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George Herbert Leigh Mallory
George Mallory
Born	(1886-06-18)18 June 1886 Mobberley, Cheshire, England
Died	8–9 June 1924 (age 37) The North Face, Mount Everest, Tibet
Alma mater	Cambridge University
Occupation	Teacher, Mountaineer
Spouse	Ruth

George Herbert Leigh Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8/9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s.

During the 1924 British Mount Everest Expedition, Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew "Sandy" Irvine both disappeared somewhere high on the North-East ridge during their attempt to make the first ascent of the world's highest mountain. The pair's last known sighting was only a few hundred metres from the summit.

Mallory's ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years, until his body was discovered in 1999 by an expedition that had set out to search for the climbers' remains. Whether or not Mallory and Irvine reached the summit before they died remains a subject of speculation and continuing research.

Early life, education, and teaching career[link]

Mallory was born in Mobberley, Cheshire, the son of Herbert Leigh Mallory (1856–1943), a clergyman who changed his surname from Mallory to Leigh-Mallory in 1914. His mother was Annie Beridge (née Jebb) (1863-1946), the daughter of a clergyman in Walton, Derbyshire. George had two sisters and a younger brother Trafford Leigh-Mallory, the World War II Royal Air Force commander.

In 1896, Mallory attended Glen-gorse, a preparatory boarding school in Eastbourne on the south coast of England, having transferred from another preparatory school in West Kirby. At the age of 13, he won a mathematics scholarship to Winchester College. In his final year there, he was introduced to rock climbing and mountaineering by a master, R. L. G. Irving, who took a small number of people climbing in the Alps each year. In October 1905, Mallory entered Magdalene College, Cambridge to study history. There, he became good friends with members of the Bloomsbury Group including James Strachey, Lytton Strachey, Rupert Brooke, John Maynard Keynes, and Duncan Grant, who painted several portraits of Mallory. Mallory was a keen oarsman and rowed in the college eight for his three years at Cambridge.

After gaining his degree Mallory stayed in Cambridge for a year writing an essay he later published as Boswell the Biographer (1912). He lived briefly in France, where Simon Bussy painted his portrait, now in London's National Portrait Gallery.^[1] On his return he decided to become a teacher. In 1910 he began teaching at Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey, where he met the poet Robert Graves, then a pupil, and he went on to act as best man at Graves' wedding in 1918. In his autobiography, Goodbye to All That, Graves remembered Mallory fondly both for his encouragement of Graves' interest in literature and poetry and his instruction in climbing. Graves recalled: "He (Mallory) was wasted (as a teacher) at Charterhouse. He tried to treat his class in a friendly way, which puzzled and offended them."

While at Charterhouse he met his wife, Ruth Turner (6 October 1892 – 6 January 1942)^[2], who lived in Godalming, and they were married in 1914, just six days before Britain and Germany went to war. George and Ruth had two daughters and a son: Frances Clare (19 September 1915–2001), Beridge Ruth, known as 'Berry' (16 September 1917–1953), and John (born 21 August 1920). In December 1915 Mallory joined the Royal Garrison Artillery as 2nd lieutenant and in 1916 participated in the shelling of the Somme, under the command of Major Gwilym Lloyd George, the son of then Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

After the war he returned to Charterhouse, resigning in 1921 in order to join the first Everest expedition. In between expeditions he attempted to make a living from writing and lecturing, with only partial success. In 1923 he took a job as lecturer with the Cambridge University Extramural Studies Department. He was given temporary leave so that he could join the 1924 Everest attempt.

Climbing[link]

In Europe[link]

In 1910, in a party led by Irving, Mallory and a friend attempted to climb Mont Vélan in the Alps, but turned back shortly before the summit due to Mallory's altitude sickness.^[3] In 1911, Mallory climbed Mont Blanc, as well as making the third ascent of the Frontier ridge of Mont Maudit in a party again led by Irving. According to Helmut Dumler, Mallory was "apparently prompted by a friend on the Western Front in 1916 [to write] a highly emotional article of his ascent of this great climb";^[4] this article was published as 'Mont Blanc from the Col du Géant by the Eastern Buttress of Mont Maudit' in the Alpine Journal^[5] and contained his question, "Have we vanquished an enemy?" [i.e. the mountain] to which he responded, "None but ourselves." By 1913 he ascended Pillar Rock in the English Lake District, with no assistance, by what is now known as "Mallory's Route" – currently graded Hard Very Severe 5a (American grading 5.9). It is likely to have been the hardest route in Britain for many years.

In Asia[link]

In 1921 he participated in the British Reconnaissance Expedition, organised and financed by the Mount Everest Committee, that explored routes up to the North Col of Mount Everest. The expedition produced the first accurate maps of the region around the mountain. Although he was accompanied by several senior members of Britain's Alpine Club and by surveyors based in India, the debilitating effect of altitude on others in the expedition resulted in Mallory, his climbing partner Guy Bullock and E. O. Wheeler of the Survey of India performing most of the exploration of the approaches to the mountain. Under Mallory's leadership, and with the assistance of around a dozen Sherpas, the group climbed several lower peaks near Everest. His party were almost certainly the first Westerners to view the Western Cwm at the foot of the Lhotse face, as well as charting the course of the Rongbuk Glacier up to the base of the North Face. After circling the mountain from the south side, his party finally discovered the East Rongbuk Glacier-—the highway to the summit now used by nearly all climbers on the Tibetan side of the mountain. By climbing up to the saddle of the North Ridge (the 7,020 m (23,030 ft) North Col), they spied a route to the summit via the North-East Ridge over the obstacle of the Second Step.

In 1922 Mallory returned to the Himalaya as part of the party led by Brigadier-General Charles Bruce and climbing leader Edward Strutt, with a view to making a serious attempt on the summit. Eschewing their bottled oxygen, on ethical grounds, Mallory led his climbing team of Howard Somervell and Edward Norton almost to the crest of the North-East ridge. Despite being hampered and slowed by the thin air, they achieved a record altitude of 8,225 m (26,980 ft) before weather conditions and the late hour forced them to retreat. A second party led by George Finch reached a height of approximately 8,321 m (27,300 ft) using bottled oxygen both for climbing and — a first — for sleeping. The party climbed at record speeds — a fact that Mallory seized upon during the next expedition.

Mallory organized a third unsuccessful attempt on the summit, departing as the monsoon season arrived. While Mallory was leading a group of porters down the lower slopes of the North Col of Everest in fresh, waist-high snow, an avalanche swept over the group, killing seven Sherpas. The attempt was immediately abandoned, and Mallory returned home to face criticism for poor judgement, a criticism that was to follow him to the next expedition.

Plans for another attempt were marred by the Royal Geographical Society's Everest Committee barring George Finch, on the grounds that he was divorced and had accepted money for lectures. The Secretary, Arthur Hinks, made it clear that that it was not acceptable for an Australian to be the first to summit Everest, as they wanted the climb to be an example of British spirit and to lift British morale. At first Mallory refused to climb again without Finch but acquiesced after being personally persuaded by members of the British Royal Family, at Hinks' request.^[6]

Mallory is famously quoted as having replied to the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the retort "Because it's there", which has been called "the most famous three words in mountaineering".^[7][8] There have been questions over the authenticity of the quote, and whether Mallory actually said it. Some have suggested that it was a paraphrase by a newspaper reporter, but scrutiny of the original report in the New York Times leaves this unresolved. The phrase was certainly consistent with the direct quotes cited in the New York Times report, so it cannot be said to misrepresent Mallory's attitude.^[9][10]

Mallory's last climb[link]

June 1924 expedition to Everest[link]

Mallory joined the 1924 Everest expedition, led as in 1922 by General Bruce. Mallory believed that at age 37, it would be his third and last opportunity to climb the mountain. When touring the US, Mallory claimed that his next expedition would achieve the summit, to enthusiastic Harvard students^{[citation needed]}. Mallory and Geoffrey Bruce set off for the first attempt, which was inexplicably aborted by Mallory at Camp 5 (C-5).

