George Mallory

George Mallory (1886-1924), British mountaineer, famed for the 1924 Everest attempt with climbing partner Andrew Irvine. Mallory was born in Mobberley, Cheshire, the son of a clergyman and was educated at Winchester College, where he excelled at sports. Thereafter he went to Magdalene College, Cambridge to read history. Here his friends and contemporaries included Rupert Brooke, Lytton Strachey, and Duncan Grant. Mallory was a gunner during World War I, but was invalided and took up a teaching position at Charterhouse School.

As an experienced mountaineer, Mallory was chosen as part of a reconnaissance trip to Everest in 1921. In 1922 he returned to the region with another expedition and reached as high as 8,230 m (27,000 ft) but tragically seven Sherpas were killed in an avalanche and the attempt on the summit was abandoned. Upon his return, Mallory embarked on a lecture tour of Britain and North America to raise funds for his third Everest expedition. A third trip was arranged for 1924.

Mallory chose Irvine to partner him for the final assault on Everest’s summit on June 8, 1924. The climbers were seen by Noel Odell of the expedition close to the summit, but they disappeared from view as the weather closed in on them. However, they failed to return to camp and ever since there has been debate as to whether they were the first to conquer Everest—nearly 30 years before the successful attempt of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norkay. Their climbing feats were deemed extraordinary because of the rudimentary nature of their clothing and equipment, more suited to fell walking than for climbing the world’s highest peak.

A memorial service for Mallory, held in October 1924, was attended by members of the royal family. On May 1, 1999, a research expedition found the body of Mallory at 8,230 m (27,000 ft) on Everest and, despite documentary evidence found on him, there remained no conclusive proof that he and Irvine had been the first to conquer Everest.