Did Mallory Make it to the Top of Everest First?

Establishing Everest As a Climbing Objective

Mount Everest, standing at 29,032 feet, was confirmed as the tallest peak in 1852 by Indian surveyor Radhanth Sikdar, who used data produced by the British during their occupation of India. The mountain was named after Sir George Everest, director of the Indian survey, but for Tibetans it has long been known as Chomolungma, meaning "Mother Goddess of the World." For decades after its height was established, Everest remained an untouchable giant; people could only gaze at it. It was not until the early 20th century that climbing Everest even became a serious consideration.

Everest as a Climbing Target in Early 20th Century

By 1920, the idea that Everest could be climbed entered the realm of possibility. The Royal Geographic Society and the Alpine Club collaborated to form the Mount Everest Committee, which sought permission from Tibet to conduct exploratory expeditions. This was the era when mountaineering ambitions and the spirit of adventure converged to make Everest the ultimate climbing target.

The 1921 Scouting Expedition and Route Discovery

In 1921, the Everest Committee was granted rare clearance by Tibet for a reconnaissance expedition—not a summit attempt, but an effort to discover and map a feasible route onto Everest. Before this expedition, no European had been within 60 miles of the mountain, so the journey was truly into uncharted territory.

The 1921 team, including a young George Mallory, began the foundational work of modern Everest exploration. Their most significant achievement was mapping the North Col route, a difficult and time-consuming approach from the Tibetan side. This northern route, still used today, presents intense challenges: it demands more time at higher elevations with lower oxygen concentrations and requires a journey of 22 miles from base camp to the summit, in contrast to about twelve and three-quarters miles for the Nepalese southern route established decades later. On September 24, 1921, the team reached the North Col, believing it to be the most likely path to the summit.

The 1922 Expedition and Establishment of High Camps

Camp six Established At 25,000 Feet For Future Expeditions

In 1922, a return expedition marked a turning point. The team established a camp at 25,000 feet, the highest ever at that time, creating a precedent for future climbing strategies on Everest.

Record Altitude of 26,800 Feet Reached Without Supplemental Oxygen

Mallory and fellow climbers achieved a record altitude of 26,800 feet, turning back just a thousand feet short of the summit; another climber, Edward Norton, pressed even closer, reaching well within a thousand feet of the peak. These heights were reached without the benefit of supplemental oxygen, in what were then considered astonishing feats.

Avalanche Kills Seven Sherpa Porters, Weighs on Mallory's Conscience Despite Joint Decision

Tragedy struck during a later summit attempt when an avalanche, triggered on the third try, killed seven Sherpa porters further down the mountain. Mallory, who had advocated for the attempt, felt responsible for the disaster, though it was a joint decision among the climbers. The loss cast a shadow over the expedition and altered the narrative of Everest's early climbs.

Pioneering Mountaineering Techniques and Equipment Challenges

The early Everest climber ...

Mount Everest’s early climbs demanded far more than simply ascending its formidable slopes. Climbers faced a series of complex physical and environmental challenges that required mastery of multiple disciplines, survival skills, and constant adaptation to deadly hazards.

Multiple Climbing Disciplines Required On Single Expedition

Reaching Everest From Base Camp Involves Traversing Mountain Ranges and Covering Many Miles of Varied Terrain

Climbing Everest is not a straightforward ascent from a single point. As Josh Clark explains, mountains are rarely isolated; Everest is embedded in extensive ranges. Reaching the base of Everest itself requires climbers to journey over dozens of miles, crossing other mountains and ridges, each with its distinct challenges. The trek to Everest's base camp alone demands proficiency in hiking, mountain climbing, ice climbing, and rock climbing, often at steadily rising altitudes that early British explorers were unaccustomed to. This prelude, punishing in itself, is just the beginning of the ascent.

Challenges For Climbers: Glacier, Ice, Rock, and Altitude Acclimatization Mastery

Success demanded simultaneous expertise in navigating glaciers, scaling ice and rock, and quickly acclimatizing to the thinning air. Each section of the climb featured unique perils, requiring climbers to adapt on the fly while their bodies dealt with increasing altitude sickness.

Glacier Hazards as Initial Major Obstacles

Everest Crevasses: Invisible 100-foot Death Traps For Climbers

One of the first obstacles—regardless of approach—was Everest’s glaciers. These ice fields are riddled with deep, often hidden crevasses that could be more than 100 feet deep. A misstep could send a climber plummeting into a “death trap” from which survival was unlikely, especially with the rudimentary equipment of the early 20th century.

Avalanches and Ice Slides Threaten Climbers on Glaciated Terrain; Seracs Can Topple and Crush Anyone Beneath Them

Besides the threat of falling into crevasses, avalanches and ice slides (seracs)—house-sized blocks of ice—could suddenly tumble down slopes or topple, crushing anything in their path. These glacier dangers demanded constant vigilance and swift, skilled movement, making even the initial approach to Everest hazardous.

Altitude Sickness and Oxygen Deprivation Effects

Human Physiology Deteriorates At Extreme Altitudes, Causing Slow Motion Movement and Frequent Rests Despite Supplemental Oxygen

Ascending Everest brought climbers into the “death zone,” where oxygen concentration plummets. As Chuck Bryant describes, even with modern supplemental oxygen climbers move in slow motion, taking a single step, pausing for 15 to 30 seconds, and repeating—sometimes traversing just a few feet between breaks. In the early days, such ascents were attempted without supplemental oxygen, compounding the strain on human physiology.

Climbers With Oxygen Show Distress and Regret, Becoming Less Communicative and More Compromised With Each Step

At extreme altitude, even well-equipped modern climbers become less communicative, often exhibiting distress or regret for the ordeal. The lack of oxygen leaves climbers compromised, physically and mentally, with every step becoming an exhausting trial.

