George Mallory

George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and his climbing partner Andrew "Sandy" Irvine were last seen ascending near Everest's summit during the 1924 expedition, prompting speculation as to whether they reached it before they died.

Born in Cheshire, England, Mallory became a student at Winchester College, where a teacher recruited him for an excursion in the Alps, and he developed a strong natural climbing ability. After graduating from Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he became friends with prominent intellectuals, he taught at Charterhouse School while honing his climbing skills in the Alps and the English Lake District. He pioneered new routes and became a respected figure in the British climbing community.

His service in the First World War interrupted his climbing, but he returned with vigour after the war. Mallory's most notable contributions to mountaineering were his expeditions to Everest. In 1921, he participated in the first British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition, which established the North Col-North Ridge as a viable route to the summit. In 1922, he took part in a second expedition to attempt the first ascent of Everest, in which his team achieved a world altitude record of using supplemental oxygen. They were awarded Olympic gold medals for alpinism.

During the 1924 expedition, Mallory and Irvine disappeared on Everest's Northeast Ridge. They were last seen alive 800 vertical feet (240 metres) from the summit. Mallory's body was found in 1999 by the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition at , some 688 vertical metres below the summit, along with personal effects. The discovery provided no proof that they reached the summit.

When asked by a reporter why he wanted to climb Everest, Mallory purportedly replied, "Because it's there."

Early life and teaching career

Childhood

thumb|upright=1.4|[[St Wilfrid's Church, Mobberley, Cheshire, which Mallory climbed aged 7]]

George Herbert Leigh Mallory was born at Newton Hall, Mobberley, Cheshire, on 18 June 1886, the first son and second child of the Reverend Herbert Leigh Mallory, rector of the parish. His mother was Annie Beridge Leigh-Mallory. Mallory had two sisters, Mary Henrietta and Annie Victoria (Avie), and a younger brother, Trafford, the Second World War Royal Air Force commander. (Herbert Mallory legally changed his surname to Leigh-Mallory in 1914; Trafford followed suit, but George remained known as Mallory.) At the end of 1891, the Mallorys moved from Newton Hall to Hobcroft House, Mobberley. The family resided there until 1904, when they moved to Birkenhead, Cheshire. Mallory exhibited early audaciousness for climbing. Aged 7, he climbed the roof of his father's church, St Wilfrid's, in Mobberley. His sister Avie recalls, "He climbed everything that it was at all possible to climb." Included in his climbing escapades were the drainpipes of Hobcroft House and the walls that divided the farmers' fields.

1896–1905: Glengorse and Winchester College

thumb|upright=1.2|[[Winchester College Chapel (right) and scholars' College (left), where Mallory was a scholar 1900–1905]]

In 1896, Mallory was sent to Glengorse boarding school in Eastbourne on the south coast of England, after the abrupt closure of his first preparatory school in West Kirby, following the death of its headmaster. Mallory won a maths scholarship to Winchester College, an English public school, where he started in September 1900. At Winchester, he was proficient at sports, in addition to his academic ability. He became the best gymnast in the school, the only one capable of performing the giant swing on the horizontal bar. In July 1904, Mallory was a member of the Winchester team who won the Ashburton Shield for rifle shooting at Bisley.

The housemaster of College, the boarding house for scholars, R. L. G. Irving, was an accomplished mountaineer and a member of the Alpine Club. In 1904, Irving was searching for new climbing companions after the death in an accident of the partner with whom he had done most of his climbing. Irving recruited Mallory and fellow pupil and friend, Harry Gibson, for a trip to the Alps. In early August 1904, Irving, Mallory, and Gibson travelled to the Alps for Mallory's first high-altitude mountaineering. In his final year at Winchester, Mallory studied history instead of mathematics. After sitting his exams, he was awarded a history scholarship, known as a sizarship, to Magdalene College, Cambridge.

1905–09: Magdalene College, Cambridge

thumb|upright=1.7|[[Magdalene College, Cambridge]]

In October 1905 Mallory entered Magdalene College to study history; A. C. Benson was his tutor, and became infatuated with Mallory. On 6 February 1907, at Christ's College, Mallory dined with Charles Edward Sayle, under-librarian at Cambridge University Library. At Sayle's house on Trumpington Street, Mallory met undergraduates with whom he established enduring friendships; painter Jacques Raverat, surgeon and author Geoffrey Keynes were among them. He became good friends with poet Rupert Brooke and psychoanalyst James Strachey. On 12 February 1909, Mallory met Geoffrey Winthrop Young and developed a good friendship. Through James Strachey and Geoffrey Keynes, Mallory got to know their brothers, Lytton Strachey and John Maynard Keynes, who were members of the Bloomsbury Group. Through the Stracheys, he befriended their cousin, painter Duncan Grant, a Bloomsbury member. His letters attest to the flirtatious, homoerotic aspect of these friendships. Following his engagement in 1914, he wrote to one-time sex partner James Strachey: "It can hardly be a shock to you that I desert the ranks of the fashionable homosexualists (and yet I am still in part of that persuasion) unless you think I have turned monogamist. But you may be assured that this last catastrophe has not happened."

