Introduction and Background

• Podcast hosts Josh and Chuck discuss George Mallory and the unsolved mystery of whether he reached Everest's summit
• Mallory extraordinarily famous in climbing community and general public
• Started as left-leaning progressive school teacher who rubbed elbows with John Maynard Keynes and Virginia Woolf from Bloomsbury group
• Got into hiking/mountaineering in late teens, fell in love with it

Early Everest History and Discovery

• Mount Everest identified as world's tallest peak in 1852 by Indian surveyor Radhanath Sikdar using English occupation data
• Height: 29,032 feet
• Named after Sir George Everest (director of survey in India)
• Tibetan name: Chomolungma ("mother goddess of the world")
• No Europeans had been within 60 miles of Everest before 1920s
• Everest considered "third pole" after North and South poles already conquered

1920s Expedition Formation

• Royal Geographic Society + Alpine Club formed Mount Everest Committee (1920)
• Got permission from Tibet in 1921 for scouting trip
• Early mountaineering era - pioneers making own gear, figuring out techniques
• Equipment: tweed jackets, hobnail boots (leather boots with spikes)
• Described as looking like "gone out for a picnic and hit by snowstorm"

1921 Reconnaissance Expedition

• Mallory age 33, quit job, left wife and three young kids for 7+ months
• Promised to carry wife's picture and place it at Everest summit
• First expedition to map Everest approach route
• Found North Col - ridge connecting mountains, still used today from Tibetan side
• North Route: 22 miles base camp to summit (vs South Route: 12.75 miles)
• North Route technically more difficult, requires more time at high altitude

Climbing Challenges and Obstacles

• Must traverse mountain ranges, climb multiple peaks to reach main mountain
• Glacier crossing with crevasses (100+ feet deep), ice slides/avalanches
• Seracs (house-sized ice blocks that can topple)
• Altitude sickness from low oxygen
• Establishing camps crucial for survival - cannot survive night at high elevations without shelter
• Learning human response to low oxygen, weather patterns, timing

Oxygen Equipment Issues

• Early oxygen: glass bottles in wooden crates, extremely heavy (30+ pounds extra)
• Mallory initially annoyed by oxygen requirement, didn't use in 1921-1922
• Some considered oxygen hindrance due to weight
• Modern climbers with oxygen take single steps, wait 15-30 seconds between steps

1922 Expedition Attempts

• Mallory + others reached 26,800 feet without oxygen before turning back
• Avalanche killed seven Sherpas
• Mallory felt partially responsible for pushing third attempt
• Mallory put film in camera backwards, ruined all photos
• Dr. Tom Longstaff quote: "Mallory quite unfit to be placed in charge of anything including himself"

1924 Final Expedition Setup

• No 1923 expedition due to lack of funding
• Mallory only member who'd been on all three expeditions (1921, 1922, 1924)
• Age 37 - considered old for mountaineering, likely last chance
• Sandy Irvine selected as partner - engineering student, could fix oxygen apparatus
• Irvine: strong as ox, full head taller than Mallory, less experienced climber

1924 Summit Attempts

• June 1st: Mallory + George Bruce attempt failed when Sherpas refused to continue
  • Established camp at 25,000 feet (highest at time)
• June 2nd: Edward Norton + T. Howard Somerville attempt
  • Norton reached within 1,000 feet of summit (28,000+ feet)
  • Record stood until Hillary/Norgay 1953
  • Somerville nearly suffocated from altitude cough
  • Norton developed snow blindness, had to be guided every step down

Final Attempt - June 8th, 1924

• Mallory + Irvine's third/final attempt
• Sending positive progress notes down via Sherpas
• Noel Odell (geologist) providing trail support, looking for fossils
• 12:50 PM: Odell's crucial sighting from below

Odell's Eyewitness Account

• Saw two black spots on northeast ridge, several hours behind schedule
• Quote: "entire Summit Ridge and final peak unveiled...black spot moved...approached great Rock step and shortly emerged at top, second did likewise"
• Clouds returned, spots disappeared - last time anyone saw them
• Odell had excellent eyesight (no glasses until 90s), geologist unlikely to mistake rocks for people

The Three Steps Controversy

• Three cliff obstacles: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3
• Debate whether Odell saw them on First Step or Second Step
• If First Step: Still had Second Step ahead, might not have summited
• If Second Step: Nothing would have stopped Mallory from continuing to summit
• Odell later adamant it was Second Step

Search and Rescue Efforts

• Odell waited at high camps, became hero
• Made multiple ascents over 26,000 feet for two days searching
• Spent 11 days total above 23,000 feet
• Pre-arranged death signal: six sleeping bags in cross formation
• Base camp replied with "give up hope" signal

Subsequent Evidence (1933-1999)

• 1933: Irvine's ice ax found (wouldn't abandon voluntarily)
• 1975: Chinese climber Wang Hung Bao claimed finding "English dead"
  • Died next day in avalanche, no follow-up possible
  • China denied claim, called it misunderstanding
• 1991: Old oxygen bottle found (almost certainly Mallory/Irvine's)

1999 Discovery of Mallory's Body

• National Geographic expedition found Mallory's preserved body
• Severe injuries: broken leg, rope trauma around waist, golf ball-sized hole in forehead
• Puncture wound likely from ice ax bouncing off rock during fall
• Rope snapped, suggesting tied to immobile object (rock) not Irvine
• Theory: Mallory sent Irvine back, attempted summit alone

Key Clues About Summit Success

• Missing wife's photograph: Mallory vowed to place at summit, not found on body
• Missing camera: Kodak vest pocket camera (VPK) could contain summit photos
• Film potentially developable after decades in freeze conditions
• Would definitively solve mystery if found

Irvine's Disappearance Mystery

• Recent expeditions found no trace of Irvine where Chinese claimed to find "English dead"
• Rumor: Chinese secretly recovered Irvine's body and camera
• Theory: Chinese botched film development, embarrassed, kept secret
• Alternative: Protecting national pride if camera proved 1924 summit (before Chinese 1960 first North Face summit)

Historical Context and Legacy

• Mallory coined famous phrase "because it's there" when asked why climb mountains
• Hillary's position: summit only counts if you survive to return
• Mystery remains unsolved - no definitive proof of summit success
• Mallory's obsession and sacrifice cemented legendary status in mountaineering