory discovered, and the mystery of his last climb unresolved, attention turned to Irvine. Among believers in a camera, there was still the possibility that Irvine had carried one; and if so, that it might still be on or near his body; and if so, that the film might still be developed.
After 1999, at least eight expeditions made some attempt to search for further traces of Mallory, or for the remains of Irvine: in 2001, 2004 (at least two separate parties), 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2019 (two parties). Of these expeditions, only that of 2001 conducted what we might call a systematic area search; the others appear to have made linear searches, along narrow trajectories. Probably the totality of the searches does not exceed a few per cent of the area of the North Face.
In April 2001, six members of the 1999 team returned to Everest: Simonson as leader, Hahn, Norton, Politz and Richards as climbers, and Hemmleb as historian and researcher. The team was completed by four new Western members and twenty-three Sherpa from Nepal. This author is indebted to Jake Norton for sharing an unpublished map which shows that the team searched the North Ridge; an expanse of the North Face to the northeast of Mallory’s body; and parts of the Yellow Band and the Northeast Ridge above the body.27
As we recorded in chapter 11, it was on this expedition that Norton and Okita rediscovered Colonel Norton’s and Somervell’s Camp VI; and Norton found a woollen mitten near the top of the Yellow Band. Norton and Okita recovered several artifacts, but none that was positively linked to Mallory or Irvine. The 2001 expedition found many traces of British expeditions from the 1920s and 1930s, and some from the Chinese climbs of 1960 and 1975; but with regard to Mallory and Irvine, nothing was found that could advance our understanding of their last climb.
In April and May 2004, Hahn and Norton made another search on the North Face28. Their main search areas were on the North Ridge above the 1924 Camp VI, and in the Yellow Band, mainly between the 1933 Camp VI and the First Step.29
Norton later wrote on his blog:
‘In 2004, while Dave Hahn and I were searching, EverestNews also conducted a search with two Sherpa doing the work: Chhiring Dorje … and Nawang Jimba …’30
As we reported in chapter 12, an account exists that Chhiring Dorje was a member of the 1995 Nihon University expedition to Everest, led by Kiyoshi Furuno31; and that during this climb, Chhiring saw a body somewhere near the Northeast Ridge. This has been not confirmed publicly by Chhiring himself, and his presence on Everest that year is not listed in the Himalayan Database. Between 1998 and 2018, Chhiring climbed Everest at least fourteen times32. In May and June 2004, he was a member of the SummitClimb Everest Expedition 2004, led by Daniel Mazur33. If in fact he was searching on behalf of EverestNews, no results of this search exist in the public domain.
Regarding the searches in 2010, 2011 and 2012, this author is grateful to Jake Norton for confirming the following:
• On 26 May 2010, Guenther Goeberl and Sepp Bachmaier34 searched in the Yellow Band near the two rock towers, above the 1933 Camp VI. Jake Norton’s report: ‘[They] searched into the area of the Warts [the two rock towers] as part of Jochen Hemmleb’s 2010 expedition. They found nothing.’35
• On 22 May 2011, Phurba Ongel36 down-climbed the Yellow Band to the northeast of the two towers.
• On 27 May 2011, Stefan Fritsche, Pasang Gelu and Phurba Ongel37 made a search on the North Face. Jake Norton reported that they searched the ‘area through the Yellow Band to the Longland Traverse, up to the Northeast Ridge and out northeast along the Ridge toward the Pinnacles, and finally back again beneath the Warts to the traditional [modern] climbing route. Nothing of note was discovered.’38
• On 27 May 2012 Jamie McGuinness39 made a brief search of a ledge about halfway up the Yellow Band: ‘… I only explored one long ledge similar or identical to your [Jake Norton’s] 19 May 2004 search … The most sheltered ‘alcove’ was entirely snow-free and I looked very carefully to spot old fabric etc – nothing’40.