Mallory developed into an accomplished rower at Magdalene. In October 1906, he was elected secretary of the Magdalene Boat Club and captain of boats from 1907 to 1908. Mallory joined the University Fabian Society, and acted as college secretary on the University Women's Suffrage Association committee. The Marlowe Society was established in 1907 and Mallory acted in its first production Doctor Faustus.

Academically, in May 1907, Mallory sat Part I of the history tripos, achieving a third class. In 1908, in Part II, he attained a second class degree. Mallory had to consider a future career. In 1907, he had consulted deputy headmaster of Winchester, Howard Rendall, about becoming a teacher there, but Rendall gave him a stern retort; Mallory informed his tutor, A. C. Benson; "He says that as I have nothing to teach and would probably teach it badly, there is not the least chance of ever getting to Winchester." Rendall suggested he go into the church and Mallory unenthusiastically pondered following in his father's footsteps, contemplating "parish work of some kind ... I'm at variance with so many parsons that I meet. They're excessively good, most of them much better than I can ever hope to be, but their sense of goodness seems sometimes to displace their reason." Benson suggested Mallory return to Magdalene for a fourth year, where he could improve upon his degree, Mallory agreed and settled into rooms at Pythagoras House, a short distance from Magdalene.

In February 1909, Geoffrey Winthrop Young invited Mallory to Wales for a climbing trip at Easter. After Mallory's return to Magdalene, Young sent him an application form for the Climbers' Club, and in May 1909, Mallory was elected a member. The subject for the Members' Prize Essay in 1909 was James Boswell, biographer of Samuel Johnson; and Mallory decided to enter. He was awarded second place; Benson encouraged Mallory to submit his essay for publication and in 1912, his Boswell the Biographer, was published by Smith, Elder & Co. In July 1909, Mallory's education at Magdalene was complete.

1909–10: Interim

In October 1909, the painter Simon Bussy, whose wife Dorothy was the sister of Lytton and James Strachey, invited Mallory to spend the winter with them at their villa in Roquebrune in the Alpes-Maritimes. Mallory, who had recently received a small family inheritance, accepted their offer and travelled to France in early November to stay with them. He stayed in Paris for a month to improve his French by reading, attending the theatre, music hall, Sorbonne lectures, and conversing.

In April 1910, Mallory returned to Cambridge, contemplating his career prospects. In May he took a temporary teaching post at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, which lasted two weeks. In July, Mallory received a letter from the headmaster of Charterhouse, an English public school, Gerald Henry Rendall, offering a job teaching Latin, mathematics, history, and French, which Mallory accepted.

1910–14: Charterhouse School

In September 1910, Mallory began teaching at Charterhouse, as an assistant headmaster. One problem was his youthful appearance, and so he was often mistaken by parents for a student. His teaching methods relied on infectious enthusiasm and avuncular mannerisms rather than imposing his authority. He followed the styles of Irving and Benson, who sought to educate through mutual respect, getting to know pupils as individuals and repudiating the authoritarianism of most British schools. Several colleagues developed a hostile attitude towards him, due to his informal teaching methods, which they considered undermined discipline. He recommended students read literature extensively, write essays on subjects such as hypocrisy, candour, and popularity, and he engaged them in discussion on politics and literature. He took them on excursions to places of aesthetic scenery and architectural landmarks.

Robert Graves, a student from 1909 to 1914, said Mallory was the best teacher and first genuine friend he ever had. In his autobiography, Good-Bye to All That, Graves wrote fondly of Mallory, who encouraged him in poetry and took him climbing in Snowdon. Irving and Geoffrey Winthrop Young proposed Mallory for the Alpine Club, and in December 1910, he was elected a member. During the summer of 1913, Mallory collaborated with Graves and other students to produce a magazine called Green Chartreuse, intended to rival other school magazines, with its first publication on Old Carthusian Day, 5 July 1913. Mallory presented lectures on Italian painting in spring 1914, engaging students in a "rather philosophical" discussion about Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Raphael.

Climbing in Europe

The Alps

thumb|upright=1.1|Mallory, with Harold Porter, established a new route on the [[Aiguille des Grands Charmoz in Haute-Savoie, France in 1919]]

Mallory embarked on eight expeditions in the Alps and achieved four first ascents. His first climb was on 5 August 1904, when he, Irving, and Gibson ascended Mont Vélan on the Swiss-Italian border, but had to retreat below the summit because Mallory and Gibson suffered from altitude sickness. On 13 August, they reached the summit of Dufourspitze, the third-highest peak in Western Europe. On 26 August, Irving and Mallory summited Mont Blanc, at , the highest mountain in Western Europe, marking Mallory's entry into high-altitude mountaineering.

In January 1905, Graham Irving established the Winchester Ice Club; Mallory, Gibson, Harry Tyndale, and Guy Bullock became members. In August, the Ice Club travelled to the Alps. Mallory would not return for another four years, when he achieved a first ascent of the Southeast Ridge of Nesthorn with Young and Charles Robertson on 4 August 1909. Mallory wrote to his mother, "We were out 21 hours and were altogether pleased with ourselves." Mallory almost died after missing a hold above an overhang. On 7 August, they crossed the mountain pass Grünhornlücke, followed by the Fiescher Glacier, and climbed to the summit via the Southeast Ridge of the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps, Finsteraarhorn, at , graded approximately 5.8, using the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS). One of Mallory's closest friends and climbing companions, whom he met in Switzerland on this trip, was a woman named Cottie Sanders, who became a novelist using the pseudonym of Ann Bridge. Their relationship was elusive; Sanders was either a "climbing friend" or "casual sweetheart." After Mallory died, Cottie wrote a memoir of him, which was never published but provided much of the material used by later biographers.

