Twenty-four years ago, in 1999, Conrad Anker discovered the remains of George Mallory on Mount Everest as part of our 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition.
Since that time, a lot has transpired: numerous searches have been conducted, many camps and artifacts have been found, and a plethora of theories, ideas, and observations have been made about the final days and hours of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine in June 1924.
A year ago, after many requests, I posted an interactive, visual project showing as best I could the searches that took place 1999-2019 (the latter being the last time the North Side of Everest was open, and the last time searches were conducted), the routes and areas searched, items found, etc. It turned out fairly well, I think, but many people had one request: to overlay all the findings on a head-on view of Everest rather than a top-down view from a satellite.
Well, doing that took recreating all the data points on new images, so it took some time. But, I finally worked my way through the last bits recently, and have a new, updated version to share with you all. This new version has the original satellite view, plus two additional "head on" views.
The first head-on view is a multi-image panorama taken by me from Rongbuk Basecamp in May 2004 as Dave Hahn and I wrapped up our 2004 search expedition. The second is an enhanced image taken from a helicopter by Simone Moro when I was attempting the West Ridge in 2012. Simone took the image at our request so we could suss out the conditions in the Diagonal Ditch and Hornbein Couloir, but it ended up being a great image for this purpose as well.
As always, please read the instructions (which open on load) and the caveats in there. But, most importantly, enjoy, and let me know what questions/concerns/corrections you may have!
This is top shelf work once again Jake. I havent seen anything like this anywhere else.
Am still wrapping my head around it all and the intricacies and terrifying gradients. So much ground seems to have been covered but i guess there is still a possibility Irvine is somewhere up there under rocks and snow.
Hopefully someone can keep on looking.
Cheers Alex
Thanks, Alex. It was fun to put together, albeit enormously frustrating at times from a software point of view. But, glad you enjoyed it!
It is a complex region to be sure, and not a fun one to "search" in, as so much focus is spent on just not becoming the subject of a future search mission! But, like you said, a lot of the ground has been covered and searched somewhat thoroughly. I still think there are places where Irvine could be, and not yet been found, and of course other artifacts from their attempt. Would love (kind of) to get back for another search someday, but not holding my breath for that to come to fruition!
Best, Jake
Last paragraph of Introduction, "The first one if built on a multi-image panorama..."
Jake as an excellent athlete and amateur outdoors man like Irvine, I would have died on Everest with Mallory. The following is how: We stopped below the 1st step and I leaned my axe to use both hands. When finished we continued in our zoombie state toward CampVI. After a few minutes, I realize that I forgot my axe. I tugged on the 30ft tether and got Mallory's attention. He knew that we couldn't get down without the axe. Retracing his steps he approached me and this is when fatigue and disgust broke Mallory's concentration. Without warning he slipped and we plummeted down the North face. After what seemed an eternity, I stopped sliding. In an exhausted, hypothermic state I lay there semi-conscious, but unbroken. Finally, my life force prompted me to move. I called for Mallory but no answer. I tugged on the tethered and felt resistance. I crawled over and found Mallory unresponsive. I pulled my knife and cut the tether. With my OODA loop spinning out of control, I made a decision to keep moving East with a Horizontal decent. In my weak and confused state, I tried desperately to hug the 30 degree face. Unfortunately without an axe or lamp, my progress was so slow that the hypothermia overwhelmed me. I made it maybe 50 feet and then gravity pulled me off the mountain. Basically unconscious, I free fell in that comfortable dream state until hitting the glacier below. (This scenario is based on my many negative outdoor adventures: hypothermia, lost after dark, sliding down shale walls, rock faces, icy slopes and pitched roofs, cold hands, frozen ropes. Even extreme exhaustion. Not being properly trained for failure resulted in many near death experiences. Panic and confusion below 6000Ft is survivable not at 26,000ft+.) Thank you for all the details in search of answers to this mystery.
Thank you, Shawn. Hoping one day we'll have more answers!
