Ghosts of Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine

by Jochen Hemmleb, Eric R. Simonson, Larry A. Johnson

Did Mallory and Irvine reach Everest's summit 30 years before Hillary and Tenzing? Until now, clues about what happened to these two Everest pioneers had been scant and misleading. Until now, no one has known whether they reached the summit. Until now, no one has known where or how they perished.

This is a detective story of the first order. It is the story not just of Mallory and Irvine's last climb, but of the team of climbers and researchers who, together, found the body of perhaps Britain's greatest mountaineer and uncovered the startling story he had waited so long to reveal. Written by the three key members of the team, and incorporating extensive interviews with other team members, GHOSTS OF EVEREST is the dramatic unfolding of both the 1999 and 1924 expeditions, woven together into a compelling narrative.

This book is the definitive account and has become an instant classic.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mountaineering, History, Adventure, Travel, Biography, Climbing

205 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Duane Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the 1999 expedition to Mt. Everest, not to reach the summit, but to search for evidence of what happened to George Mallory and Andrew Irvine on that fateful day in 1924. Did they reach the summit before they perished? That's one of the great mysteries of the 20th century. What happened on this new expedition is legend of it's own, making a remarkable discovery some 75 years after the tragedy. It didn't solve the mystery, but it did bring closure for thousands of people whose imagination has lingered on the mountain and the mystery.

[Aldi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this book was amazing. AMAZING. Brilliant in its structure paralleling the stages of progress of the 1924 expedition and the 1999 research expedition; dispassionate and fascinating in laying out the evidence and eliminating impossibilities; heartbreaking in actually delving into the characters of Mallory & Irvine and producing several convincing and well-researched reconstructive accounts of what most likely happened. It was the perfect blend of objectivity in research and emotional involvement in the men behind the mystery.

It's funny, I've been obsessed with the Mallory & Irvine mystery for a while but until I read this book, I never really formed a belief as to whether or not they made it to the summit - if anything, I guess I tended to side with the modern opinion of "unlikely" and contented myself with knowing it doesn't really matter if they did, because what they achieved was incredible either way.

But after reading this book - bloody hell yeah, I believe it. This wasn't research done by a bunch of excited fans who just *wanted* them to have successfully summited, nor a bunch of professional naysayers who just wanted them not to; these were geologists, historians and climbers who knew what they were doing and had no stake in pinning post-mortem medals on Mallory or what-have-you. And the process of finding and sorting the clues, especially the notes in Mallory's pocket regarding how much oxygen they probably had with them (definitely enough, in short, to get them to the summit), and the theories evolving from there are so sound and evidence-based that the picture they painted made me gnaw my nails with excitement all over again.

(I actually gasped when Anker rated the free-climb of the Second Step, the one Mallory would have had to master if they were going to succeed. It may be silly but I'd never heard the Second Step put in such simple terms as the Yosemite Decimal System - people always talk about it as this incredibly hard thing that only the most experienced climbers can master, until it grows in your mind to the dimensions of a completely smooth 3-mile-high glass wall or something. To hear that an experienced climber rated it a 5.8 at sea level, probably a 5.10 at altitude, made everything click in my mind and solidified my perspective so much. A 5.8 is easy, relatively, if you've done even a bit of regular climbing. I've done loads of them. I've done 5.10s, many of them without difficulty. I've done 5.11s and clawed my way up the occasional 5.12. If someone like ME could have climbed the Second Step - leaving aside the itsy-bitsy tiiiny little insignificant complication of it being, y'know, on Mount Everest! - then fuck yeah, someone like George Mallory would have made that wall his bitch in about two seconds flat and hauled Irvine up it by his little finger.)

What an account, and what incredible finds. I'm totally on board now with the successful summit bid, a descent in the dark, and a fatal fall guttingly close to the relative safety of camp (SO CLOSE, DAMMIT) seeming the most probable story, considering where Mallory's body was found, how much oxygen they likely carried, the fact that Mallory no longer had Ruth's picture that he was going to put on the summit (IT'S ON THE SUMMIT!), and most of all, what sort of men these two were - determined, beautiful, passionate explorers, who walked the edge of madness you have to take if you're going to walk the edge of mountains.

Hell yes, they made it. I believe that now.

THIS BOOK. MY FEELS.