At the beginning of August 1911, Mallory returned to the Alps with Irving and Tyndale. On 9 August, they reached the summit of Herbétet, by way of a first ascent of its Western Ridge. On 18 August, Irving, Mallory, and Tyndale reached the summit of Mont Maudit, via the third ascent of its Southeast Ridge, and Mont Blanc. In 1917, Mallory rewrote an impassioned account about the Maudit ascent. It was published in the Alpine Journal of 1918 and contained the question, "Have we vanquished an enemy? None but ourselves."

In August 1912, Mallory undertook his sixth expedition to the Alps, along with Harold Porter and Hugh Pope. On 17 August, they established a new line on the West Face of Dent Blanche, graded 5.6–5.7. On 2 August 1919, Mallory and Porter set out from Montenvers and proceeded up the Mer de Glace to the Glacier de Trélaporte, from where they ascended a new route to the summit of Aiguille des Grands Charmoz, likely graded 5.7. Three days later, they climbed a new route to the summit of Aiguille du Midi, at . This route, rectified by the climber Jean-Louis Urquizar in 1971, is now known as Rectified Mallory-Porter, totalling in elevation gain and graded approximately 5.8–5.9.

Scotland

thumb|right|North Face of [[Ben Nevis]]

On 6 April 1906, Mallory, Irving, and Leach reached the summit of Ben Nevis, climbing in snow via Observatory Gully and Tower Gully on the northeast face. The following day, the trio ascended Stob Bàn, following the corniced main arête to the summit. On 9 April, they climbed to the summit of Càrn Mòr Dearg, which preceded a second successful ascent of Ben Nevis on the same day via North Trident Buttress. On 10 April, they successfully climbed a feature on Ben Nevis—that they termed East Zmutt Ridge after Zmutt Ridge on the Matterhorn—likely graded YDS 5.5–5.6. On 12 April, Mallory, Irving, and Leach attained a successful ascent of Ben Nevis in snow and ice via North-East Buttress. Their achievement was the second recorded winter ascent of this route, after the first in 1896.

On 28 July 1918, Mallory, David Randall Pye, and Leslie Garnet Shadbolt, climbing together, made a new route on the North Face of Sgùrr a' Mhadaidh on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, graded 5.5–5.6. On 31 July, the trio established another new route with Mallory leading on the Western Buttress of the crag, Sron na Ciche, located in the Cuillin mountains; this route is now known as Mallory's Slab and Groove, and graded about 5.5.

Wales

thumb|right|Mallory, climbing solo, established the first ascent of The Slab Climb on the East Buttress of [[Y Lliwedd]]

On 14 September 1907, Mallory accomplished his first two climbs in Wales: North Gully and North Buttress on Tryfan. On 18 September, Mallory, Keynes, and Wilson climbed Terminal Arête, on Lliwedd's East Buttress, and inadvertently dislodged a large rock when finishing their climb. Much to their consternation, the rock almost hit James Thomson and partner E.S. Reynolds as they climbed below on a new route, which they aptly named Avalanche Route.

On Craig yr Ysfa, the triad climbed two routes: Great Gully, at , and Amphitheatre Buttress, at , both graded about 5.5. Mallory returned to Snowdonia in August 1908, accompanied by his brother, Trafford. Mallory, climbing solo, established the first ascent of The Slab Climb on the East Buttress of Lliwedd, now known as Mallory's Slab, at , and graded 5.5. The ascent of The Slab Climb occurred due to Mallory scaling it to retrieve his pipe, which he had left behind on a ledge known as Bowling Green. In April 1909, Mallory and Geoffrey Winthrop Young journeyed to Pen-y-Pass. On the cliffs of Craig yr Ysfa, Mallory and Young established three new ascents and climbed The Slab Climb (Mallory's Slab) on the East Buttress of Lliwedd, which Young described as "The hardest rocks I have done."

In September 1911, Mallory and his sister Mary were joined by Harold Porter, Mallory's climbing partner, and stayed at the Snowdon Ranger Inn on the shore of Llyn Cwellyn. Mallory and Porter pioneered new routes that elevated Mallory to the pinnacle of British climbing. On Y Garn, with Porter leading Mallory on the crux, they ascended a new route, now known as Mallory's Ridge, at , graded 5.9–5.10a. This route defeated James Thomson in 1910, who abandoned it on the most challenging pitch, a sixty-foot segment of vertical rock.

England

thumb|upright=.7|Napes Needle on Great Gable

Mallory's first rock climbing experience in England transpired during a nine-day excursion to the Lake District in September 1908 with Geoffrey Keynes, Harry Gibson, and Harold Porter. Their initial climb was Kern Knotts Crack on Great Gable, which is graded 5.5. The following day they climbed Napes Needle, a rock pinnacle on Great Gable, at , graded approximately 5.5. Also on Great Gable, they climbed Eagle's Nest Ridge Direct, graded approximately 5.8. They accomplished a successful ascent of North Climb on Pillar Rock, graded YDS 5.6.