Why do the marks you have on one map differ from the marks you have on your interactive map? Specifically the distance and angle from the ice axe to Mallory’s body ? Michale Tracy makes some good points about this. Also what happened to Mallory’s 2nd glove ? Did Thom Pollord take it when they were stripping Mallory of everything?
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for your note, and sorry for my delayed reply. I've been in Tanzania guiding and off grid for the most part.
Anyway, on the marks, I'm not sure what other maps aside from the interactive map you are referring to, but happy to address those questions if you can be more specific. I know well that Michael likes to pick apart everything that everyone has done with regard to telling this story (aside from his own work on it), and seems to come at everything with an angle of conspiracy, malintent, etc. That's his prerogative and I'm not interested in debating him on those fronts any longer as it seems to always lead to him insisting nefarious things were and are and always have been afoot.
Regardless, as for the ice ax, the truth is no one really knows where exactly the ax was found by Sir Percy Wyn-Harris in 1933. I looked around quite a bit in 2001 with Brent Okita (not knowing at the time that Sir Percy had actually taken both axes to Camp VI and didn't, as had been reported, leave his behind) to no avail. So, I personally can't say where with any precision Irvine's ax was found in '33. I don't believe anyone can. So, certainly my markings are not precise on the interactive/virtual Everest, nor on the search maps project I put together. The reason: I don't know where it was found, nor do I think the precise location matters much. If one knows this terrain, they know that it is an area where a fall of any magnitude is extremely unlikely, whether it be Mallory or Irvine or someone in the modern era. So, personally I'm not sure what the issue is, and I'm sure Michael has made something of it all, but I haven't paid much attention to him and his videos in quite some time for reasons already stated.
As for a second glove, no, I don't think Thom took it. I know Michael is likely pushing that narrative - again, conspiracy and evil abound in his worldview I reckon - but I have a hard time imagining Thom swiping a glove to put it on his mantel or something. To what end? Why would he do that, and then hide it from the world? It makes no sense outside of a fever dream. But, to me more specific, as it was Tap Richards and I doing most of the work in Mallory's pockets, etc., I only know of one glove being found. Just one. Conrad and David Roberts likely got it wrong, or more likely it was missed in the final edits and went to print that there were two gloves. These things happen.
Thanks, Ryan. Please understand I appreciate Michael Tracy's work to a large degree and the new information and ideas he's brought up even if I disagree with some of his theories. It is his insistence that everyone but him is either stupid, evil, or both, and working hard to hide the truth, that I find both sad and distracting from the good information he has. Too bad, but such is life.
Dear Jake,
sorry for my English language, but I left school a long time ago...
One question has been bothering me over the years. When Odell left camp VI at 4.30 p.m. he watched the upper part of the mountain, but couldn't see any trace of Mallory and Irvine. Since you know the location of camp VI and the perspective to the summit, my question to you: Is it possible that Odell wasn't able to see his companions for several minutes, because they were hidden behind rocks or moving in a gully or something else ? Or does this mean, that Mallory had already fallen to his death ?
Thank you very much,
Ulrich Holzinger (from Germany)
Guten tag, Ulrich! Thanks for your note, and no worries about English - yours seems better than mine, and certainly better than my German!
That's a good question regarding Odell and why he couldn't see Mallory and Irvine when he looked in the afternoon of June 8. The photo below gives you a pretty accurate view of what Odell would have seen from Camp VI on the North Ridge. Brent Okita took this photo of my in 2001 when we found the 1924 Camp VI, and the Camp is located just 50 meters of so above where this was taken. As you can see, the First, Second, and Third Steps are all pretty clear and defined, and you can even see Mushroom Rock pretty easily. So, this would have been essentially the view Odell would have had:
So, I think if they were on the Ridge, he would have seen them. But, if they were, at 4:30 PM, not on the ridgecrest it would be easy to miss them.
If interested, I wrote a piece last year about Odell's final view: https://jakenorton.com/to-see-or-not-to-see-that-is-the-question-for-noel-odell/
Hope this helps, and write back with more questions!