Norton and Somervell set off from C-6, and in perfect weather, managed without oxygen to reach 8,573 m (28,130 ft), a new record height.

On 4 June 1924, Mallory and Andrew Irvine set off from Advanced Base Camp (ABC) at 6,500 m (21,330 ft) and already began using oxygen from the base of the North Col, which they climbed in 2½ hours—such was the conversion of Mallory from anti- to pro-oxygen usage, Mallory having been converted from his original scepticism by his failure on his initial assault and recalling the very rapid ascent speed of Finch in 1922.

At 8:40am on 6 June they set off, climbing to C-5. On 7 June they reached C-6. Mallory wrote he had used only ¾ of one bottle of oxygen for the two days which suggests a climb rate of some 856 vertical feet per hour.

On 8 June, expedition colleague Noel Odell was moving up behind the pair in a “support role.” At some 7,925 m (26,000 ft) he spotted the two climbing a prominent rock-step, either the First or Second Step, around 1PM; although some summit advocates suggest that the Odell description of the topography might fit the higher, then-unknown, “Third Step.”^[11] Odell later reported:

At 12.50, just after I had emerged from a state of jubilation at finding the first definite fossils on Everest, there was a sudden clearing of the atmosphere, and the entire summit ridge and final peak of Everest were unveiled. My eyes became fixed on one tiny black spot silhouetted on a small snow-crest 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. Then the whole fascinating vision vanished, enveloped in cloud once more.

— Noel Odell, geologist

At the time, Odell identified one of the men to have surmounted the Second Step of the NE ridge. No evidence, apart from his testimony, has been found that they climbed higher than the First Step (one of their spent oxygen cylinders was found shortly below the First Step; and Irvine's ice axe was also found nearby in 1933). They never returned to their camp and died somewhere high on the mountain.

It is assumed that Mallory and Irvine died either on 8 June or, at the latest, the next day. The news of Mallory and Irvine's disappearance was widely mourned in Britain to the extent that the two were hailed as national heroes. A memorial service was held at St Paul's Cathedral, London on 17 October and was attended by a wealth of family and friends as well as Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald, the entire British Cabinet and the Royal Family, headed by King George V.

Lost on Everest for 75 years[link]

After their disappearance several expeditions tried to find their remains and, perhaps, determine if they had reached the summit. Based on reports from Chinese climber Zhang Junyan that his tent-mate, Wang Hung-bao, had stumbled across "an English dead" at 8,100 m (26,570 ft) in 1975, Tom Holzel launched a search expedition in late 1986. The Mt. Everest North Face Research Expedition (MENFRE) was snowed out, unable to reach the 8,100 m terrace. On the last day of the expedition, Holzel met with Zhang Junyan, who reiterated that, despite official denials from the Chinese Mountaineering Association, Wang Hung-bao had come back from a short excursion and described finding "a foreign mountaineer" at "8,100 m."^[12]

In 1999 the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition, sponsored in part by the TV show Nova and the BBC, and organized and led by Eric Simonson, arrived at Everest to search for the lost pair. Guided by the research of Jochen Hemmleb, within hours of beginning the search on 1 May, a frozen body was found by Conrad Anker at 8,157 m (26,760 ft) on the north face of the mountain. As the body was below where Irvine's axe was found in 1933, the team expected the body to be Irvine's, and were hoping to recover the camera that he had reportedly carried with him. They were surprised to find that name tags on the body's clothing bore the name of "G. Mallory." The body was remarkably well preserved, due to the mountain's climate. The team could not locate the camera. Experts from Kodak have said that if a camera is ever found, there is some chance that its film could be developed to produce printable images, if extraordinary measures are taken.^[13]

Climbers in this expedition were also aware of speculation that a camera might have been carried by Mallory (or Irvine) during their final climb,^[14] and Kodak experts provided guidance as to handling of such a camera and the film inside, in the event that such were found in the investigation.^[13] The expedition conducted an Anglican service for Mallory and covered his remains with a cairn.

Reaching the summit[link]

Whether Mallory and Irvine reached Everest's summit is unknown. The question remains open to speculation and is the topic of much debate and research.

Mallory's body[link]

From the discovery of a serious rope-jerk injury around Mallory's waist, which was encircled by the remnants of a climbing rope, it appears that the two were roped together when one of them slipped. Mallory's body lay 300 m below and about 100 m horizontal to the location of an ice axe found in 1933, which is generally accepted from characteristic marks on the shaft as belonging to Irvine. The fact that the body was relatively unbroken (in comparison to other bodies found in the same location that were known to have fallen from the NE Ridge) strongly suggests that Mallory could not have fallen from the ice axe site, but must have fallen from much lower down. Wang reportedly found Mallory's ice axe near his body (and took it with him). If this is true then Mallory not only survived the initial fall with Irvine, but was in possession of his axe until the last seconds of striking a rock that stopped his final fall. When found, his body was sun-bleached and frozen.

The other most significant find made on Mallory's body was a severe golf-ball size puncture wound in his forehead, which was the most likely cause of his death. The unusual puncture wound is consistent with one which might be inflicted by an ice axe, leading some to conclude that, while Mallory was descending in a self-arrest "glissade", sliding down a slope while dragging his ice axe in the snow to control the speed of his descent, his ice axe may have struck a rock and bounced off, striking him fatally.

Two items of circumstantial evidence from the body suggest that he may have attempted, or reached, the summit:

• Mallory's daughter said that Mallory carried a photograph of his wife on his person with the intention of leaving it on the summit.^[15] This photo was not found on Mallory's body. Given the excellent preservation of the body, its garments and other items including documents in his wallet, this points to the possibility that he may have reached the summit and deposited the photo there. On the other hand, no one who has subsequently reached the summit has reported seeing any evidence of this, or any other trace of their presence there.

• Mallory's snow goggles were found in his pocket, suggesting that he and Irvine had made a push for the summit and were descending after sunset. On his attempt a few days earlier, Norton had suffered serious snow-blindness because he did not wear his goggles, so Mallory would be unlikely to have dispensed with them in daylight, and given their known departure time and movements, had they not attempted the summit pyramid it is unlikely that they would have still been out by nightfall. An alternative scenario is that Mallory may have carried an extra pair and the pair he was wearing were torn off in his fall.

