Jochen Hemmleb

Non-fiction account of the 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition to seek answers to the mystery of what happened to them during their 1924 ascent of Everest. Did they make it to the top? What is the evidence that says they did or did not? And what happened to them on that last day when they disappeared? This book attempts to answer these questions as much as is possible from the evidence in existence. Three of the 1999 participants told their story to William Nothdurft, who has done an excellent job of capturing the dual journeys of both the 1924 and 1999 expeditions. The authors employed the approach favored by Sherlock Holmes to get to the crux of the mystery. The first half got a little bogged down in the logistics, but I found the last half of the book extremely engrossing. I found a hardcover edition of this book in the library, and the maps and photos add context to the narrative. Recommended to readers interested in mountain-climbing, its history, unsolved mysteries, or adventures in the extreme cold.

Memorable quote:

“If one should ask me what ‘use’ there was in climbing, or attempting to climb the world’s highest peak, I would be compelled to answer ‘none.’ There is no scientific end to be served; simply the gratification of the impulse of achievement, the indomitable desire to see what lies beyond that ever beats within the heart of man. With both poles conquered, the mighty peak of the Himalayas remains as the greatest conquest available to explore.”
--George Mallory

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All my life I've been fascinated by Everest and the early climbers who faced incredible challenges to get to the summit. In all my reading Mallory has featured widely, and I know his story well. This book details the 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition, an expedition made with the aim of finding signs of Mallory and Irvine's 1924 climb. Only an hour and a half into a search of a vast section of the North Face they found a body. The climbers stood or kneeled around the ancient body, speechless. Initially they thought it was Irvine and even after seeing the name inside the shirt collar, they wondered why Irvine was wearing Mallory's shirt. Further examination proved it was Mallory. The question was, did he fall on the way up or the way down. The body as well as contents of his pockets and a pouch were well preserved, handwritten notes still clear. A photo of his wife that he promised to leave on the summit was not among his possessions. The reverence with which the climbers treated the body was quite moving.

Well written, fantastic photos: it gave me goosebumps. I fully believe (and always have done) that Mallory reached the summit in 1924 (nearly 30 years before Hilary) although it is a worthless claim without making it down again.… (más)

In 1999, the authors, along with others including a crew from the BBC, got together to climb Mount Everest, not necessarily with the plan to summit, but wanting to find clues to George Mallory’s and Andrew Irvine’s disappearance and the mystery as to whether or not they’d actually been the first to summit the mountain in 1924. This book details that expedition, in addition to telling the story of Mallory and Irvine, in general.

The first half of the book – including preparation and parts of the known portions of Mallory and Irvine’s story – I would rate 3.5 stars (good), but it really picked up for me in the second half when the group searching for clues got climbing. And they did find quite a few things, and a couple of them even managed to summit afterward. This book contains some of the best photos I’ve seen of Everest in the books I’ve read; they really gave me a better perspective than I think I’ve realized before, possibly due to the fact that all the photos are in colour. It’s easier to see details in the colour photos. The second half of the book and the photos upped my enjoyment and rating of the book.… (más)

"The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Slow to anger and of great goodness. As a father is tender towards his children, so is the Lord tender to those that fear, for he knows of what we are made."
--Andy Politz at the grave of George Mallory on Mount Everest

Politz, who was in the expedition that discovered the body of Everest pioneer George Mallory last summer, is shown reciting these words in a committal ceremony for Mallory in the special that Nova did on the expedition. I was touched by the beauty and reverence of this ceremony that these climbers carried out under treacherous circumstances at 27,000 feet on the north face of Everest and decided I wanted to read more.

Ghosts of Everest is a well-written and visually-stunning book about Mallory, who died in a summit attempt in 1924, and about the expedition to search for his body and for clues as to whether or not he reached the summit (29 years before Hillary). The organizers of the expedition told their story to a professional writer, William Nothdurft, who then wrote this book.

The stories of the 1924 expedition and the 1999 expedition are partially told in parallel and it is interesting to compare the two. The 1999 climbers were wearing thick down suits when they discovered Mallory's body clad in flannel, canvas, and wool equivalent to "two layers of fleece". In contrast to the apparently overwhelmingly good spirit of the 1924 expedition, the 1999 expedition was beset with feuds over funding, filming rights, etc.

Ghosts of Everest is inconclusive about whether Mallory summitted, although the authors make a strong case that he got beyond the "Second Step", the main obstacle on the summit ridge, and that it is plausible that he made it all the way to the top. As I understand it, Conrad Anker, who (essentially) free-climbed the Second Step on the 1999 expedition and who initially concluded that Mallory could have done the same, has changed his mind. (Anker has his own book out entitled The Lost Explorer.)

The ice axe of Mallory's climbing partner, Andrew Irvine, was discovered on the summit ridge below the "First Step" in 1933. In 1975, a climber in a Chinese expedition stumbled upon what appeared to have been Irvine's body, but he didn't investigate the remains closely. The 1999 expedition was actually looking for Irvine's body when they discovered Mallory. Limited time and bad weather prevented them from continuing the search for Irvine. It seems to me that discovering Irvine's body might help to resolve the mystery of whether the summit was reached, but the book doesn't really go into this.

When discussing possible scenarios for the deaths of Mallory and Irvine, Nothdurft talks about Irvine "yield[ing] to the mountain, clos[ing] his eyes, and slip[ping] into a darkness for which there will be no dawn." I am grateful for the assurance that Easter brings that there really will be a dawn to end all darknesses.… (más)