On 21 September 1908, they claimed two new routes on the Ennerdale face of Great Gable: Mallory's Left-Hand Route, at , graded YDS 5.5, and Mallory's Right-Hand Route, at , graded about 5.8. In August 1913, Mallory and Geoffrey Winthrop Young achieved a new route, Pinnacle Traverse, at , graded 5.4, on the crag, Carn Lés Boel, in Cornwall. On 7 September 1913, Mallory and Alan Goodfellow, a Charterhouse student, created Mallory's Variation, a new route on Abbey Buttress, Great Gable, where Mallory finished the route by ascending a twenty-foot slab on tenuous grips, rather than exiting to the right. On 8 September, with Mallory leading Goodfellow, the pair established another new route, this time on the West Face of Low Man, Pillar Rock, at , and graded 5.9–5.10a, which they named North-West by West and now known as Mallory's Route. For comparison, climbers have rated Everest's Second Step at about 5.9. was a daughter of architect Hugh Thackeray Turner and embroiderer Mary Elizabeth Turner. Mallory and the Turner family developed a close friendship and he regularly visited their dwelling at Westbrook. In April 1914, Mallory joined Thackeray and his daughters on a holiday in Venice, where Mallory and Ruth fell precipitately in love. On 1 May 1914, at Westbrook, Mallory and Ruth became engaged. Thackeray purchased a six-bedroom house for them, named The Holt, in Godalming, Surrey. On 29 July 1914, six days before Britain entered the First World War, Mallory and Ruth were married in Godalming, with Mallory's father performing the ceremony and Geoffrey Winthrop Young acting as best man. Mallory and Ruth had two daughters and a son: Frances Clare (1915–2001), Beridge Ruth, known as "Berry" (1917–1953), and John (1920–2011).

Mallory enlisted in the war effort and started artillery training at Weymouth Camp in January 1916. Frank Fletcher, headmaster of Charterhouse, had initially challenged Mallory's inquiries about enlisting and asked the government about policies regarding schoolmasters enlisting. Mallory received additional training at the School of Siege Artillery at Lydd Camp. He arrived in France in May 1916 and fought at the Battle of the Somme in the 40th Siege Battery. Later that year, he was granted leave, spending ten days at Westbrook House with Ruth and daughter Clare before returning to France on Boxing Day.

He was reassigned as an orderly officer, serving as a colonel's assistant at the 30th Heavy Artillery Group headquarters, three miles behind the front line, for the first weeks of 1917. At the beginning of February 1917, the command recommended Mallory for a staff lieutenancy; he rejected it and was instead assigned a liaison officer position to a French unit. At the end of March, he applied to rejoin the 40th Siege Battery, which had moved to a new location. On 7 April, during the prelude to the Battle of Arras, he was back at the front with the 40th Siege Battery in an exposed observation post, directing artillery fire.In September Mallory was sent, under new orders, to Avington Park Camp near Winchester, and was transferred from the Siege Battery to a Heavy Battery. Mallory trained at the camp with the Royal Artillery's new generation of 60-pounder heavy guns.

In October 1917, Mallory was promoted lieutenant and commenced a training course for newly promoted officers at Avington Park Camp. On 23 September 1918, Mallory was reassigned to the 515th Siege Battery, stationed between Arras and the French coast. On the evening of 11 November, at the officers' club in Cambrai, Mallory celebrated peace with his brother Trafford. Due to the British requirement to demobilise more than a million men and the dearth of ships, Mallory did not return to England until January 1919.

The lure of Everest

Following his return from France, Mallory and his family re-established themselves in their previous residence, The Holt in Godalming, Surrey. At the end of January 1919, Mallory resumed his teaching position at Charterhouse, where he taught English and history. Mallory felt dissatisfied as a schoolmaster, devoting more attention to mountaineering issues, the direction of international politics, and the fundamental objectives of education, and pondering how he could find more time for writing.

thumb|left|Sir Francis Younghusband

In January 1921, representatives of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club jointly established the Mount Everest Committee to organise and finance an expedition to Mount Everest. The committee consisted of four RGS members and four Alpine Club members; from the RGS were Sir Francis Younghusband, Arthur Robert Hinks, Edward Lygon Somers-Cocks, and Colonel Evan Maclean Jack; from the Alpine Club were Professor John Norman Collie, John Percy Farrar, Charles Francis Meade, and John Edward Caldwell Eaton. The committee's primary objective in 1921 was a thorough reconnaissance of the mountain and its approaches to determine the most viable route to the summit, and in 1922 to return for a second expedition, using this route for an all-out attempt to reach the summit. On 23 January 1921, Mallory received written correspondence from John Percy Farrar, secretary of the Alpine Club, its former president and the nascent Mount Everest Committee member. In the letter, Farrar asked Mallory if he would be interested in participating in an expedition to Everest: "It appears an attempt on Everest will occur this summer. The party would depart in early April and return in October. Any ambitions?"