- Jake
Brent Okita's fantastic photo is an answer to all of my question. Thank you very much for your detailed explanations. The possibility that Odell may have overlooked his companions makes all theories seem possible. Your link was also very helpful for me!
Dear Jake,
since you allowed me to ask you further questions, I have to take the opportunity to do so...
Based on the new informations (or only rumors ?) in the last few years I fear that the search for Andrew Irvine and Howard Sommervell`s missing camera might be over (of course I hope you will disagree with me immediately). In that case the only thing left to do would be to search for further artifacts in particular for the missing (I think) 3 oxygen bottles and especially the two carry frames. Now my questions to you: After the intensive search over the past 25 years do you think it´s possible that the carry frames still can be found on the north face ? In particular has the area above the second step (I once read about the so-called Olgas ?) already been explored ? Or in your opinion would it be possible that the carry frames are still hidden deep under snow and ice ? In the best case of course in the snow field below the summit ? I simply can´t imagine that a mountaineer could have taken Mallory´s "bloody load" as a souvenir or that it could have been dumped down the Kangshung face ? On the other hand the north face below the second step sometimes lookes free of snow, so that someone sometime must have noticed the frames ? So where are the carry frames in your opinion ? So many questions ...
Thank you so much
Ulrich
Hi Ulrich,
Thanks, and keep the questions coming! On the O2 cylinders and frames, I'm of the mind (as are others) that those are the greatest chance remaining of finding anything substantive on the upper mountain. Perhaps Irvine is still there - I for one hope so! - but barring that I do think the question of where those bottles and frames are is a very pertinent one. My team (David Morton and Adrian Ballinger along with cameraman John Griber) did search some above the Second Step in 2019, but did not have time to search extensively due to weather and crowding. I think another, more thorough search above the Second Step, and up to the Third Step and beyond around the Pyramid, would have the highest chance of giving us more answers. And, while it seems impossible, people do get into tunnel vision mode up there, walking along without really seeing anything - so a frame or bottle could easily have been missed over the years. An example of this is the 1933 Camp VI which had a pack frame sitting in it for 68 years, right in the climbing route, and no one bothered to look at it in all that time until I yanked on it and pulled it out in 1999. Crazy, but true!
Jake:
I know it is accepted wisdom that they took the ridge in some version of the modern route, but other than the disputed interpretation of Odell's report, I have never seen any actual evidence they did so. Mallory himself said he had no intention of taking on the kind of obstacles it represented, there is no physical evidence that puts them on the ridge above the first step, and nothing about the apparent timing of events -- "going strong" near the base of the summit at 12:50, fatal fall below the first step after dark -- supports a ridge route. And since one of his teammates got close to the summit on a lower route just a couple of days before and turned back not because of problems with the route, but mostly because he ran out of time and energy, Mallory and Irvine, with oxygen, would have seen that route quite favorably.
So why in your view do so many take it for granted that they climbed the second step? If we started from scratch and there were no egos or politics at work there is little chance that would be the verdict of an impartial jury.
Hi Don,
Thanks for your comment and questions. I won't go into too much depth, as it seems your mind is fairly made up based on Mr. Tracy's arguments and the information he uses to underscore it. And that is fine, but not of interest to me to try and argue. I hope that makes sense.
In brief, no matter what Michael insists, no one - except for George Mallory and Andrew Irvine - know where they went that day. To say one does know is the ultimate hubris. The reality is, and has been since 1999, that we know small bits and pieces: they were around the base of the First Step at some point or points, leaving behind Bottle #9, the ice ax, and the mitten. They were atop one of the steps at 12:50 PM, but which step is 100% unknown and completely open to interpretation; just because I believe one thing and Michael believes another and Joe Schmoe thinks it was another doesn't make anyone right, as it's all conjecture. We of course know where Mallory was found, but not where from, when, or how he fell. We can assume with relative certainty due to the goggles he was descending after dark. We can assume with relative certainty due to the rope he was tied to Irvine until the end. We know his fall was bad - bad enough to shatter his right ankle, lacerate his back, break or dislocate his right elbow, and maybe put a hole in his forehead - but not bad enough to make him end up like Sergei and others we found who fell from high in the Yellow Band. From this we can assume with relative certainty his fall occurred somewhere in the lower 2/3 of the Yellow Band. But, aside from those bits, we don't know much.