Oxygen supply[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

From the location of their final camp (discovered in 2001),^{[citation needed]} a summit climb may be estimated to have taken them around eleven hours. Assuming they took two cylinders each, they only had about eight hours of oxygen available, so – although this depends on the flow rate, which could be controlled and was not necessarily used on full flow – the oxygen would almost certainly have run out before they reached the summit. The two flow rates available on those oxygen sets were 1.5 and 2.2 litres/min. Both are low rates for active climbing, and it is unlikely the two would have used the lower flow rate. One of their oxygen bottles was found some 200 yards (180 m) short of the First Step, which enables their speed of climbing to be calculated (~275 vert-ft/hr. Hillary and Norgay climbed at 350 vf/h at this altitude). It can be estimated that at best they might have reached the base of the Second Step with one-and-a-half hours of oxygen remaining each. Given the vertical distance remaining (~800 vft), the climb to the summit after the Second Step at the same climbing rate would be three hours. But climbing speed drops quickly with altitude (Hillary and Norgay managed only 150 vf/h above 28,000 ft). Thus, even if Mallory had taken Irvine's oxygen, he would not have had enough oxygen to reach the summit.

Although some recent climbers have climbed Everest without the aid of supplemental oxygen, these are extraordinary athletes, fully hydrated and wearing the latest wind-proof clothing, or Sherpas who are genetically endowed with high-altitude capability.^{[citation needed]} Like the four-minute mile, this was not within the capabilities of climbers of the period.^{[citation needed]} Thus, the best chance for Mallory to have reached the summit would have been if he had relieved Irvine of his oxygen at the First Step and sent him down to safety. However, the rope-jerk injuries around Mallory's waist tell the story that the two were roped together when they fell. Other historians suggest that, after having seen the extreme technical difficulty of the Second Step, the two may have switched to the "Norton" Route, via the Great Couloir. While theoretically possible, there is no physical evidence for this supposition.

Another possibility, prompted by Mallory's remark in his last note to John Noel that they would "probably go on two cylinders", is that the pair carried three, and not two cylinders each (Mallory's "probably" implying that the choice was between two or three, as a single cylinder would clearly be inadequate). Mallory's oxygen rig was not found with his body, and neither climber's backpack-style oxygen rig has ever been found.

Some believe George Mallory chose his climbing partner (Andrew "Sandy" Irvine) because he was excellent at repairing the oxygen tanks that had been controversial during that time.^[16]

The difficult "Second Step"[link]

This section may be too technical for most readers to understand. Please help improve this article to make it understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. The talk page may contain suggestions. (May 2011)

Experienced modern climbers disagree on whether Mallory was capable of climbing the "Second Step" on the North Ridge, now surmounted via a 15 ft (4.6 m) aluminium ladder first permanently fixed in place by Chinese climbers in 1975 to bridge this very difficult pitch. The Second Step was first climbed by the Chinese in 1960. It was climbed "free" (without artificial aid) by Spanish climber Oscar Cadiach in 1985. He rated the 15-foot (4.6 m) crack that forms the crux 5.7-5.8 (5+ UIAA grading), certainly accepted as within Mallory's ability. However, on Cadiach's climb, the Second Step was filled with a hard snow ramp that made its ascent considerably easier than in the conditions faced by Mallory. Austrian Theo Fritsche repeated the free climb solo — that is, without rope protection — in 2001 under dry pre-monsoon conditions (as in 1924), and supported Cadiach's assessment of 5.7–5.8. Fritsche completed the climb without supplementary oxygen (as did Cadiach), wearing only a light down jacket, but it took him a solid hour to achieve—hardly what a 5.8 climb of a few metres would require. He believes that Mallory could have summitted in his clothing on a good day.

In June 2007, as part of the Altitude Everest Expedition 2007, Conrad Anker and Leo Houlding successfully free-climbed the Second Step, having first removed the Chinese ladder (which was later replaced).^[17] Houlding rated the climb at 5.9, just within Mallory's estimated capabilities. The climb was part of an expedition designed to film a re-creation of the 1924 climb as closely as possible. Eight years earlier Anker had climbed the Second Step as part of the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition but had used one point of aid by stepping on a rung of the ladder which blocked the only available foothold. At that time he had rated the climb at 5.10, certainly well beyond Mallory's capability; after the June 2007 climb he changed his view and said that "Mallory and Irvine could have climbed it". But by then Anker was starring in a film that portrays the two carrying three bottles of oxygen and as probably having summitted. The climbing community still remains split on the subject of whether Mallory was capable of having climbed the Second Step.

Mallory is known to have "swarmed up" a very similar obstacle in alpine conditions on the Nesthorn (3,824 m) in the Swiss Alps, and his companions were under no illusions about either his considerable ability or his visionary, idealistic self-motivation.

As for climbing difficulties, Mallory is known to have climbed comfortably at HVS (Hard Very Severe) standard (YDS ~5.9) in Wales and Cumbria. Many of his early pioneering rock climbs were undertaken on Y Lliwedd, a near-1,000 ft often-loose, usually wet cliff face, which is part of the Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa massif. Those who have climbed on this face in mountaineering boots, perhaps armed with only basic equipment, will understand the genuine difficulty of a climb of HVS standard – and come to truly appreciate Mallory's boldness and physical ability. But on this, his final climb, he had already taxed himself by a previous aborted ascent, along with the other normal strenuous activities of being on Everest.

There is some evidence available on the rockclimbing ability of Andrew Irvine—but all at sea-level altitudes. In her biography of Irvine (Fearless on Everest) Julie Summers notes that Irvine did climb the Great Gully on Craig yr Ysfa with Odell, a wet, five hour climb of VDiff (~5.4) degree of difficulty. Nevertheless, brief rock climbing episodes in above freezing weather are not like mountain climbing with its sustained, frigid courage-draining exposures. Given Irvine's limited climbing experience, it seems unlikely that he would have had the ability to climb the Second Step, and even more unlikely that he could have done so in the rapid manner described by Noel Odell.

The rope-burn evidence on Mallory suggests that the two climbers were roped together when they had their fall at the 1933 ice axe site, making it unlikely that Mallory had made a solo "sprint to the top." This would have involved Irvine waiting at the base of the Second Step for up to ten hours—an impossibility in that weather with their clothing.

Noel Odell believed he had seen Mallory and Irvine ascend the Second Step. The British climbing establishment increasingly questioned this opinion, and Odell eventually changed his story to say it was the First Step. Towards the end of his life, however, he reaffirmed his original view. If his eyewitness report is accurate, the topography he describes appears to fit the Second or even the Third Step on the ridge.

On the other hand, Everest historian Tom Holzel suggests that when Odell saw them climbing a Step, he assumed that, as they were still ascending, they must therefore be on the Second Step, as there is no need to climb up the First Step to reach the summit: climbers typically cross or traverse its base and continue around it. This was in keeping with the prevailing disdain for oxygen equipment at the time to put the blame on it for Mallory being five hours behind the schedule he had stated in his final note describing his assault plan of reaching the Second Step as early as 8am. Odell naturally assumed they were still ascending, but woefully late, and so would only have been climbing the Second Step. However, Holzel surmises that if they were already on their descent, the unproven oxygen malfunction, and the unlikely late start theories can be discarded, and they would have been close to estimates of climbing time in their descent from perhaps as high as the base of the Second Step. Odell then may have seen them clambering up the First Step as a vantage point from which to view and photograph the complex route to the Second Step before returning to the North Col (which is what the French did in 1981 when they, too, could no longer continue upward).