Although grateful for the invitation, Mallory initially felt reluctant to accept it, knowing that his participation would mean a lengthy separation from his wife and young children, and he also expressed scepticism regarding the viability of the expedition. Geoffrey Winthrop Young visited him at the Holt, Godalming when he learned of his hesitance and swiftly persuaded him and Ruth not to disregard the opportunity, saying that it would be an incredible adventure and earn him reputable renown for prospects in future professions as an educator or writer. Young's arguments convinced Ruth, and she concurred that Mallory should join the expedition; realising it was "the opportunity of a lifetime," Mallory decided to participate. On 9 February 1921, in Mayfair, London, Mallory met with Sir Francis Younghusband, chairman of the Mount Everest Committee; John Percy Farrar, a committee member; and Harold Raeburn, the assigned mountaineering leader of the 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition. At the meeting, Younghusband formally invited Mallory to join the expedition and was surprised to observe that he accepted without any evident emotion and exhibited no indication that he was brimming with enthusiasm. In February 1921, Mallory officially tendered his resignation from his mastership at Charterhouse, changing his previous intended decision of resigning at the end of the summer term.

thumb|right|[[North Face (Everest)|North Face of Mount Everest]]

On 8 April 1921, Mallory departed from the Port of Tilbury in Essex, England, on board SS Sardinia, and brought the final shipment of expedition supplies. It was a solitary voyage, as the other expedition members had already departed or were in India.

Everest expeditions

1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition

thumb|upright=1.7|Eight members of the 1921 Everest expedition. Standing left to right are [[Guy Bullock, Henry Morshead, Oliver Wheeler, and George Mallory. Alexander Heron, Sandy Wollaston, Charles Howard-Bury, and Harold Raeburn are seated left to right.]]

The first Everest expedition in 1921 had the express objective of undertaking a reconnaissance of the mountain and its approaches to discover the most accessible route to its summit. Expedition surveyors Henry Morshead, Oliver Wheeler and Indian surveyors, produced the first accurate maps of the region. On 18 August at 3 am, after an arduous two-month-long reconnaissance of Everest's northern and eastern approaches, Mallory, Guy Bullock, Henry Morshead, and a porter left their high camp at approximately . From the western head of the Kharta Glacier, they ascended to the col of Lhakpa La, at . From the col of Lhakpa La, directly below them, was the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier, across which rises a wall of snow and ice leading to Everest's North Col, at , from where mountaineers can attain the summit via the North Col-North Ridge-Northeast Ridge route. Their preliminary reconnaissance was complete: they had discovered the gateway to the mountain. On 23 September Mallory, Bullock, Wheeler, and ten porters left their camp on Lhakpa La, descended into the East Rongbuk Glacier, and pitched camp at an elevation of , from the beginning of the ascent to the North Col. On 24 September, the three expedition members and three porters departed their camp, traversed across the East Rongbuk Glacier to the foot of the precipitous wall of snow and ice, which they arduously ascended, and reached the North Col. On the col and above, gale force winds blew from the northwest, which made progress impossible, and they descended to their camp on the East Rongbuk Glacier. Wheeler suffered from frostbite in his lower extremities, and Bullock was exhausted. The next day, the severe winds had not abated and the porters were at the limits of their physical reserves, so Mallory decided to end the expedition.

On 29 October, Mallory departed from Bombay, India, on board SS Malwa. On 9 November, Younghusband wrote to Mallory requesting he participate in the second expedition in 1922. He expressed that waiting until 1923 was unviable as they could not afford to squander the opportunity the current benevolence of the Tibetans presented. The letter awaited Mallory in Marseille, France. Mallory wrote to his sister Avie, expressing reservations about returning to Everest in 1922. His wife Ruth awaited him in Marseille, where they spent a holiday touring Provence. They discussed his participation in the 1922 expedition and concluded he should not decline the opportunity. On 25 November, they arrived home; a few days afterwards Mallory met Hinks in London and within a week was included on a list of mountaineers who assented to participate in the 1922 expedition.

Lectures, writing, and preparation for the 1922 expedition

thumb|left|upright=.8|Charles Howard-Bury

On 20 December, in the Queen's Hall, London, Mallory and Charles Howard-Bury delivered a narrative on the 1921 expedition at a combined meeting of the Royal Geographical Society and Alpine Club. In exchange for a quarter of the revenue earned, the Mount Everest Committee requested Mallory deliver lectures throughout Britain and contribute to the official expedition book, Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance, 1921. On 10 January 1922, Mallory delivered his initial public speech in the Queen's Hall and then journeyed extensively around Britain, filling 30 lecture engagements. The financial results were lucrative, as his 25% per cent share earned him £400, which exceeded his annual salary as a Charterhouse teacher. Preceding his departure for the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition, Mallory completed his written contribution to Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance, 1921, titled The Reconnaissance Of The Mountain, consisting of six chapters: The Northern Approach, The Northern Approach (continued), The Eastern Approach, The Assault, Weather And Conditions Of Snow and The Route To The Summit. He reviewed expedition equipment and assisted the Committee in preparations for the 1922 expedition.

1922 British Mount Everest expedition

thumb|upright=1.4|The [[Rongbuk Monastery, with Mount Everest in the background]]

Mallory returned to the Himalayas as a member of the 1922 British Everest expedition. The expedition's objective was to become the first to summit Everest. On 2 March, Mallory, Howard Somervell, John Noel, Edward Strutt, George Finch, and Arthur Wakefield, crossed the English Channel, travelled by train to Marseille and departed on board the passenger liner Caledonia on 3 March. Mallory engaged in deck tennis with Somervell and Wakefield and attended Finch's oxygen class, which enabled him to overcome his ambivalence about its implementation. After docking in Bombay, they arrived in Darjeeling on 20 March, where they coalesced with the rest of the expedition. Members left in groups for the march to Phari. Mallory's group departed under expedition leader General Charles Granville Bruce, arriving in Phari on 6 April and joined the following day by the remainder of the expedition. They arrived at the Rongbuk Monastery on 30 April. On 1 May, the expedition pitched Base Camp at an altitude of , below the junction of the Rongbuk Glacier and East Rongbuk Glacier.