Temperature and Weather-Related Injuries

Snow Blindness From UV Radiation Off Snow Causes Keratitis and Corneal Burns, Temporarily Blinding Climbers During Descent

The intense UV radiation at high altitudes, reflected by snow, can burn corneas in a condition known as snow blindness, or ker ...

Pre-climbing Intellectual Life and Social Circles

George Mallory began his career as a progressive, left-leaning intellectual and a schoolteacher. He moved in elite circles, socializing with influential members of the Bloomsbury Group, such as economist John Maynard Keynes and author Virginia Woolf. At this stage in life, his status as a schoolteacher connected to these prominent thinkers was his peak brush with fame before he redirected his focus to Mount Everest.

Dedication to Everest As Life's Central Mission

Mallory’s life took a defining turn when he became fixated on climbing Mount Everest. This obsession was evident in the fact that he was the only member to participate in all three major British expeditions to Everest in 1921, 1922, and 1924. His drive was so intense that, in 1921, he quit his teaching job and left his wife and children for at least seven months to join the first scouting expedition to Everest. Mallory’s singular motivation for climbing was famously distilled in his iconic response to why he wanted to summit the mountain: “Because it’s there.” This phrase, famously attributed to Mallory, has echoed through mountaineering history, encapsulating his relentless urge to conquer the unknown.

Personality Traits and Reputation Among Peers

Mallory's peers had mixed feelings about his leadership and reliability. Dr. Tom Longstaff, the expedition doctor in 1922, famously remarked that Mallory was “quite unfit to be placed in charge of anything, including himself,” characterizing him as flighty and prone to mistakes. This reputation was reinforced during the 1922 expedition when Mallory, tasked with taking photographs, accidentally loaded the film backwards, resulting in a complete loss of photographic records from the climb. Despite such blunders, Mallory’s pioneering ability as a mountaineer remained beyond question. Modern climbers and his contemporaries alike revered his unique climbing style and remarkable talent, recognizing that, unlike today’s mountaineers who benefit from established techniques and knowledge, Mallory and his peers were charting new ground for the first time.

Physical Appearance and Personal Charm

Mallory’s physical appearance and personal charism ...

The 1924 Final Attempt and Summit Team Selection

On the third and final push to summit Everest in 1924, George Mallory selected Sandy Irvine, an engineering student, as his partner not for his mountaineering prowess but for his mechanical aptitude. Irvine’s expertise with the vital oxygen apparatus—crucial for high-altitude climbing—was seen as invaluable. His “ox-like” build further complemented Mallory’s lighter, technically skilled frame, creating a well-matched team for the grueling ascent. This was Mallory’s third Everest expedition, underscoring his obsession with reaching the summit—a last, desperate bid to fulfill his dream. Throughout their ascent, Mallory and Irvine kept in contact with the lower camps by sending down encouraging notes via Sherpas, indicating optimism about the weather and their progress.

The Noel O'dell Eyewitness Account and Its Significance

Noel O’dell, a geologist on the expedition, was performing “trail magic” by ferrying supplies to high camps and searching for fossils. At 12:50 p.m. on the day of the summit attempt, O’dell observed two black dots moving on Everest’s northeast ridge. He later recounted seeing them overcome a rock step: “My eyes became fixed on one tiny black spot beneath a rock step in the ridge. The black spot moved. Another black spot became apparent and moved up the snow to join the other on the crest. The first then approached the great rock step and shortly emerged at the top. The second did likewise.”

O’dell’s training as a geologist and excellent eyesight (he didn’t need glasses until his nineties) bolstered his credibility as a witness. However, Mallory and Irvine were hours behind schedule. Their late position on the ridge, with adverse weather moving in, made a safe return before nightfall highly unlikely. O’dell waited at high camp for their return and, after days of searching at extreme altitude, ultimately used a prearranged signal—laying out six crossed sleeping bags—to mark their presumed deaths. After 11 days above 23,000 feet, he was instructed to abandon the search and return.

The First Step Versus Second Step Controversy

The route to Everest’s summit from the north side involves three significant obstacles, known as the First, Second, and Third Steps. O’dell’s testimony is central to the debate about whether Mallory and Irvine surmounted the Second Step—a final, formidable barrier before the top. Many who believe Mallory and Irvine reached the summit rely on O’dell’s observation that they ascended the Second Step; he was adamant about this even in a 1997 interview at age 97. However, some detractors argue that O’dell perhaps saw the climbers on the First Step, which, while still a noteworthy achievement, would not have put them within striking distance of the summit. O’dell maintained, until his death, that nothing would have stopped Mallory from pressing on, regardless of the risks and the late hour.

Discovery and Analysis of Mallory's Body in 1999

A 1999 National Geographic expedition found Mallory’s well-preserved body high on Everest’s slopes. The forensic evidence revealed a severe broken leg, rope-ligature trauma around his waist, and, most notably, a golf-ball-sized puncture wound to his forehead—a likely result of falling and striking his head with his ice axe, possibly when the axe bounced off a rock during the fall. The snapped rope still secured around Mallory’s waist suggested it had been anchored to an immobile object such as a rock, not to Irvine, implying Mallory sent Irvine back before his final push—or that their fates became separated during a fall. Intriguingly, Mallory’s cherished photograph of his wife, which he vowed to leave on the summit if he succeeded, was missing, despite his other possessions being well-preserved. Some see this as circumstantial evidence that he may have reached the top and left the photo there.

The Missing Camera and Unresolved Film Mystery

A critical missing piece is the Kodak Vest Pocket Camera carried by the climbers. If their camera—believed to be wi ...