I do disagree with your statement: "If we started from scratch and there were no egos or politics at work there is little chance that would be the verdict of an impartial jury." I have no idea how anyone's ego would have imagined them going on the Ridge: How would it benefit anyone's ego? As for politics, I'm not sure what you're meaning by that. Politics of when, of whom, and why? But, I can speak to my interpretation as a climber, as someone who has spent a fair bit of time on that mountain in general, and on that route in particular, and moving about the less-trodden parts of the North Face, Yellow Band, etc. To me, if I put my self in Mallory's shoes in the lead up to June 8, 1924, I'd be asking myself of course which route to take. I would have spoken extensively to Norton and Somervell, as Mallory most certainly did. I would know that Norton did not turn around simply because he ran out of energy, but - as you note - time and the very real, very described, nasty conditions of the snow in the Couloir and the dangers it represented. As Norton wrote:
From about the place where I met with these buttresses the going became a great deal worse ; the slope was very steep below me, the foothold ledges narrowed to a few inches in width, and as I approached the shelter of the big couloir there was a lot of powdery snow which concealed the precarious footholds. The whole face of the mountain was composed of slabs like the tiles on a roof, and all sloped at much the same angle as tiles. I had twice to retrace my steps and follow a different band of strata ; the couloir itself was filled with powdery snow into which I sank to the knee or even to the waist, and which was yet not of a consistency to support me in the event of a slip. Beyond the couloir the going got steadily worse ; I found myself stepping from tile to tile, as it were, each tile sloping smoothly and steeply downwards ; I began to feel that I was too much dependent on the mere friction of a boot nail on the slabs. It was not exactly difficult going, but it was a dangerous place for a single unroped climber, as one slip would have sent me in all probability to the bottom of the mountain. The strain of climbing so carefully was beginning to tell and I was getting exhausted. In addition my eye trouble was getting worse and was by now a severe handicap. I had perhaps 200 feet more of this nasty going to surmount before I emerged on to the north face of the final pyramid and, I believe, safety and an easy route to the summit. It was now 1 p.m., and a brief calculation showed that I had no chance of climbing the remaining 800 or 900 feet if I was to return in safety.
So, armed with that intel from Norton, I personally would look at the Ridge, look at the Couloir, and knowing the Couloir snow would not be any more consolidated in those few days, thus presenting an equal challenge to what Norton faced on the 4th, I would consider the Ridge as a viable, albeit unknown, option. Again, in my mind, Mallory could reasonably assume the Couloir would stop him as it had Norton, but the Ridge might present an opportunity not easily seen from below. We do know Mallory was considered a highly skilled rock climber, and while daunting, the Second Step was climbed by the Chinese in 1960 (with little to no rock climbing skills) using a courte-échelle, a technique that Mallory would have been used to.
Again, as a climber in a similar situation, I'd see it as 99% certain I'd get stuffed by conditions in the Couloir, and maybe 50/50 that I could find a way up or around the Second Step, and thus would take the better odds.
BUT, but, but, I - like Michael, like you, like everyone except the two who are no longer with us - really have no idea what they did 100 years ago. But it sure is fun to think about, to speculate, and to hope one day we'll know more with certainty.
Thanks again, Don, and all best, Jake
Jake,I really enjoying reading your posts and comments… As I can see so many people are in mystery od M and I. This time I won’t comment so much..just a few words.
Tomorrow is a 100 years!!
I PAY TRIBUTE TO THOSE TWO BRAVE MAN!!
Thanks, Vuk! And, see my most recent post if you want to join a livestream of the story tomorrow. Thanks again!
Hey Jake once again:).. Just a few sentences about bodies that where reported from Chinese.
1st) In 1960 Xu Jing saw a body around 8300-8400m.