First summit attempt, Mallory, Somervell, Norton, and Morshead

On 20 May, at 7:30am, Mallory, Howard Somervell, Edward Norton, Henry Morshead, and four porters began their day at Camp IV, on the North Col at an elevation of . At 8am, after getting roped up, the eight men commenced their ascent without supplemental oxygen. They aimed to climb the North Ridge and establish Camp V at an altitude of , from where they planned an attempt to reach the summit. At 11:30am, they attained an elevation of , a gain of from the North Col, in  hours, a vertical climbing rate of per hour, including stops. Mallory estimated that from their present position, it would necessitate three hours to ascend and pitch Camp V there, which left little time for the porters to return to Camp IV on the North Col before nightfall, and was uncertain of finding a well-sheltered area from the strong winds on the lee-side of the North Ridge above them. Therefore, they abandoned their initial plan and erected Camp V at their current altitude of . The four porters departed for the North Col camp at 3pm, and Mallory, Somervell, Norton, and Morshead spent the night at Camp V.

thumb|left|upright=1.5|Everest's North Face, with illustrations of the maximum elevations attained by the 1922 expeditions' first and second summit attempts

The next day, at 8am, the four mountaineers were roped up and commenced their attempt to reach the summit from Camp V. After a few steps, Morshead, suffering from frostbite, declared he was unable to continue and stayed behind at Camp V. Adverse weather conditions prevented the climbers from beginning their ascent at 6am as planned, leaving them behind schedule. Other than possible mountaineering difficulties, their bid depended predominantly on time and speed. Mallory's arithmetical computation estimated their vertical ascent rate at an unsatisfactory per hour, not including stops, from which it was apparent they would be climbing after nightfall, a risk they were unwilling to take, and decided that 2:30pm was their retreat time. At 2:15pm, Mallory, Somervell, and Norton halted and lay against rocks on the North Ridge, where they remained for fifteen minutes and ate. Their aneroid barometer read , a height later rectified and confirmed by a theodolite as , a new world altitude record. During the winter, Mallory presented a round of talks throughout Britain and Ireland, filling engagements in places such as Aberdeen, Brighton and Dublin, receiving 30% of the proceeds. In addition to authoring Everest and Himalaya-related articles for periodicals and encyclopaedias to supplement his income, the committee requested he contribute to the official book of the 1922 expedition, The Assault on Mount Everest: 1922.

North America lecture tour and writing

thumb|Broadhurst Theatre, New York

The Everest Committee arranged for Mallory to travel to North America on a three-month lecture tour. Mallory and Ruth concurred he should strive for steady employment when he returned. Mallory docked in New York on 17 January 1923. After meeting lecture agent Keedick, Mallory was dismayed he had arranged only a meagre number of lectures, and had to wait 9 days to deliver his first speech. He amended his lecture materials and wrote his finalised contribution to the 1922 expedition book, The Assault on Mount Everest: 1922. His first contribution was titled The First Attempt, consisting of chapters: The Problem, The Highest Camp, and The Highest Point, and his second had chapters: The Third Attempt and Conclusions. On 26 January, in Washington, D.C., Mallory delivered two lectures, which grossed $1000. His next engagement was in Philadelphia, where he delivered two lectures for a combined audience of approximately 3000, grossing $1500. After an evaluation by medical professionals at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, they determined his lung capacity was twice that of the average person. On 4 February, Mallory gave a lecture at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York, in front of an audience of 550, filling only half the seating capacity. The next day, The New York Times ran a story under the headline, SAYS BRANDY AIDED MT EVEREST PARTY; A Swig 27,000 Feet Up 'Cheered Us All Up Wonderfully,' Mallory Tells Audience, which diverted its coverage of the tour into anti-prohibition propaganda. A Toronto appointment resulted in a cancellation, and a Montreal appearance grossed a meagre $48. In Boston, he delivered a lecture to the Appalachian Mountain Club, gave a speech in Cambridge, made a second visit to Philadelphia, where at the University Museum, he spoke to an audience of 1200, and delivered lectures in Toledo, Rochester, Iowa City, and Hanover, before a second engagement in Boston. Under the headline, CLIMBING MOUNT EVEREST IS WORK FOR SUPERMEN, The New York Times of 18 March quoted Mallory as having replied to the question, "Why did you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the retort, "Because it's there." The expression describes an existential desire to accomplish a physical and spiritual goal that mountaineers share. Questions have arisen over the quote's authenticity and whether Mallory said it. Some suggest it was an innovative paraphrase created by the reporter. The tour was a financial failure; Mallory regretted that he, Ruth, and the children would have to live on less than he had anticipated, because he had no immediate prospects for permanent employment. Mallory docked in Plymouth in early April.

