The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine

by Tom Holzel, Audrey Salkeld, Eric Simonson (Foreword)

On 8th June 1924 Geroge Mallory and Andrew Irvine set off from camp at 26,700 feet, bound for the summit of Everest. They were watched by Noel Odell who, in a famous despatch to The Times, described how the clouds parted to unveil the summit ridge and final peak of the roof of the world. He watched as the two black dots made towards the top, but after five minutes the clouds rolled in. They were never seen alive again.

Did Mallory and Irvine conquer Everest almost 30 years before Hillary and Tenzing? How did they die? Where they the Olympian heroes described by history? Was George Mallory - friend of Lytton Strachey, Duncan Grant and Rupert Brooke - attempting some poetic ideal by choosing as his climbing partner the inexperienced young Irvine?

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

395 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

I am fascinated by research which uncovers or recasts unknown events. Historical research "Girls Club Holiday House" discovered what local runes were in the forest of Washington, CT. My investigation of Ted Kennedy's tragedy at the Chappaquiddick bridge showed he was nowhere near the car when Mary Jo drove into the water. (He was walking back to the party.) And "Ballard's War" is an intensively researched WW-II what-if? thriller that depicts the hero trying to help Hitler win the war--for very strange reasons. If Ballard did something on Wednesday, Dec 12th, I would check the calendar to make sure December 12th really was a Wednesday!

The point is that with complicated plots--the most interesting--everything has to work out naturally (no Deus ex machina!). The result, at least for me, is the satisfaction like that which comes with a perfect five-course dinner.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This whole mountain climbing business is a big mystery to me. I'll never understand why people take crazy risks to spend five minutes atop the biggest rock in the world, then risk their necks again to get back down. To me it seems like putting yourself in peril to get to the bottom of a mountain you had no business being at the top of in the first place. People spend tens of thousands of dollars to get a chance at Everest, and in too many cases they don't come back. Apparently the slopes are littered with upwards of 200 bodies of climbers who fell or froze; this book undertakes to tell the story of two of those climbers, Mallory and Irvine, with emphasis on Mallory.

Mr Holzel does a creditable job of research and is obviously very keen on the subject matter. He gives a family background on the climbers and follows them through school and subsequent careers. He is able to keep all subject matter interesting, and even the parts outlining petty intrigues and politics of the members of the climbing expeditions are intriguing. These early expeditions were staffed by real characters, and would be quite poorly equipped when compared to modern climbing teams.

The main problem with the book is that it is dated, having been written 13 years before Mallory's remains were found on the mountain. And of course, he can answer none of the big questions that have been plaguing climbers for years. Did they reach the summit? Holzel seems to think that they did, or at least one of them might have. Why did Mallory take the inexperienced Irvine on his final climb instead of the much more experienced Odell? The author explores several possibilities, including the possibility that Mallory had a more than platonic interest in Irvine...after all, there were those nudie photos he posed for with another male friend. Back in the 1920s that was pretty heady stuff. I couldn't help but wonder what reception a photographer would get by asking my gruff old grandfather to pose buff back then...he would probably be lucky to get off with a thrashing!

In the final analysis, this is a book that is thoroughly researched and well-written. It is just sadly out of date.

[Alexander Vreede · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not being aware of the Mallory and Irvine Everest history I bought this book in a 2nd hand bookshop more or less thinking it was a detective. But what a surprise it turned out to be! The book is about much more than only the mystery of what happened to Mallory and Irvine in 1924 on Mount Everest. Apart from a thorough description of the 1924 Everest expedition it contains the story of George Mallory’s life and friends as well as the story of the 1921 and 1922 expeditions in both of which Mallory took part and played an important role.
All these stories are well described with a lot of detail taken from diaries, letters and expedition books. The intriguing background is also taken into account: the role of the Everest Committee and its leading figure A.R. Hinks.
The whole makes you feel as if you were present while it all happened and that makes me give the book five stars.
The report of ‘an Englishman’s body’ on the Everest and of the 1999 expedition where Mallory’s body is found is also told albeit of a kind of distance.
At the end the authors make an honest scientific evaluation as to what in their mind must have happened to Mallory and Irvine that is quite credible. What remains is finding the body of Sandy Irvine and possibly a Kodak camera. But will that ever happen? To me this book was a surprising joy to read.

[Hans Brienesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book detailing the experiences of Mallory on the British Everest expeditions of the 1920's.
I did find,however, the feelings of his attractiveness to his friends of his younger years a bit laboured and probably not necessary in the context of this book. But on the whole a good account that brings us closer whilst not being able clarify whether or not the summit was actually reached by the pair. As mentioned by other reviewers some more detailed maps would have added to the book immensely.