Recent observations taken from Odell's vantage point by advocates of Mallory's success indicate that the viewpoint is such that Odell would not likely have been confused or mistaken as to the location of the pair, and so had probably seen the men at the Second Step as he had initially reported-or even the Third Step.^[18]

Further expeditions[link]

The 1999 research team returned to the mountain in 2001 to conduct further research. They discovered Mallory and Irvine's last camp, but failed to find either Irvine or a camera. Based on rumours of the sighting of Irvine, Don Martin of EverestNews.com funded a search expedition (unrelated to the 1999 and 2001 team) for the cameras and other clues that either had reached the summit, but found no significant new evidence. A fourth initiative in 2005 also proved fruitless.

Possible sightings of Irvine[link]

In 1979 a Chinese climber named Wang Hung-bao reported to Japanese Expedition leader Ryoten Hasagawa that, in 1975, he had discovered the body of an "English dead" at 8,100 metres (26,600 ft). Wang was killed in an avalanche the day after this verbal report and so the location was never more precisely fixed. The Chinese Mountaineering Association (CMA) officially denied the sighting claim. In 1986, Chinese climber Zhang Junyan (who had been sharing the tent with Wang in 1975) confirmed to Tom Holzel, Wang's report of finding a foreign climber's body. Zhang stated that Wang had only been out for 20 minutes. If this report was accurate, at that altitude and date the body must have been that of Irvine.

Wang's sighting was the key to the discovery of Mallory's body 20 years later in the same general area, though Wang's reported description of the body he found, face up, with a "hole in cheek", is not consistent with the condition and posture of Mallory's body, which was face down, its head almost completely buried in scree, and with a golfball-sized puncture wound on his forehead. Some have speculated that Wang could have been referring to the hole in the skin of Mallory's exposed buttocks ("cheeks").^[19] The 2001 research expedition discovered Wang's campsite location and made an extensive search of its surroundings. Mallory's remained the only ancient body in the vicinity. Some argue it must have been Mallory, not Irvine, that Wang had found in 1975, despite the variations in body posture. Zhang said that Wang had only been gone about 20 minutes. But he had waited while dozing in his sleeping bag, so Wang's stroll could have been of longer duration. Conrad Anker now believes Wang did indeed find Mallory and not Irvine.^[20]

In 2001, another Chinese climber, Xu Jing, claimed to have seen the body of Andrew Irvine in 1960 (reported in Hemmleb and Simonson's, Detectives on Everest), although testimony is uncertain with regard to the location of his find. On two occasions, Xu placed it between Camps VI and VII (the Yellow Band, c. 8300 m), though later changed it to the NE Ridge between the First and Second Steps (c. 8,550 metres (28,050 ft) and directly on the NE Ridge. In spite of several such rumoured and reported sightings subsequent searches of these locations on the North Face have failed to find any trace of Irvine. Some climbers believe Xu spotted Mallory.

American researcher Tom Holzel ^[21] reported that Xu had spotted the body as he descended "by a more direct route" due to exhaustion, while his teammates had continued their assault. He was lying on his back in a narrow slot, his feet pointing towards the summit, his face blackened from frostbite. Holzel ^[21] has claimed that a location in the Yellow Band, matching this description exactly, has been identified at 8,425 metres (27,641 ft) by his analysis of high-resolution aerial photography.

In July 2005, the Alpine Club of St. Petersburg, Russia, published an article to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the North Face climb by the Chinese expedition in 1960. The article^[22] referred to the presentation by Wang Fuzhou (a member of the group which reached the summit of Everest on 25 May 1960) given by him in Leningrad before the USSR Geographical Society in 1965. It claims that Xu Jing had seen the body of a European climber at an altitude of some 8,600 metres (28,200 ft), just below the notorious Second Step. That Russian article could be a first non-mainstream and non-English-language source of evidence in the Mallory-Irvine story. In particular, it mentions that Xu laconically reported that he had identified the body to be "European" by the braces that it wore.

Assessments by climbing partners[link]

Harry Tyndale, one of Mallory's climbing partners, said of Mallory: "In watching George at work one was conscious not so much of physical strength as of suppleness and balance; so rhythmical and harmonious was his progress in any steep place ... that his movements appeared almost serpentine in their smoothness."

Tom Longstaff, who accompanied Mallory on the 1922 Everest expedition, wrote in a letter to a friend, "It is obvious to any climber that they got up. You cannot expect of that pair to weigh up the chances of return. I should be weighing them still. It sounds a fair day. Probably they were above those clouds that hid them from Odell. How they must have appreciated that view of half the world. It was worthwhile to them. Now, they will never grow old and I am very sure they would not change places with any of us."

Geoffrey Winthrop Young, one of the most accomplished alpine climbers of his day, held Mallory's ability in awe: "His movement in climbing was entirely his own. It contradicted all theory. He would set his foot high against any angle of smooth surface, fold his shoulder to his knee, and flow upward and upright again on an impetuous curve. Whatever may have happened unseen the while between him and the cliff ... the look, and indeed the result, were always the same – a continuous undulating movement so rapid and so powerful that one felt the rock must yield, or disintegrate." When informed of Odell's belief that Mallory had climbed the Second Step, Winthrop Young was convinced he made the summit. He wrote: "After nearly twenty years' knowledge of Mallory as a mountaineer, I can say that difficult as it would have been for any mountaineer to turn back, with the only difficulty past, to Mallory it would have been an impossibility."

Theories[link]

A range of different outcomes has been proposed, and new theories continue to be put forward. Most views have the two carrying two cylinders of oxygen each, reaching and climbing either the First or Second Step, where they are seen by Odell. At this point there are two main alternatives: either Mallory takes Irvine's oxygen and goes on alone (and may or may not reach the summit); or both go on together until they turn back (having used up their oxygen, or realising that they will do so before the summit). In either case Mallory slips and falls to his death while descending, perhaps caught in the fierce snow squall that sent Odell to take shelter in their tent. Irvine either falls with him or, in the first scenario, dies alone of exhaustion and hypothermia high up on the ridge. The theory advanced by Tom Holzel in February 2008 ^[23] is that Odell sighted Mallory and Irvine climbing the First Step for a final look around while they were descending from a failed summit bid. As with all good mysteries, the fragmentary evidence leaves much room for speculation and hypothesis.

First "real" ascent, or just to the summit?[link]

If evidence was to be uncovered which showed that George Mallory or Andrew Irvine had reached the summit of Everest in 1924, advocates of Hillary and Norgay's first ascent maintain that the historical record should not be changed to state that Mallory and Irvine made the first ascent, displacing Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Former Mount Everest summiteer Major H P S Ahluwalia claims that without photographic proof, there is no evidence that Mallory reached the summit and "it would be unfair to say that the first man to scale Mount Everest was George Mallory".^[24] George Mallory's own son, John Mallory, who was only three years old when his father died, said, "To me the only way you achieve a summit is to come back alive. The job is only half done if you don't get down again".^[25][26] Hillary's daughter, Sarah, when questioned regarding her father's take on the debate, said, "His view was that he had got 50 good years out of being conqueror of Everest, and, whatever happened, he wasn't particularly worried. That's my feeling as well."^[27]

Sir Edmund Hillary's assessment[link]

Sir Edmund Hillary echoed John Mallory's opinion, asking:

If you climb a mountain for the first time and die on the descent, is it really a complete first ascent of the mountain? I am rather inclined to think personally that maybe it is quite important, the getting down, and the complete climb of a mountain is reaching the summit and getting safely to the bottom again.^{[citation needed]}

Sir Chris Bonington's assessment[link]

Sir Chris Bonington, the widely respected British Himalayan mountaineer, summed up the view of many mountaineers all over the world:

If we accept the fact that they were above the Second Step, they would have seemed to be incredibly close to the summit of Everest and I think at that stage something takes hold of most climbers ... And I think therefore taking all those circumstances in view ... I think it is quite conceivable that they did go for the summit ... I certainly would love to think that they actually reached the summit of Everest. I think it is a lovely thought and I think it is something, you know, gut emotion, yes I would love them to have got there. Whether they did or not, I think that is something one just cannot know.^[28]

Legacy[link]

Mallory Court at Magdalene College, Cambridge

Mallory was honoured by having a court named after him at his alma mater, Magdalene College, Cambridge, with an inscribed stone commemorating his death set above the doorway to one of the buildings. Two high peaks in California's Sierra Nevada, Mount Mallory and Mount Irvine, located a few miles southeast of Mt. Whitney, were named for them.