2nd) In 1979 Wang told to Japanese climber that he saw (found) in 1975 a very old “British “ body around 8100-8200m at the foot of the rock.That body was on one of his sides..like prepare to sleep.That is told by Japanese climber.I saw interview in documentary in which you and your friends find Mallory.
So maybe that body at the “foot of the rock “ is Irvine. It’s not far away from Mallory body. But body is in totally different position.
Anyway,mystery is fascinating and I enjoy just to read or just think about it..
I have a wish to go on Everest and climb via North side.. Actually,I am not so much in go for the top..If u understand me.. I am more interested to reach between first and third step and then to do research!! And to see it for myself that terrain.. How much is it steep,cold,windy and everything else.
Best regards Jake!!:)
Thanks again, Vuk! And, yes, the stories of Xu Jing (1960), Wang Hungbao (1975), and Chhiring Dorje (1995) and what, where, and when they saw a body are very confusing. I do believe that Wang most likely found Mallory's body in 1975, and the description shared by Hasegawa years later had things lost in translation as Wang did not speak Japanese, and vice versa. But, who knows! I still hope one day we'll know more, and maybe that knowledge will come from you when you get up there to look around!
Thank you, and take care!
Dear Jake,
First of all, thank you ever so much for all your efforts on and off the mountain in this story!
Meanwhile, if you don't mind, I'll ask the following questions:
1) Did anyone try to work with sources (expedition accounts, popular articles, etc) on the topic in other languages, in particular, Russian and Chinese? I am sure there could lie further insights. For example, some 10 years ago I already wrote to Jochen Hemmleb with a link to a publication by the Alpine Club in St Petersburg (it was subsequently referenced on Wiki) that stated the following: during a lecture in the USSR in 1965 Wang Fu-chou mentioned finding a body of a European climber; that finding happened on the ascent, at 8600, below the second step; Xu Jing meanwhile stayed behind in the camp at 8500; when the body was spotted the Chinese climbers struggled with hypoxia (meaning, they could easily mix up the altitude or circumstances). Also, did anyone try to check the known accounts (e.g. interviews of the Chinese expedition members) for "lost in translation" episodes (double meaning of what they were saying, possible mispronunciation of words, etc)?
2) Did anyone try to check the following line of thought: the ice-axe was found in 1933 at a spot where Irvine removed an empty/expired bottle from the rig (so one should search the area for another bottle)? Basically, the approximate ice-axe spot and the location of bottle 9 are very near each other. It's quite possible that, say, bottle 33 (with less gas per Mallory's notes on an envelope) expired a bit earlier, Irvine stopped, put down the axe, removed the bottle, etc..Then he either forgot about the axe for some reason or deliberately left it there (perhaps, because previously he had lost a mitten and it was cold for his hand to carry the axe, while the terrain was not particularly difficult to negotiate at that spot).
3) When did the framing with the third step and the sighting of the pair by Odell enter the story? From the 1924 expedition accounts, it's clear that the prominent features having monikers among the expedition members were the 1st and the 2nd steps, and the summit pyramid. Third step as such was not talked about at all (it's a part of the pyramid). So, I guess your idea of the no-name step before the second one, near the mushroom rock may well be viable.
4) Did anyone try to search the area below the second step where the yellow band "connects with the bottom edge of the lower of the two black bands crossing the face of the mountain and of which the first and second steps are respectively the beginnings. At some distance along this route could be seen a gully by which it might be possible to reach the arete beyond and above the second step"? This is taken from Hugh Ruttledge's account of the 1933 expedition. According to him Wyn Harris and Wager (after having found the Irvine's axe) saw the second step face on, found it impenetrable, went down to inspect the gully, found it difficult, went into the great couloir, turned around at some point, and went back to the ice-axe spot and even the crest above. So, if they did that in search for the route in 1933, could it be the case that M&I also went for the gully in the hope of finding a way around the second step? Effectively, Wyn Harris and Wager were doing the next best thing (known to them!) in researching the route: and they picked up where Norton and Somervell left it (as, sadly, M&I could not share their knowledge). Wyn Harris's and Wager's was the first assault in 1933 and "they were to begin by a reconnaissance of the second step". So, in fact, they sort of did what M&I could have done. Maybe there are more chances of finding O2 bottles below the second step and near the aforementioned gully.
