A Story from Long Ago About Mt. Everest

Last week I mentioned about the devastating earthquake in Nepal.  This week I wanted to share with you a story that takes us back to 1924.  It takes place in this same, exact area of the world.

My home state of Washington is home to Mt. Rainier; a majestic mountain that has an summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 metres).  It is one of the tallest mountains in the United States.  Mt. Rainier is also a dangerous volcano.  It's located in the Cascade Mountain Range of the Pacific Northwest.  (You may recall Mt. St. Helens which erupted in May 1980 is also part of this same mountain range).  Mt. Rainier National Park is located 54 miles southeast of Seattle. 

 I found this photo in my photo album.  This is Louise who was visiting us from England.  You can see majestic Mt. Rainier in the background.

Because of Mt. Rainier's presence, mountain climbing is a prominent sport in my state. There are numerous professional, world renowned mountain climbing guides.  One of these is Eric Simonson.  Eric is from Ashford, Washington which is located a few miles west of Mt. Rainier National Park. 

In 1999 Eric Simonson headed the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition.  Their purpose was to discover whether George Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew "Sandy" Irvine summitted Mt. Everest during their British Everest Expedition in 1924. This  1999 research expedition was primarily sponsored by the BBC.

George Mallory, was a 38 year old British school teacher.  He chose as his climbing partner 22 year old Andrew "Sandy" Irvine who was an engineering student at Merton College, Oxford.  Irvine was not a vastly experienced climber but he had the engineering knowledge to keep the vital oxygen equipment in working order.  That is why Mallory chose Irvine.  

The British Everest Expedition started out in March of 1924, arriving in Darjeeling, India. The expedition walked for several weeks into Tibet from India (the only way back then) to reach their base camp.  They had a time limit to conclude their expedition before the summer monsoon season arrived in June which would then bring heavy snow.   

On June 7, 1924 the last attempt to summit was made by Mallory and Irvine, climbing up the North Face of the mountain to a base camp.  This was where they would spend their last night on the mountain.    They set out from their camp on June 8, 1924 and were seen by a fellow team member.  They were less than 800 feet from reaching the summit when a snowstorm appeared and they were never seen again.  It was based on this last sighting as to whether these men made it to the summit.

For all these years it has been debated whether Mallory and Irvine summitted Mt. Everest.  Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are credited with being the first to reach the summit in 1953.  For 75 years it was a mystery as to what happened to Mallory and Irvine.  Mallory's ice axe was found back in 1933 by an expedition led by Hugh Ruttledge.  In 1986 Chinese climber Zhang Junyan told a story about how his tent mate had happened upon "an English dead" in 1975 at 26,570 elevation.  This "tent mate" was killed in an avalanche so no further information could be obtained.

When Simonson and his group set out in the spring of 1999, they immediately found Mallory's well preserved body on May 1, 1999 at 27,000 feet.  At first they thought it was Irvine's body but upon closer examination, they found Mallory's name on the clothing tags.  And his hair had been bleached due to exposure to the elements all those years. 

The Search for Mallory and Irvine by Peter Firstbrook tells this fascinating story.

Mallory's body was found at 26,800 feet (8,170 metres).  He was found lying on his front with his arms oustretched.  This position suggests that he was "sliding" down the North Face.  His body has become part of the mountain, lying there all those years.  They did discover he had a serious injury to his forehead but the upper part of his body was well preserved.  They found a rope around his waist so it is thought that he would have been roped to his partner, Irvine, when he fell.

The researchers have put together a time line of Mallory's and Irvine's last day.  They have concluded that the earliest they would have reached the summit that day was at 7:00 PM.  This would have been at sunset.  Their descent would have been in darkness and without any flashlights.  Therefore, it is inconclusive as to whether they attained their goal of reaching the summit.

When you think about Mallory and Irvine's expedition, it is amazing that they did reach this far considering the equipment that was available at that time.  Among the items they found upon Mallory's body included his goggles, rope, scissors, altimeter and Swan Vesta matches.  They also found three letters addressed to Mallory from his friends and family which were perfectly preseved due to the cold, dry air.

The research expedition did not attempt to recover Mallory's body but they did perform a committal service over his body with one of the members reading from Psalm 103.  They buried his body under loose stones.

There's so much more I could add to this story but if you have an interest to find out more, please read this book.  Many of the artifacts that were recovered were later displayed at the Washington History Museum in Tacoma, WA.  Unfortunately, I did not attend any viewing of these items.

History never ceases to amaze me.  You never know where you will find something that is connected to another worlds apart.  So, here's my little story from my part of the world that connects to a different part of the world.

My best to you,

Pat

 

(I'm still working my my shawl. )

Linking up with:
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The Art of Homemaking Mondays 
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