Mallory was captured on film by expedition cameraman John Noel, who released his film of the 1924 expedition Epic of Everest upon returning.^[29] Some of his footage was also used in George Lowe's 1953 documentary The Conquest of Everest. A documentary on the 2001 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition, Found on Everest, was produced by Riley Morton.^[30] Mallory was played by Brian Blessed in the 1991 re-creation of his last climb, Galahad of Everest.^[31]

Tragedy in the mountains has proved a recurring theme in the Mallory line. Mallory’s younger brother, Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, also met his death on a mountain range when the Avro York carrying him to his new appointment as Air Commander-in-Chief of South East Asia Command (SEAC) crashed in the French Alps in 1944, killing all on board.^[32] Mallory's daughter, Frances Clare, married physiologist Glenn Allan Millikan, who was killed in a climbing accident near Oak Ridge, Tennessee.^[33][34] Millikan was the son of Robert Millikan, a Nobel-Laureate and one of three founders of the California Institute of Technology.

Not all Mallory-related mountain endeavours have proved fatal. Frances Mallory's nephew, Rick Millikan, became a respected climber in his own right during the 1960s and '70s. Mallory's grandson, also named George Mallory, reached the summit of Everest in 1995 via the North Ridge with six other climbers as part of the American Everest Expedition of 1995. He left a picture of his grandparents at the summit citing "unfinished business".^[34][35]

Jeffrey Archer's book, Paths of Glory, is based on Mallory's life.

The 5-volume graphic novel Kamigami no Itadaki (2000) by Japanese manga artist Jiro Taniguchi and author Baku Yumemakura uses the 1924 expedition as a back-story. A mountaineer photographer believes he has found the missing camera that Mallory and Irvine took with them and tries to find the film it contained which may provide valuable clues as to whether they reached the summit. The book retraces the expedition and, by extension, looks at the world of mountaineering and its ever-present fatal accidents.

In Anthony Geffen's 2010 biographical documentary film about Mallory's life and final expedition, The Wildest Dream, Conrad Anker and Leo Houlding attempt to reconstruct the ill-fated climb, dressed and equipped similarly to Mallory and Irvine.

Keith Thomas and Glyn Bailey are creating a musical about Mallory's life called Mountain of Dreams to be launched in New Orleans in 2012-13.

See also[link]

• List of people who died climbing Mount Everest

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Anker, Conrad & Roberts, David (1999) The Lost Explorer — Finding Mallory on Mount Everest. London: Simon & Schuster
• Archer, Jeffrey (2009) Paths of Glory. New York: St Martin's Press ISBN 978-0-312-53951-1
• Firstbrook, Peter (1999) Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine. BBC Worldwide
• Gillman, Peter and Leni (2000) The Wildest Dream: Mallory, His Life and Conflicting Passions. London: Headline (winner, Boardman Tasker Prize)
• Hemmleb, Jochen; Johnson, Larry A.; Simonson, Eric R. & Nothdurft, William E. (1999) Ghosts of Everest — the Search for Mallory & Irvine. Seattle: Mountaineers Books ( Story of the 1999 expedition that located Mallory's body)
• Hemmleb, Jochen, & Simonson, Eric R. (2002) Detectives on Everest: the Story of the 2001 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition. Seattle: Mountaineers Books (Sequel to Ghosts of Everest, with new discoveries on Everest and revelations regarding the fate of Andrew Irvine)
• Holzel, Tom & Salkeld, Audrey (1986) The Mystery of Mallory & Irvine. Revised edition: Seattle: Mountaineers Books, 1999
• Robertson, David (1969) George Mallory. Revised edition 1999. (Biography written by Mallory's son-in-law, married to Beridge.) Faber and Faber Selected edition: Paperback 1999, with foreword by Joe Simpson ISBN 978-0-571-20314-7
• Summers, Julie (2000) Fearless on Everest: the Quest for Sandy Irvine. (Republished 2008) ISBN 978-1-904466-31-4
• Davies, Wade (2011) Into The Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest Bodley Head ISBN 978-1-84792-184-0

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: George Mallory

• "Expedition to rewrite Everest history". BBC News. 24 March 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/302369.stm. Retrieved 8 August 2008. 
• Ghosts of Everest – New evidence examined. 1999 Expedition finds Mallory's remains; tries to reconstruct Mallory's ascent. From Outside Magazine
• Lost on Everest – In January 2000, PBS broadcast the story of the 1999 Nova expedition to locate the bodies of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine.
• Peter H. Hansen, ‘Mallory, George Herbert Leigh (1886–1924)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, brief biographical entry.
• Interactive panorama of The Second Step on Everest's Northeast Ridge.
• 2004 Expedition to find the cameras
• Mount Everest 1924 photographs – John Noel's photographs from the 1924 expedition.
• Ainley, Janine (13 June 2006). "Replica clothes pass Everest test". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5076634.stm. Retrieved 8 August 2008. 
• Worksopguardian.co.uk, "Poor clothing may have killed."
• Photo of Mallory Court, Magdalene College, Cambridge
• What happened to Mallory & Irvine?
• Altitude Everest Expedition 2007 – Retracing Mallory and Irvine's last steps on Everest.
• Mallory's rowing career and account of the 1907 Boat Race, with photo [NB that caption incorrectly states that Mallory rowed in Oxford/Cambridge boat race.]
• Tom Holzel's 2008 theory that Odell saw Mallory descending at the First Step
• 2008: An investigation of Mallory's replica clothing using a thermal manikin

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary KG ONZ KBE
Hillary in 2006
Born	(1919-07-20)20 July 1919 Auckland, New Zealand
Died	11 January 2008(2008-01-11) (aged 88) Auckland, New Zealand
Cause of death	Heart attack
Spouse	Louise Mary Rose (m. 1953–1975) «start: (1953)–end+1: (1976)»"Marriage: Louise Mary Rose to Edmund Hillary" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Edmund_Hillary) June Mulgrew, QSM (1989–2008)
Children	Peter (b.1954) Sarah (b.1955) Belinda (1959–1975)
Parents	Percival Augustus Hillary Gertrude Hillary, née Clark
Signature

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary KG ONZ KBE (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed as having reached the summit of Mount Everest – see Timeline of climbing Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Hillary became interested in mountaineering while in secondary school, making his first major climb in 1939, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier. He served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator during World War II. Prior to the 1953 Everest expedition, he had been part of the British reconnaissance expedition to the mountain in 1951, as well as an unsuccessful attempt to climb Cho Oyu in 1952. As part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition he reached the South Pole overland in 1958. Subsequently, he also travelled to the North Pole.