Cambridge lecturer and Olympic medal

thumb|left|upright=.8|Mallory in the early 1920s

David Cranage, Secretary of the Board of Extra-Mural Studies at Cambridge University, and Arthur Robert Hinks of the Everest Committee travelled together on a train from London to Cambridge while Mallory was still in America, and discussed a vacancy that solved Mallory's situation. Cranage advertised a vacancy for a history lecturer to educate in towns and villages outside of Cambridge and assist organising other courses. They would conduct lectures in cooperation with the Workers' Educational Association, established to support working people who had missed the opportunity for education in favour of the privileged. Cranage apprised Hinks about the job and questioned whether he knew possible candidates, Hinks suggested Mallory. Hinks informed Mallory soon after he arrived back in England. Mallory applied and following a successful interview was appointed on 18 May. The occupation provided an annual income of £350, supplemented by lecture fees of £150 yearly. He found a suitable residence for the family at Herschel House on Herschel Road, Cambridge. Mallory immersed himself in his new employment with zeal, assisted organising the Golden Jubilee of Cambridge Local Lectures in July, and helped arrange summer schools during the Long Vacation. In the fall of 1923, he commenced lectures in Hunstanton on the emergence of democracy in the 17th century; in Raunds, tutorial classes in modern history; and conducted classes in Halstead. On 18 October, Hinks wrote to Cranage, requesting Mallory obtain leave to participate in the 1924 expedition. The Lecture Committee recommended six months' leave at half pay.

thumb|SS California in 1925, entering [[New York Harbor]]

On 6 November, after a medical examination by a physician recommended by the Everest Committee, Mallory was declared "fit in every respect," eliminating the last potential obstacle between him and participation in the expedition. On 5 February 1924, at the closing ceremony of the inaugural Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, Pierre de Coubertin presented 13 gold medals, including for Mallory, for alpinism in recognition of the achievements of the 1922 Everest expedition members to Lt Col Edward Strutt, deputy expedition leader.

1924 British Mount Everest expedition

thumb|upright=.8|[[Andrew Irvine (mountaineer)|Andrew Irvine, Mallory's climbing partner]]

The expedition members included leader General Charles Bruce, Edward Norton as second-in-command and mountaineering leader; mountaineers Andrew Irvine, Howard Somervell, Geoffrey Bruce, Bentley Beetham, and John de Vars Hazard; mountaineer and oxygen officer Noel Odell; photographer and cinematographer John Noel; naturalist and medical officer Richard Hingston; and transportation officer Edward Shebbeare. On 29 February, Mallory and three other expedition members, Irvine, Beetham, and Hazard, departed from Liverpool on board SS California. During the voyage to India, Mallory read Maurois's Ariel, studied Hindustani, and worked through the logistics of supplies and aspects of the organisation for the expedition. Determined to remain physically healthy, he exercised regularly in the gymnasium, threw a medicine ball with Irvine and Beetham, and periodically ran ten laps around the deck. In mid-March, California arrived at her destination, berthing in Bombay. Mallory, Irvine, Beetham, and Hazard travelled to Darjeeling, where they rendezvoused with the other participants. On 25 March, the entire expedition departed Darjeeling for the march to Everest Base Camp. The trek of took them from Darjeeling to Kalimpong, Guatong, Jelep La, Yatung, Phari, Tang La, Donka La, Kampa Dzong, Tinki Dzong, Tinki La, Chiblung, Shekar Dzong, Chödzong, and Rongbuk, and they arrived at Base Camp on 29 April, at an altitude of . On 9 April, General Bruce had collapsed due to recurrent malaria and had ongoing cardiovascular issues during the trek to Base Camp. Norton took charge, appointed Mallory as deputy and mountaineering leader, and Charles Bruce returned to India.

Mallory and Bruce's attempt

On 1 June, at 6am, Mallory and Geoffrey Bruce, without supplemental oxygen, and eight porters commenced their ascent from Camp IV on the North Col at . They planned to climb the North Ridge and establish Camp V at approximately , where they would sleep overnight; the following day, they would ascend to about , where they would pitch Camp VI, sleep overnight, and on 3 June, attempt to reach the summit without oxygen. The precise elevation for establishing Camps V and VI depended on the porters' abilities to carry heavy loads in the rarefied air and weather conditions. As the two climbers and eight porters ascended the North Ridge with an average gradient of 45 degrees, they were exposed to a penetrating northwest wind. At approximately , four of the porters could not ascend any further after reaching the limits of their endurance. Mallory, Bruce, and the four remaining porters progressed to an elevation of , where they established Camp V. Five porters descended to Camp IV, leaving three to shoulder loads the following day up to the location where the expedition intended to pitch Camp VI. Mallory, Bruce, and the three porters slept at Camp V that night, and on the next day, only one porter was able to proceed, and two declared themselves sick and physically unable to carry loads. Without enough porters to assist, the attempt was abandoned immediately, and the party returned to the North Col.

On 2 June Somervell and Norton began a second attempt. On 4 June Somervell and Norton left Camp VI and commenced their ascent to reach the summit. At midday, as they neared , Somervell, who was suffering from an extremely sore throat and a severe cough, felt it impracticable to continue. Somervell sat on a ledge while Norton proceeded solo. At 1pm, suffering from temporary visual impairment due to oxygen deficiency, exhausted from his efforts, and knowing that from his location and the current time, he stood no chance of reaching the summit and returning safely, Norton retreated from where he had attained a new world altitude record of .