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Jeremy Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not realize this book was written by other members of the 1999 expedition that found Mallory's body. I wish I had read it much sooner after reading Conrad Anker's The Lost Explorer. It's a shame that both books lack substance; I thought this book relied on fluff where Anker kept his short, but there isn't 100% overlap in the material, so a combined effort would have felt more substantial. I'm not sure why they're two separate works. Anker was the man who actually found the body, so I'm not going to tell him he shouldn't write his own book, but both suffer typical "person who did the thing writes the book" shortcomings.

Every sentence in this book should tie directly to evidence addressing the summit mystery, whether hard or circumstantial. They missed that assignment. Maybe others find the start-to-finish 1924 expedition an entertaining story full of necessary backstory. I did not, but I understand that we need some situational context.
I found even less relevant the backstory of the 1999 expedition; I really don't care how you ordered supplies, selected climbers, and secured funding from BBC. They tried to present the two expeditions as parallel running stories, and that effort (to me) fell flat.
But I'm willing to endure it, if you, the finders of the majority of hard clues in this cold case, will end the book by systematically laying out once and for all: every piece of evidence, when and how it came to be, the trustworthiness of said evidence, and how both sides use or dismiss it to further their case. What I got was closer to word vomit but not totally unusable.

At the end of the day an explanation of all the evidence found and available by 1999 is in here, just not well organized. It's interpreted by experts with much better informed opinions than mine. And the photographs are really great. 4 stars for content, 2 for presentation.

[Chet Herbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it inexplicable that the 1999 Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition stopped searching for Andrew Irvine's body once they stumbled across George Mallory, a bit after half an hour on the first day of their investigation, and, instead, decided to summit Everest themselves a few days later. The reason for searching the area was because members of the 1975 Chinese expedition claimed they found a body of an Englishman. Why not continue to search for Irvine as well since they found a different body? since Irvine was closer to the Chinese camp anyway? After all, that was the stated purpose of the Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition!

[LibraryCin · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Lenny Husen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was AWESOME. Written in 1999, it chronicles the Expedition to Climb Everest in search of evidence of George Mallory and Sandy Levine, the two British Mountaineers who attempted to Summit Everest in 1924 and vanished "into thin air" leaving only an ice ax behind.
In the same way that so much depended upon William Carlos Williams' wheelbarrow, the vitality and pathos of the artifacts and body they found is soul stirring. A watch with no hands, a fingerless glove, a book of matches, letters and to-do lists, a hob-nailed boot--this things are embued with dignity and love.
This is a Mystery and a fascinating one--what exactly happened? Why has it captured the imagination of so many and in this case, led a team to risk their lives in search of clues?
The book is incredibly well-written and chronicles the parallel Expeditions--1924 and 1999, going back and forth in time. The photos, both old and new, are excellent. The characters, both dead and alive, are super likeable and admirable.

If you are a fan of Mount Everest and mountain climbing or stories about either, you should read this book.

[M *ੈ✩‧₊˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good, detailed story about the climb up the everest and the search for Mallory & Irvine. I liked the amount of pictures included because it really gave you an idea about what it was like.
The only thing I did not like is how slow paced it got at the end, thats where I started skimming it.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the instances where I rate a book five stars despite recognizing some flaws in the text because the experience of reading the text and thinking about it has been deeply inspiring, surprisingly emotional, and has wholly captured my imagination. Even though attention to the Sherpa who assisted with the expedition is lacking, and the foreword introduces a family perspective on Mallory which feels absent from the text, the book itself is so captivating that it still deserves the five star rating.

This book effectively tells the stories of two expeditions - one in 1924, the other in 1999 - which both resulted in tragedy, discovery, and accomplishment. The narrative shifts back and forth, combining a history of the earlier search with a travelogue of the modern approach to the mountain. Quality images throughout help readers visualize the terrain, and annotated maps help place the book's events within a geographic context.

The expedition itself is fascinating, and the book has information for both seasoned mountaineers as well as those totally ignorant of climbing and its jargon (such as myself). The way evidence is presented, from collection to interpretation, allows readers to understand how we know what we know and gives them an opportunity to make their own conclusion from there.

I don't want to say too much about the story itself because it is undoubtedly worth it to read the book and experience it for yourself. I'll be reading other books from this expedition and I'm fairly certain it has kickstarted a reading binge of different mountaineering accounts. Just an exceptional book.

I would recommend this to my friend Carter and my Dad.