Following his ascent of Everest he devoted most of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. Through his efforts, many schools and hospitals were built in Nepal.

Youth[link]

Hillary was born to Percival Augustus Hillary and Gertrude Hillary, née Clark, in Auckland, New Zealand, on 20 July 1919.^[1] His family moved to Tuakau (south of Auckland) in 1920, after his father (who served at Gallipoli in the 15th North Auckland) was allocated land there.^[2] His grandparents were early settlers in northern Wairoa in the mid-19th century after emigrating from Yorkshire, England.^[3]

Hillary was educated at Tuakau Primary School and then Auckland Grammar School.^[2] He finished primary school two years early and at high school achieved average marks.^[4] He was initially smaller than his peers there and very shy so he took refuge in his books and daydreams of a life filled with adventure. His daily train journey to and from high school was over two hours each way, during which he regularly used the time to read. He gained confidence after he learned to box. At 16 his interest in climbing was sparked during a school trip to Mount Ruapehu. Though gangly at 6 ft 5 in (195 cm) and uncoordinated, he found that he was physically strong and had greater endurance than many of his tramping companions.^[5] He studied mathematics and science at the University of Auckland, and in 1939 completed his first major climb, reaching the summit of Mount Ollivier, near Aoraki/Mount Cook in the Southern Alps.^[2] With his brother Rex, Hillary became a beekeeper,^[1][6] a summer occupation that allowed him to pursue climbing in the winter.^[7] His interest in beekeeping later led Hillary to commission Michael Ayrton to cast a golden sculpture in the shape of honeycomb in imitation of Daedalus's lost-wax process. This was placed in his New Zealand garden, where his bees took it over as a hive and "filled it with honey and their young".^[8]

World War II[link]

Upon the outbreak of World War II Hillary applied to join the air force, but withdrew the application before it was considered because he was "harassed by [his] religious conscience".^[9] Following the introduction of conscription on the outbreak of war in the Pacific, in 1943 Hillary joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a navigator and served in 6 then 5 Squadron RNZAF on Catalina flying boats. In 1945 he was sent to Fiji and to the Solomon Islands where he was badly burnt in a boat accident, after which he was repatriated to New Zealand.^[9]

Expeditions[link]

Harry Ayres, along with Mick Sullivan led Hillary and Ruth Adams up the south ridge of Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest peak, on 30 January 1948.^[10]

Hillary was part of a British reconnaissance expedition to Everest in 1951 led by Eric Shipton before joining the successful British attempt of 1953.

In 1952 Hillary and George Lowe were part of the British team led by Eric Shipton that attempted Cho Oyu. After that attempt failed due to the lack of route from the Nepal side, Hillary and Lowe crossed the Nup La into Tibet and reached the old Camp II, on the northern side, where all the pre-war expeditions camped.^[11]

1953 Everest Expedition[link]

The route to Everest was closed by Chinese-controlled Tibet, and Nepal only allowed one expedition per year. A Swiss expedition (in which Tenzing took part) had attempted to reach the summit in 1952 but was turned back by bad weather and exhaustion 800 feet (240 m) from the summit. During a 1952 trip in the Alps, Hillary discovered that he and his friend George Lowe had been invited by the Joint Himalayan Committee for the approved British 1953 attempt and immediately accepted.^[12]

Shipton was named as leader but was replaced by Hunt. Hillary considered pulling out, but both Hunt and Shipton talked him into remaining. Hillary was intending to climb with Lowe but Hunt named two teams for the assault: Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans; and Hillary and Tenzing. Hillary therefore made a concerted effort to forge a working friendship with Tenzing.^[12]

The Hunt expedition totalled over 400 people, including 362 porters, twenty Sherpa guides and 10,000 lbs of baggage,^[13][14] and like many such expeditions, was a team effort. Lowe supervised the preparation of the Lhotse Face, a huge and steep ice face, for climbing. Hillary forged a route through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall.^[12]

The expedition set up base camp in March 1953. Working slowly it set up its final camp at the South Col at 25,900 feet (7,890 m). On 26 May Bourdillon and Evans attempted the climb but turned back when Evans' oxygen system failed. The pair had reached the South Summit, coming within 300 vertical feet (91 m) of the summit.^[14][15] Hunt then directed Hillary and Tenzing to go for the summit.

Snow and wind held the pair up at the South Col for two days. They set out on 28 May with a support trio of Lowe, Alfred Gregory and Ang Nyima. The two pitched a tent at 27,900 feet (8,500 m) on 28 May while their support group returned down the mountain. On the following morning Hillary discovered that his boots had frozen solid outside the tent. He spent two hours warming them before he and Tenzing attempted the final ascent wearing 30-pound (14 kg) packs.^[12] The crucial move of the last part of the ascent was the 40-foot (12 m) rock face later named the "Hillary Step". Hillary saw a means to wedge his way up a crack in the face between the rock wall and the ice and Tenzing followed.^[16] From there the following effort was relatively simple. Tenzing Norgay stated in his narration "The Dream Comes True" that Hillary had indeed taken the first step atop Mount Everest, despite Hillary quoting that both had reached the summit at the same time. They reached Everest's 29,028 ft (8,848 m) summit, the highest point on earth, at 11:30 am.^[1][17] As Hillary put it, "A few more whacks of the ice axe in the firm snow, and we stood on top."^[18]

They spent only about 15 minutes at the summit. Hillary took the famous photo of Tenzing posing with his ice-axe, but since Tenzing had never used a camera, Hillary's ascent went unrecorded.^[19][20] However, according to Tenzing's autobiography 'Man of Everest', when Tenzing offered to take Hillary's photograph Hillary declined – "I motioned to Hillary that I would now take his picture. But for some reason he shook his head; he did not want it". Tenzing left chocolates in the snow as an offering and Hillary left a cross that he had been given by John Hunt.^[12] Additional photos were taken looking down the mountain in order to confirm that they had made it to the top and that the ascent was not faked.^[20]

Edmund Hillary greets Tenzing Norgay, circa 1971.

The two had to take care on the descent after discovering that drifting snow had covered their tracks, complicating the task of retracing their steps. The first person they met was Lowe, who had climbed up to meet them with hot soup.

News of the expedition reached Britain on the day of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and the press called the successful ascent a coronation gift.^[21] In return, the 37 members of the party received the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal with MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION engraved on the rim. The group was surprised by the international acclaim that they received upon arriving in Kathmandu.^[12] Hillary and Hunt were knighted by the young queen,^[22] while Tenzing received either the British Empire Medal,^[18] or the George Medal from the British Government for his efforts with the expedition.^[23][24] It has been suggested that Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru refused permission for Tenzing to be knighted.^[23]

After Everest[link]

Hillary in 1957 after accompanying the first plane to land at the Marble Point ground air strip, Antarctica

Hillary climbed ten other peaks in the Himalayas on further visits in 1956, 1960–1961, and 1963–1965. He also reached the South Pole as part of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, for which he led the New Zealand section, on 4 January 1958. His party was the first to reach the Pole overland since Amundsen in 1911 and Scott in 1912, and the first ever to do so using motor vehicles.