At the time of writing, the most recent climbs in search of Irvine were those of 2019, by Norton, Sid Pattison and Ken Sauls41, and by an expedition sponsored by National Geographic42. Norton’s climb was virtually on the crest of the Northeast Ridge, about 300 feet above the 1933 Camp VI. Norton later wrote as follows:
‘On May 24, 2019, Sid Pattison and I, along with cameraman Ken Sauls, searched again the area of the Warts. … Sid and I were able to push through the Warts and into the terrain beyond [to the northeast], but found nothing …’43
Finally, Mark Synnott, of the National Geographic expedition of 2019, recounted his descent from the approved climbing route, to the ‘slot’ where, on the basis of film from a drone camera, he had been instructed to find the body of Irvine:
‘There was nothing there.’44
and in an interview with Pollard on 18 April 2022, he said with disarming frankness:
‘… I think I can say with a fair amount of certainty that we were on a complete wild goose chase.’45
Figure 13.8. Mallory imagined, at peace, 16 May 1999. (Author, after a photograph by John Noel; after a detail from our cover painting by Balázs Petheő; after the description on p.199 by Thom Dharma Pollard)
Epilogue
However Improbable
The American poet John Godfrey Saxe, in the year 1872, published a poem titled ‘The Blind Men and the Elephant’. The first verse was as follows:
‘It was six men of Indostan / To learning much inclined /
Who went to see the elephant / (Though all of them were blind) /
That each by observation / Might satisfy his mind.’1
Saxe’s poem was based on an ancient parable, said to have originated in India and possibly to have been told by the Buddha. It concerned six blind men who attempted, by touching an elephant, to determine what kind of object it might be. (We can see where this is going.) One blind man, groping the vast side of the elephant, proclaimed it to be a wall. Another, grasping the trunk, took it to be a snake. A third, seizing the tail, was sure that the elephant was a rope. And so on … None of them could grasp that the elephant might be all of these things.
So it is with Mallory. Placing our hands on the mystery of Mallory and Irvine, we are at risk of making Mallory the elephant, and ourselves the blind men. That is, we can construct a Mallory who is smart or stupid; meticulous or scatter-brained; careful or foolhardy; gay or straight; clumsy or graceful; a tweedy Englishman or a big hard hero. Then we might fight among ourselves, as in one version of the parable the blind men did, over whether Mallory was this or that.
We are not entitled to invent a Mallory of our own devising, and then to demand that his actions on any given day conform to our invention.
Sherlock Holmes liked to say to his friend Dr Watson that when one had eliminated the impossible, what remained, however improbable, must be the truth. Our mission in this book has not been as ambitious as that of Holmes; that is, we have not tried to eliminate the impossible, but merely to eliminate the more improbable. Thereby we may remain with the less improbable. The elephant is an improbable creature; so was Mallory. The events of 8 June 1924, a priori, were improbable.
In the foregoing chapters we have endeavoured to adhere to the facts of that day, and of the preceding days and years, as related by those who were there. We have attempted to avoid opinions, speculation, and preconceived narrative.
Some of these facts permit the following statements of improbability:
• It is improbable that Mallory and Irvine departed their Camp VI before dawn.
• It is improbable that Mallory and Irvine attempted to climb either the First Step or the Second Step, or took any prolonged route on the crest of the Northeast Ridge.
• It is improbable that Mallory fell on the ascent.
• It is improbable that Mallory fell from the location where the ice axe was found.
• It is improbable that Mallory fell during the hours of daylight.
In the mystery of Mallory and Irvine, one observation is central: Odell’s sighting of them at 12:50 pm. If we do not believe that sighting at all, then all bets are off. If we do believe it, then we have to conclude that Odell saw the climbers at the base of the summit pyramid: that is, on or near the formation that modern climbers call the Third Step. If we believe that, then there was no obstacle of any consequence between them and the summit: and it would follow that sometime between 3 pm and 4 pm on 8 June 1924, they were the first human beings to stand at the highest point in the world.
What happened thereafter remains, for now, a mystery. It may be resolved or elucidated if any climber or drone operator should discover the mortal remains of Andrew Irvine; or if anyone should climb any of the routes that we called the “Norton variations”, and find any artifact thereon.
As to Irvine’s final resting place: among all the reported sightings of “old English dead”, there is one which was made on the highest authority, has never been challenged or repudiated, and is not a sighting of Mallory. It is that of Wang Fu-zhou, a member of the 1960 Chinese summit team, who in 1965, in his speech to the Geographical Society of the Soviet Union, said that he had seen the body of a “European in braces”2.
Wang’s reference to the altitude implied that the unfortunate climber had probably been between the Second Step and the Third Step. The modern climbing route threads a narrow and well-defined line between those steps, and hundreds of people have taken that route, but Wang’s story has never been the subject of a serious investigation.