[Katie]

DNF at 50%
I love reading anything Everest, but this was a difficult book to get through. It spent most of the time describing the personalities of the hikers and how the team was a perfect match for the climb instead of telling the story. I wanted to like it, however, it was slow and dragged on.

[Alderlv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Var tikai apbrīnot kāpēju izturību, drosmi, piedzīvojumu garu.


Vērts arī pieminēt BBC birokrātu tupo idiotismu.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a completely wonderful book! The quote on the back of my copy says "brilliantly constructed" and that is certainly true, the seamless blending of the 1924 expedition and the 1999 one is outstanding. Both stories were utterly compelling and beautifully described. The detail was intense and the comparisons between the expeditions served to bring both vividly to life.
I was so moved at so many points but most particularly at the discovery of Mallory's body, I could barely take it in, even with the photo there in the book. And the description of Mallory and Irvine's fall was almost too much to read, although that was perhaps the one point where the writer(s) let the intensity of their feelings about what happened carry them away from a generally more circumspect style of telling. I didn't mind though, it was nice to be given that closure.
This was a really wonderful, illuminating book.

[Pancha · Rating 3 out of 5]

An account of the 1999 expedition to find Mallory and Irvine. Conrad Anker's account, The Lost Explorer, is a lot more personal, but this one has some good info and lots of color picture. Be warned, it contains pictures of Mallory's remains, which could be disturbing. I recommend not reading the last chapter before bed, as it also contains a very vivid description about how Mallory and Irvine likely died. Dark Summit by Nick Heil is another good book on Everest, about the disastrous 1996 season.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The photos and the story is amazing, although I feel like much of the detail about putting the expedition together could have been left out, especially bits about how awful the BBC were to work with. Just jump right into the expedition itself please.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story and the photos are unbelievable.

[Lukrezia Cosimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a classic, but an interesting read. The experience was rather spoilt by me pouring most of a bottle of mineral water over the book.

[Sharon McNeil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good photography. Weak on substance.

[Peter McGinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of several books and articles I have read about Mallory and Irvine's legendary and tragic climb, and in fact the second one I read in the past few weeks. This book is the best one by far in my mind, not just because of its meticulous and well-reasoned investigation of this great mystery (Did Mallory summit Everest?) but because I found it was very well written and drew me along. I usually read multiple books at the same time and the way I know a book has grabbed me is if I find myself mostly reading just one. That happened with Ghosts of Everest. I think part of the reason it is so good is that, unlike another expedition book I read (which was still quite good) instead of having different team members tell their own stories, they told them to another writer who combined the narratives into one smooth book.

Now I have long believed that Mallory reached the summit in 1924, just because his body hadn't been found. If he had fallen, it seemed to me, it most likely would have been while he was descending in the dark. And as good as he was as a climber, if he was descending in the dark, he was probably on his way down after a successful summit. That is hardly definitive reasoning and based only on a hunch.

This book goes much further and deeper than hunches, however. The Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition, after all, found Mallory's body and recovered all of the artifacts on his person. They found other items from the 1924 expedition and looked again at incidents in the past when other climbers felt they had discovered evidence - not always correctly. I don't watch those CSI TV shows, but their painstaking investigation would fit in with that work - they even collected some DNA!

So the book combines the original story of the Mallory/Irvine summit day with their own efforts, as well as talking about those other expeditions that had reported relevant sightings. They slowly work through the evidence. (I had watched the film documentary that came out of these efforts, and it didn't seem to settle nearly as many questions, so perhaps the book is able to go a lot further because it would have dragged down the film.) Their effort isn't colored by what they wanted to find like it has been in other books I have read about this mystery. I like how they turn the investigation around by using facts that are so obscure (but which add up) that others haven't thought about before - such as how many oxygen tanks they had taken with them, etc., not to mention making sense of the note sheets found on Mallory's body.

I still think Mallory made it, not because the book tells me he did, because it doesn't say that, but rather because it seems to add up based on their findings. If only because they didn't find the picture of his beloved wife on him, which he had planned to leave on the summit. But unless they someday find Irvine's body, I am not sure it will ever be proven one way or the other. I believe the camera must be with Irvine. I can picture him taking most of the pictures that might have been taken, as he was the more technical-minded of the two.