Hillary narrowly missed becoming a victim in TWA Flight 266 from the American midwest in the 1960 New York air disaster, having been late for his flight.^[25]

In the summer of 1962, he was a guest on the television show, "What's My Line?" The panellists were blindfolded for his appearance. He stumped the panel, Dorothy Kilgallen, guest panellist Merv Griffin, Arlene Francis and Bennett Cerf.^[26]

In 1977, he led a jetboat expedition, titled "Ocean to Sky", from the mouth of the Ganges River to its source.

Between 1977 and 1979, Hillary commentated aboard several Antarctic sightseeing flights operated by Air New Zealand.^[27] He was scheduled to commentate on 28 November 1979 Air New Zealand Flight 901, but had to pull out due to work commitments in the United States, and was replaced by his close friend Peter Mulgrew. The aircraft crashed into Mount Erebus in Antarctica, killing all 257 on board.^[28] Hillary later married Mulgrew's widow.^[29][30]

Hillary took part in the 1975 general election, as a member of the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign. His involvement in this campaign was seen as precluding his nomination as Governor-General,^[31] with the position instead being offered to Keith Holyoake in 1977. However, in 1985 he was appointed New Zealand High Commissioner to India (concurrently High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Ambassador to Nepal) and spent four and a half years based in New Delhi. In 1985 he accompanied Neil Armstrong in a small twin-engined ski plane over the Arctic Ocean and landed at the North Pole. He thus became the first man to stand at both poles and on the summit of Everest.^[32][33][34]

Hillary was highly critical of the decision not to try to rescue David Sharp, an Everest climber who died on the mountain in 2006, saying that leaving other climbers to die is unacceptable, and the desire to get to the summit has become all-important. He also said, "I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top. It was wrong if there was a man suffering altitude problems and was huddled under a rock, just to lift your hat, say good morning and pass on by". He also told the New Zealand Herald that he was horrified by the callous attitude of today’s climbers. "They don't give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress and it doesn’t impress me at all that they leave someone lying under a rock to die" and that, "I think that their priority was to get to the top and the welfare of ... a member of an expedition was very secondary."^[35]

Australian mountaineer Adam Darragh in turn considered Hillary's criticism of Inglis and his team as too harsh,^[36] and Inglis himself, while maintaining that he remained on good terms with Hillary after the incident,^[37] noted that Sharp was "almost frozen solid" and "effectively dead" when the team found him in the difficult terrain on their descent.^[38]

In January 2007, Hillary travelled to Antarctica to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Scott Base. He flew to the station on 18 January 2007 with a delegation including the Prime Minister.^[39][40][41] While there he called for the British government to contribute to the upkeep of Scott's and Shackleton's huts.^[42]

On 22 April 2007 while on a trip to Kathmandu he was reported to have suffered a fall. There was no comment on the nature of his illness and he did not immediately seek treatment. He was hospitalised after returning to New Zealand.^[43]

Public recognition[link]

Hillary was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) on 6 June 1953;^[22] member of the Order of New Zealand (ONZ) in 1987; and Knight of the Order of the Garter (KG) on 22 April 1995.^[44] The Government of India conferred on him its second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, posthumously, in 2008.^[45] He was also awarded the Polar Medal for his part in the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition,^[46] and the Order of the Gurkha Right Hand, 1st Class (Suprasidha-Prabala-Gorkha-Dakshina-Bahu) of the Kingdom of Nepal in 1953.^[47] His favoured New Zealand charity was the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre Inc. (OPC) of which he was Patron for 35 years. Hillary was particularly keen on the work this organisation did in introducing young New Zealanders to the outdoors in a very similar way to his first experience of a school trip to Mt Ruapehu at the age of 16. Various streets, schools and organisations around New Zealand and abroad are named after him. A few examples are Hillary College (Otara), Edmund Hillary Primary School (Papakura) and the Hillary Commission (now SPARC).

Statue of Hillary permanently gazing towards Aoraki / Mount Cook, one of his favourite peaks.^[48]

In 1992 Hillary appeared on the updated New Zealand $5 note, thus making him the only New Zealander to appear on a banknote during his or her lifetime, in defiance of the established convention for banknotes of using only depictions of deceased individuals, and current heads of state. The Reserve Bank governor at the time, Don Brash, had originally intended to use a deceased sportsperson on the $5 note but could not find a suitable candidate. Instead he broke with convention by requesting and receiving Hillary's permission — along with an insistence from Hillary to use Aoraki/Mount Cook rather than Mount Everest in the backdrop. The image also features a Ferguson TE20 tractor like the one Hillary used to reach the South Pole on the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition.^[49]

A 2.3-metre (7.5 ft) bronze statue of "Sir Ed" was installed outside The Hermitage hotel at Mount Cook Village, New Zealand, in 2003.

To mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest the Nepalese Government conferred honorary citizenship upon Hillary at a special Golden Jubilee celebration in Kathmandu. He was the first foreign national to receive that honour.^[50]

In 2008, the same year he died, the Indian Government conferred him with Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour of the country.^[51]

Edmund Hillary in Warsaw, 2004

In 2005 a poll conducted by Reader's Digest put Hillary as "New Zealand's most trusted individual", beating cyclist Sarah Ulmer and film director Peter Jackson.^[52] He kept the title in 2006 and 2007^[53] After his death in 2008 he was succeeded by Willie Apiata VC, a Corporal in the NZSAS.^[54]

Two Antarctic features are named after Hillary. The Hillary Coast is a section of coastline south of Ross Island and north of the Shackleton Coast. It is formally recognised by New Zealand, the United States of America and Russia. The Hillary Canyon, an undersea feature in the Ross Sea appears on the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans, which is published by the International Hydrographic Organization.^[55]

In 1974, Folkways Records released Interview with Sir Edmund Hillary: Mountain Climbing which included his thoughts on the Everest Expedition and the Abominable Snowman.

Personal life[link]

Hillary married Louise Mary Rose on 3 September 1953, soon after the ascent of Everest. A shy man, he relied on his future mother-in-law to propose on his behalf.^[6][7][56] They had three children: Peter (*1954), Sarah (*1955) and Belinda (1959–1975).^[1][15] In 1975 while en route to join Hillary in the village of Phaphlu, where he was helping to build a hospital, Louise and Belinda were killed in a plane crash near Kathmandu airport shortly after take-off.^[6] Hillary married June Mulgrew, the widow of his close friend Peter Mulgrew, on 21 December 1989.^[7][57] His son Peter Hillary has also become a climber, summiting Everest in 1990. In May 2002 Peter climbed Everest as part of a 50th anniversary celebration; Jamling Tenzing Norgay (son of Tenzing; Tenzing himself had died in 1986) was also part of the expedition.^[58] Hillary had six grandchildren.

He spent most of his life (when not away on expeditions) living in a property on Remuera Road in Auckland City,^[59] where he enjoyed reading adventure and science fiction novels in his retirement.^[59]

Philanthropy[link]

Following his ascent of Everest he devoted much of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. Through his efforts many schools and hospitals were built in this remote region of the Himalayas. He was the Honorary President of the American Himalayan Foundation, a United States non-profit body that helps improve the ecology and living conditions in the Himalayas. He was also the Honorary President of Mountain Wilderness, an international NGO dedicated to the worldwide protection of mountains.