5) Why is so many attention still drawn to the line of thought "Mallory/both fell from the ice-axe spot"? Ruttledge was the first to suggest that in 1933. But he also suggested that the incident might have happened on the ascent, because M&I "would almost certainly have descended by a traverse somewhat lower down". We know his idea was wrong as bottle 9 was above the axe spot. Also, from Mallory's injuries it seems to be obvious that he kept the slope to his right when he got them - he was descending (plus kept the goggles in the pocket).
6) Finally, how likely is the version that the Chinese authorities have taken the bodies off the mountain? As per mention of the 1960 and later sightings, the authorities were in a unique position to actually know the location of both the GLM body and, possibly, Irvine's.
It's a lot of questions, I understand. Apologies for that. I am actually working on a material on the topic for the Russian-speaking audience, so, if it is easier to set up an interview with you, I would be most obliged. In any case I will be referring the reader to your pages too, that goes without mention)
With great respect, all the best!
Maxim
Dear Jake,
To follow up on the above and to add to it a bit:
1) I have now checked the description/interpretation of what Wang actually told Hasegawa. This is a piece from Audrey Salkeld, People in High Places: Approaches to Tibet (London: Jonathan Cape, 1991), page 130, which I am sure you well know of:
“…he said to me, ‘8,100 metre Engleese’, and he made a gesture to sleep. This gesture of sleeping was made in the way that you put your palms of both hands together against your cheek, and inclinde your head to one side with saying to children, ’Now let’s go sleep’…Then Wang opened his mouth, pointed his finger to his cheek, pecked it slightly with his finger, and whirled it as it to catch a dragonfly. He also gestured at his clothing, picking at it, moving his finger to his mouth and blowing off it.”
My first interpretation is as follows:
- up there, there is an English climber who fell into 'eternal sleep' (an euphemism for death, which is also used, for example, in Russia (I am Russian) to describe death; e.g. in Chinese (and Japanese for that matter) death maybe described as 长眠, sleep as 睡眠. Much depends on exact words Wang was using, while gestures were used to emphasised what was lost in translation;
- Wang implied the body of the climber was *hollow* due to birds having eaten its flesh - it's not about the cheek as such having been pecked by birds! Open your mouth, tap/peck with your finger on your cheek - you will hear a characteristic sound for something hollow. That's what Wang tried to convey, methinks. So, chances are what he saw was George's body. Not a definitive statement though.
2) Has it occured to anyone before that George was probably climbing with a weak *right* ankle, that was playing up? He fractured it while falling off a cliff in 1909. But these are excerpts from his letters to Ruth on the way to BC:
March 25, 1924: "...The only doubts I have are whether the old ankle one way or another will cause me trouble. Four of us walked up to Seneschal Hill yesterday afternoon to see the magnolias — I was trying my new boots from Dewberry; they are going to be good, but my right ankle didn’t feel too happy."
March 29, 1924: "I was wearing my new boots for the first time for a whole March and found them pretty comfortable, my ankle and hip and all going quite well too, so that I quite expect by the time we reach Phari I shall have ceased to think about them."
April 7, 1924: "I must tell you how wonderfully fit I have been these last days, much better at this stage I’m sure than either in ’21 or ’22. I feel full of energy and strength and walk up hill here already almost as in the Alps; I sleep long and well; my digestion is good, and in short I haven’t a trouble physically, unless one may count my ankle, of which I’m often conscious, but the leg seems perfectly strong and I’m sure it won’t let me down."
He was found with his right leg badly broken just above the boot. It's possible, but by no means definite, that even a moderate fall could lead to his bones snapping due to an old injury (which he had repeatedly tended to and had had it operated as described in the Wildest Dream by P. and L.Gillman, 2000).
Kind regards,
Maxim