The only off note that was struck for me was the presence of an apparent aura of reverence and camaraderie that they felt coming from Mallory's body. I just feel it was played up a bit too much, sort of like how the TV archaeologists wax on about their feelings of awe when they find a key bone or other artifact. But it just seemed weird - it didn't detract from the narrative in any real way..

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghosts of Everest: The Search for Mallory and Irvine by Jochen Hemlebb, Eric R. Simonson, and Larry A. Johnson (The Mountaineers Books 1999) (796.52) (3440). Here's some nonfiction which is one of history's actual mysteries. It is a historical “whodunit”, or rather, a historical “Did they accomplish it”?

On June 6, 1924, a British expedition was in place high upon Mount Everest. The goal: to put a climber upon the peak of Everest, which at an elevation of over 29000 feet, is the highest point on earth, and which had never been summited.

Two intrepid British explorers, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, set out that morning from camp high on the mountain with the intention of reaching the summit. A veritable army of porters and support climbers had risked their lives to manoeuver Mallory and Irvine, their equipment, and their supplies, to within reach of the peak.

These two climbers were fit and fitted with the best clothing and equipment of the day. A photo was taken of the pair in full climbing gear just before they left for, in the parlance of the day, their assault on the mountain.

Later that day, a support team spotter stationed further down the mountain (may have) spotted Mallory and Irvine crossing a snow field high on the mountain and not far below the summit.

They were never seen again. The mountain and the glaciers swallowed any trace of the pair.

Did they reach the summit before they (presumably) slipped and fell to their deaths? Could they possibly have made it to the peak with only the equipment available in the 1920's? Were they on their way up to the summit or were they on the way down to safety when they disappeared?

These questions have been endlessly debated by mountaineers and armchair climbers alike since 1924. But without any actual evidence, the questions went unanswered until 1999, when a group of American climbers mounted the “1999 Mallory & Irivne Research Expedition.” That expedition is the basis for this book.

The “1999 Expedition” drew some of the world's foremost climbers together. What they learned, and what they found on the mountain, is revealed, and it is stunning.

Has the mystery of what happened to Mallory and Irvine finally been answered after all these years?

Spoiler alert: I've read the book, and I'm not going to ruin the reveal for my fellow Goodreads readers. I strongly suggest that anyone interested in Mount Everest, mountaineering, or exploring should purchase a copy.

My rating: 7.75/10, finished 5/9/20 (3440). I purchased my HB copy in like-new condition from my local used book store for $1.50 on 03/04/20. Interestingly, the copy I bought is a signed presentation copy from Larry A. Johnson, who was one of the book's co-authors. I doubt that that adds value, but at least it assured the authenticity of the volume.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Mason Wagemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn’t expecting much from this book as I had no real idea what it was about. My neighbor gave it to me and said it brother is in it so I decided to give it a shot. I had no clue about any of Everest’s history let alone mystery of one of the first expeditions to the summit.

I found the most interesting bits in the story to be the detective work behind finding the body. Examining testimonies from the 1924 expedition, what equipment they would have brought with them, where other artifacts such as ice picks or oxygen tanks have been found, what routes were likely taken by Mallory and Irvine, were all clues to be penciled over to uncover the mystery of where the bodies were and if they made it too the top.

The exposition on the struggles of staging such an expedition to conquer Everest, while necessary and good to know, I just did not find to be as compelling. Maybe one day, when I’m an eccentric millionaire with far too much time on my hand and an expendable income, and if I were to ever find climbing Everest to be something fun to do, I’ll pay more attention to the planning and process of it all.

As mentioned earlier, my neighbor’s brother, Andy Politz, is indeed in the book and a critical member in of the 1999 Mallory & Irvine expedition. His journal excerpts on the culture and climb were fun to read as I feel a, though loose as it may be, connection with him. Maybe one day, he’ll come to visit his brother, my neighbor, and I can ask him questions about his adventures. We’ll shotgun beer, say things like “hell yeah brother,” and he’ll see how cool I am and take me on one of his exploits. Yea.. that’s how I see it happening. Ghosts of Everest: 4.2 stars.