Death[link]

New Zealand flag at half-mast to mark the death of Hillary

On 11 January 2008, Hillary died of heart failure at the Auckland City Hospital at around 9 am NZDT (10 January at 20:00 UTC) at the age of 88.^[60] Hillary's death was announced by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark at around 11:20 am. She stated that his death was a "profound loss to New Zealand".^[61] His death was recognised by the lowering of flags to half-mast on all Government and public buildings and at Scott Base in Antarctica.^[62] Actor and adventurer Brian Blessed, who attempted to climb Everest three times, described Sir Edmund as a "kind of titan".^[63] He was in hospital at the time of his death but was expected to come home that day according to his family.^{[5][64][65][66][67][68]}

After Hillary's death the Green Party proposed a new public holiday for 20 July or the Monday nearest to it.^[69] Renaming mountains after Hillary was also proposed. The Mt Cook Village's Hermitage Hotel, the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre and Alpine Guides, proposed a renaming of Mount Ollivier, the first mountain climbed by Hillary. The family of Arthur Ollivier, for whom the mountain is named, are against such a renaming.^[70]

Funeral[link]

People draped in the Flag of New Zealand at the Auckland Domain as the hearse drives past at Sir Edmund Hillary's state funeral.

A state funeral was held for Hillary on 22 January 2008,^[71] after which his body was cremated. The first part of this funeral was on 21 January when Hillary's casket was taken into Holy Trinity Cathedral to lie in state.^[72] On 29 February 2008, in a private ceremony, most of Hillary's ashes were scattered in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf as he had desired.^[73] The remainder went to a Nepalese monastery near Everest; a plan to scatter them on the summit was cancelled in 2010.^[74]

On 2 April 2008, a service of thanksgiving was held in his honour at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle. It was attended by the Queen (but not the Duke of Edinburgh owing to a chest infection) and New Zealand dignitaries including Prime Minister Helen Clark. Sir Edmund's family and family members of Tenzing Norgay attended as well. Gurkha soldiers from Nepal, a country Sir Edmund Hillary held much affection for, stood guard outside the ceremony.^[75][76]

On 5 November 2008, a commemorative set of five stamps was issued.

Tribute[link]

There have been many calls for lasting tributes to Sir Edmund Hillary. The first major public tribute has been by way of the "Summits for Ed" tribute tour organised by the Sir Edmund Hillary foundation.^[77] This tribute tour went from Bluff at the bottom of the South Island to Cape Reinga at the tip of the North Island, visiting 39 towns and cities along the way. In each venue school children and members of the public were invited to join together to climb a significant hill or site in their area to show their respect for Hillary. Public were also invited to bring small rocks or pebbles that had special significance to them, that would be collected and included in a memorial to Hillary at the base of Mt Ruapehu in the grounds of the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre. Any funds donated during the tour are to be used by the foundation to sponsor young New Zealanders on outdoor courses to continue the values that Hillary espoused. Over 8,000 members of the public attended these "Summit" climbs between March and May 2008.^[78]

View from the Hillary Trail

On 23 October 2008, it was announced that all future England vs New Zealand rugby test matches will be played for the Hillary Shield named in honour of Sir Edmund. The shield was contested for the first time on 29 November 2008 at Twickenham Stadium, and was presented to the winning team, the New Zealand national rugby union team, by Lady Hillary.^[79][80] Also on 23 October 2008 the Duke of Edinburgh's Award in New Zealand (formerly the Young New Zealanders' Challenge) was announced as the youth programme that would take Sir Edmund's name as part of its brand (at the request of the NZ Govt and the Hillary family). The organisation re-branded on 20 August 2009 as "The Duke of Edinburgh's Hillary Award".^[81]

On 11 January 2009 at 9 am the New Zealand duo, "The Kiwis" performed their tribute song "Hillary 88" in front of the Beehive in Wellington. This has been recorded as the official world memorial song for Sir Edmund Hillary with the endorsement of Lady Hillary. The band members were Dean Ward and George Watson of Levin New Zealand.^[82]

A four-day track in the Waitakere Ranges, along Auckland's west coast, is named the Hillary Trail. It was opened on 11 January 2010.^[83]

The South Ridge of Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, was renamed Hillary Ridge on 18 August 2011. Hillary and three other climbers were the first party to successfully climb the ridge in 1948.^[84]

Arms[link]

Arms of Edmund Hillary Notes The arms of Edmund Hillary consist of: Crest A kiwi Azure grasping in the dexter foot an ice axe bendwise Or. Escutcheon Azure, a chevron embowed between two chevronels embowed in fess Argent between three prayer wheels bendwise Or. Supporters On either side an emperor penguin Proper gorged with a plain collar Or. Compartment An iceflow proper. Motto Nothing venture, nothing win Orders The Order of the Garter ribbon. Honi soit qui mal y pense (Shame be to him who thinks evil of it)

Publications[link]

Books written by Hillary include:

• High Adventure (1955), Hodder & Stoughton (London) (reprinted Oxford University Press (paperback) ISBN 1-932302-02-6 and as High Adventure: The True Story of the First Ascent of Everest ISBN 0-19-516734-1)
• East of Everest — An Account of the New Zealand Alpine Club Himalayan Expedition to the Barun Valley in 1954, with George Lowe (1956), E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc. ASIN B000EW84UM
• No Latitude for Error (1961), Hodder & Stoughton. ASIN B000H6UVP6.
• The New Zealand Antarctic Expedition (1959), R.W. Stiles, printers. ASIN B0007K6D72.
• The crossing of Antarctica; the Commonwealth Transantarctic Expedition, 1955–1958 with Sir Vivian Fuchs (1958). Cassell ASIN B000HJGZ08
• High in the thin cold air; the story of the Himalayan Expedition, led by Sir Edmund Hillary, sponsored by World Book Encyclopedia, with Desmond Doig (1963) ASIN B00005W121
• Schoolhouse in the Clouds (1965) ASIN B00005WRBB
• Nothing Venture, Nothing Win (1975) Hodder & Stoughton General Division ISBN 0-340-21296-9
• From the Ocean to the Sky: Jet Boating Up the Ganges Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd (November 1980) ISBN 0-7089-0587-0
• Two Generations with Peter Hillary (1984) Hodder & Stoughton Ltd ISBN 0-340-35420-8
• Ascent: Two Lives Explored: The Autobiographies of Sir Edmund and Peter Hillary (1992) Paragon House Publishers ISBN 1-55778-408-6
• View from the Summit: The Remarkable Memoir by the First Person to Conquer Everest (2000) Pocket ISBN 0-7434-0067-4

See also[link]

• Tenzing-Hillary Airport (Lukla Airport)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Edmund Hillary

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Edmund Hillary

• On top of the world: Ed Hillary Full biography of Edmund Hillary (NZHistory.net.nz)
• Small but interesting part of biography
• Edmund Hillary biography from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
• Videos (10) from Archives New Zealand
• Obituary of Edmund Hillary
• Interview with Sir Edmund Hillary: Mountain Climbing at Smithsonian Folkways
• Interview with Sir Edmund Hillary

Conrad Anker (born November 27, 1962) is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author famous for his challenging ascents in the high Himalaya and Antarctica. He is a member of The North Face climbing team and also works closely with Timex Expedition as brand ambassador. In 1999, he was a key member of the search team which located the remains of legendary British climber George Mallory on Mount Everest. Anker is the climber who spotted Mallory's body.^[1] He lives in Bozeman, Montana.^[2]