[Bernard Convert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quoi de plus fascinant que le mystère de Mallory et Irvine ? Le scénario proposé par Tom Holzel, selon lequel Mallory aurait continué seul vers le sommet avec l'oxygène, laissant redescendre Irvine, moins expérimenté, a été démenti par la découverte du corps de Mallory en 1999 qui montre une blessure autour de la poitrine due à la corde, ce qui suggère fortement qu'ils étaient encordés et qu'ils ont chuté ensemble. Et puis il y a des mystères dans le mystère. Celui du Second Ressaut. Pas faisable avec l'équipement d'alors selon, notamment, Rheinold Meissner. Faisable dit Tom Holzel si on le prend de telle ou telle façon (ce que je n'ai pas trop compris). Et puis pourquoi Mallory a-t-il choisi comme compagnon Irvine, peu expérimenté même si très habile à réparer les appareils à oxygène ? Et puis où sont passés les appareils photos ? Et la photo de Ruth que Mallory s'était promis de laisser au sommet ? Je ne mets que quatre étoiles parce qu'il y a deux chapitres un peu plombants après le récit des expéditions, dont je ne comprends pas la raison d'être. Mais tout le reste est fascinant...

[Ruth York · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a long time to finish this book. Not because I didn't like it, but because when I got to page 140, my copy jumped to page 171. Because this book is no longer in print, I had a hard time finding another copy. I finally did. I liked the history and mountaineering aspect of this book. I knew very little of George Mallory's attempts to be the first to climb Everest. However, this book is, for obvious reasons, somewhat dated, as Mallory's body was found in 1999. I was put off by a chapter concerning Mallory's "Friends and Relations" as I did not see the point. Whether or not he was a homosexual, and whether or not he had an affair with Andrew Irvine, is moot. It has no bearing on the mystery of their disappearance and whether or not they succeeded in being the first to summit Everest, long before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Why this extensive search into this, with an entire chapter on it? It took away from what I believed to be the true story.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a thing for mountain climbing books--yet I was hesitant on this one (1986 publication, and since the discovery of Mallory in 1999, I felt like it would feel really dated). Instead, I was pleasantly surprised because while I knew the basic concepts of Mallory and Irvine's disappearance, I had never read in-depth about them as people or their journey(s) to Everest. It was well done. My only meh point was the last chapter where Holzel went into the 'why' of Mallroy's selection of Irvine and discussed all of Mallory's friendships at Cambridge. It felt unnecessary.

[Bill McFadyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did Mallory and Irvine reach the top of Mt Everest in 1924 or do they join the list of ‘almost made it’’ that the British seemed to send out at the turn of the 19/20 the century - including Franklin and Scott.

This good read seems extremely well researched and gives an insight into both the world of the English climbing and university scenes.

The individuals are all focussed and very brave men , of their time and class - not always enough to fulfill the aim.

[Milja Fromholtz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tämä löytyi Henningsvaerin kiipeilykaupasta ja olikin yllättävän hyvä! Hyvin toimitettu ja jäsennelty, ei ollenkaan puuduttavaa (mitä tän tyyppisistä saattaa joskus tulla).

[Agathe Errabunda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is old so not up to date with latest discoveries but it’s a great dive into who Mallory, Irvine and their companions were, and how they insert themselves in early 20th century British history. The structure of the book feels a bit odd at the end when, right after the description of his disappearance, the author follows with a few chapters regarding Mallory’s potential homosexual romances back in his student years (instead of including them earlier in the story as I feel it would have been more narratively natural).

[Sarah (Presto agitato) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the title, I thought this book would focus more on what ultimately happened on Mallory and Irvine's fatal climb of Mount Everest in 1924, and while it certainly does cover that, the book also serves as an excellent biography of George Mallory. Additionally, it gives a behind-the-scenes account of some of the controversies and in-fighting regarding the Everest expeditions of the 1920s through letters written by members of the Mount Everest Committee at the time. This account adds insight into those controversies not addressed as fully (or at all) in other accounts of the expeditions. The discussion of Mallory's Cambridge/Bloomsbury years also adds new details not covered in other biographies. The research is meticulous and the footnoting excellent. Personally, I don't buy Tom Holzel's final chapter giving his theory as to what happened on the last climb, but I otherwise found Holzel and Salkeld's book to be one of the more enjoyable ones on this topic.

[Jane Wilson-Howarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A carefully researched an illuminating account of an astonishing endeavour in a time when explorers truly risked everything for their goal. I found myself skipping the portions dealing with the political shenanigans back in Europe, so that I could move on to the real epic. The book would have been improved by better maps.

[Pedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es mucho más que el misterio de Mallory e Irvine, es una biografía bastante completa de George Leigh Mallory, con énfasis, por supuesto, en esa última expedición al Everest en 1924. Si eres amante del montañismo, el libro te resultará apasionante.