[Katia M. Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always been interested in what drives people to do things, to go above and beyond what seems logical or safe. I'm the one with the survivor instinct, the one who thinks of worst case scenarios so I'm not surprised, or uses dark and inappropriate humour to lighten a stressful or grim situation. So while I can see why some people might fancy going off into the death zone, it's not for me. Therefore I found some of the first part of this book a little boring with discussion of setting up the expedition and funding. However once it got into it, the search, discovery and analysing the information gathered, it came alive. With only a few years to go before a century has passed Mallory and Irvine by, we still don't know if they got to the top. It would be interesting to answer the question, but not at the expense of other people's lives.
Overall, I found the bulk of this book interesting. If you are interested in the 1924 expedition, survival, and accidents, you'll get something from this book.

[Curious Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I initially bought this book on CD at a library sale, wanting to delve into new topics. While I expected to find it interesting, I ended up buying a copy of the printed book and listened to the CDs multiple times. It isn't about mountain climbing in general, it's about an attempt to discover the fate of Mallory and Irvine, two climbers who tried to summer Everest in the 1920s. No one knows if they made it or not, just that they never returned, and this account doesn't answer that question. It's about telling what's known about Mallory and Irvine's expedition, along with the quest to solve the mystery of what happened and evidence of whether they succeeded before losing their lives. The mystery may still be solved--Mallory and Irvine were carrying film that might be viably developed--but I continue to think about these two explorers who risked everything to be the first to stand on the tallest mountain in the world.

[Beth Skubis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully done, coffee-table-style account of the late '90s expedition to find the remains of George Mallory and his young climbing partner, Sandy Irvine, who disappeared during their Mount Everest summit attempt in 1924. This book is distinguishable not on the basis of its writing, which is fine but pedestrian, but on the content--in terms of written revelations and photographs. I would strongly recommend reading a book of the caliber of "Into the Silence", which gorgeously probes the various motivations and shared histories of Mallory and his Great War compatriots who first attempted to climb Everest, before reading this. "Ghosts of Everest", however, is an essential coda to the story, one you will find nowhere else and that will leave you satisfied.

[Tom Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

worth reading though I'm still unsure about picking a dead man's pockets.
Wade Davis, 'INTO THE SILENCE', had much to say about this 1999 quest.
Still, had Mallory succeeded, I suppose he would have wanted the world to know.
The potential of a pocket camera in Mallory's possession could have held the answer.
No such luck as no camera was found.

The photos of Mallory's body were startling - have to give the book that; the whiteness of George Mallory's skin after 75 years on Everest. That and how underdressed he was for the subzero temperatures at 28000 feet - not to mention gale force winds at the top of Chomolungma.

[Mary Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good read. The narrative interweaves the climb of the 1924 British Everest expedition with the idea, preparation and expedition of the 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition. Sufficient information is provided to give good sense of the conditions of the climb in both 1924 and 1999. The description of finding Mallory and speculation on what happened was sensitive and moving, which was a surprise as I was expecting something more clinical. Mallory and Irvine were part of the remarkable history of discoveries of our planet.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The word I would use to describe this read is "meticulous;" everything from the research, footnotes, photographs, historical comparisons, geological notations to the authors' approaches/planning/strategies are captured to the finest detail. These acute tellings cooperate to provide extensive, vivid detail of both Mallory & Irvine's expedition and the contemporary pursuit. The generous pictures and maps help any reader unfamiliar with mountaineering (such as myself) to easily understand the terms. Great read.

[Jean Dupenloup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Switching between 1924 and 1999, this book (a collaboration between multiple authors) ably retraces George Mallory’s fatal expedition to Everest and Conrad Anker’s discovery of Mr. Mallory’s body.

The book controversially includes several pictures of Mr. Mallory’s perfectly preserved body lying on the side of Everest.

Pick this book up if you want to delve deeper into Mr. Mallory’s mysterious disappearance.

[Sally Edsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read lots of books about Everest and I am reluctant to say it is the "best" book on the subject because I think there are many good books.
But this one is special. The quality of production is excellent - beautifully illustrated with photos integrated throughout the text. And a simply fascinating story, well told.

[Srijan Bhattarai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been absolutely fascinated by the story of Mallory and Irvine and their 1924 British Everest Expedition. They could very well be the first ones to summit Mount Everest and the mystery as to whether they made it or not still remains as fresh as it was back in 1924. I would love to read this book.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I have read many books on Everest climbs including the early ones recounting the pre-WW2 British expeditions, this book based on the 1999 expedition for the purpose of solving the now century old question of what happened to Mallory and Irvine and did they summit Everest 30 years before Hillary and Tenzing brought much light but still left the latter question unanswered.