George Mallory – almost the First

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George Herbert Leigh Mallory (1886 – 1924) is the first “super hero” of Mt Everest. He was part of three British expeditions and eventually died high up on the mountain, below Second Step.

By this time only the north side of the mountain through China was accessible. During the first expeditions the climbers discovered the way to the north col, but only in the third, 1924, the English climbers were really able to go for the summit.

Norton and Somervell almost made it, climbing the couloir named Norton Couloir since. Mallory, and the Oxford student Irvine tried it thereafter, but Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew “Sandy” Irvine both died only about 800 vertical feet from the summit. The Mallory expedition found Georg Mallory’s body, another of the bodies on Everest

Foto: Brady’s Miscellany

Mallory and Irvine are better known than Norton and Somervell because they might have reached the summit. They are not the first Mount Everest deaths – some Sherpa died in the years before.

This painting is part of the set Legends of Mount Everest with more portraits of climbers. Click for an extensive description.

Source: Wikipedia