The location of Odell's initial reported final sighting of Mallory and Irvine—before they disappeared into the clouds and was to become the last time the pair were seen alive—was at the top of the Second Step and determined by expedition member John de Vars Hazard using a theodolite to be at an elevation of . At approximately 2pm, as Odell reached Camp VI at , snow began to fall, and the wind strengthened. Inside Mallory and Irvine's tent, he discovered spare clothes, food scraps, sleeping bags, oxygen cylinders, and parts of the oxygen apparatus; outside, he found parts of the oxygen apparatus and the duralumin carriers. They left no note specifying when they had commenced their attempt or what might have transpired to create a delay. Odell departed from Camp VI, ascended about in the direction of the summit in sleet and poor visibility of no more than a few yards, and whistled and yodelled in an attempt to direct Mallory and Irvine towards Camp VI in case they happened to be within hearing distance, but to no avail. Within one hour, he retreated, and at approximately 4pm, as he re-attained Camp VI, the weather cleared; the entire North Face became bathed in sunshine, and the upper crags became observable, but there was no sign of Mallory or Irvine. Odell left Mallory's compass, which he had retrieved from Camp V, inside the tent at Camp VI and, at about 4:30pm, descended to Camp IV.

On the morning of 9 June, Odell and Hazard thoroughly inspected Camps V and VI using binoculars, with no sign of either mountaineer. Odell and two porters left Camp IV and, at 3:30pm, reached Camp V, where they spent the night. The following morning, he sent his porters back to Camp IV, as they were unable to ascend to Camp VI. In a strong, bitter westerly wind, Odell climbed alone to Camp VI, which he reached about 11am. It was immediately apparent Mallory and Irvine had not returned, as everything was as he had left it two days previously. Odell discarded his oxygen apparatus and set off along the presumed route, which both climbers might have taken, to search within the limited time available. After trudging for two hours with no sign of Mallory or Irvine, he ascertained that the likelihood of finding them was remote in the expanse of crags and slabs, and an extensive search towards the final pyramid necessitated a larger party. Odell returned to Camp VI and hauled two sleeping bags up to a precipitous snow-patch, where he positioned them in the shape of a T, communicating that there was no trace of Mallory or Irvine. At 2:10pm, Hazard, below at Camp IV, saw the T-shaped signal and knew what it meant, as he and Odell had previously drawn up a code of signals before Odell had left the North Col on 9 June. At approximately 2:15pm, Hazard placed six blankets in the shape of a cross on the snow surface, which relayed a signal of death, to the watchers at Camp III. After being informed about the situation, expedition leader Norton ordered a response for Hazard on the North Col. Richard Hingston positioned three lines of blankets arranged apart on the glacier a short distance beyond Camp III, conveying the message, "Abandon hope and come down." After retrieving Mallory's compass and an oxygen apparatus, Odell descended to Camp IV.

On 8 June, the same day that Mallory and Irvine were last seen alive, Mallory's wife Ruth and their children were on holiday in Bacton, Norfolk. On 13 and 14 June, Howard Somervell and Bentley Beetham oversaw the carving and building of a memorial cairn at Base Camp in memory of those who perished in the 1921, 1922, and 1924 expeditions, with the inscription: In Memory Of Three Everest Expeditions; 1921, Kellas; 1922, Lhakpa, Narbu, Pasang, Pema, Sange, Temba, Antarge; 1924, Mallory, Irvine, Shamsher, Manbahadur. On 19 June, Arthur Robert Hinks, who was then in London, received a coded telegram that read, "Mallory Irvine Nove Remainder Alcedo," sent from expedition leader Edward Norton. "Nove" expressed the message that Mallory and Irvine had died, and "Alcedo" meant everyone else was unharmed. That same day, Hinks sent a telegram to Cambridge, where shortly after 7:30pm, a delivery boy arrived with it at the Mallory residence, Herschel House, Cambridge, to communicate the tragic news and the condolences of the Mount Everest Committee to Ruth.

Message from the King and memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral

thumb|upright=1.2|St Paul's Cathedral, London

On 24 June, a message sent from King George V to Younghusband of the Everest Committee appeared in The Times, in which the King conveyed "an expression of his sincere sympathy" to the families and committee concerning the deaths of the "two gallant explorers". On 17 October, a solemn memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral, was held in honour of the two climbers, at which the Right Reverend Henry Paget, Bishop of Chester, from whose diocese both men had come, delivered the sermon. The parents of both mountaineers, Ruth, relatives and close friends, members of the expeditions and Mount Everest Committee, the Alpine Club, Royal Geographical Society, and other explorers and scientists attended.

Lost on Everest for 75 years

Discovery of the ice axe (1933)

On 30 May 1933, during the 1933 British Mount Everest expedition, Percy Wyn-Harris and Lawrence Wager commenced their summit attempt from Camp VI, at , on the Yellow Band, below the Northeast Ridge. After approximately one hour of climbing, Wyn-Harris, who was leading, found an ice axe located about below the crest of the Northeast Ridge and east of and below the First Step, at an elevation of . Wyn-Harris and Wager left the axe where they had discovered it, and after retreating from a failed summit attempt, Wyn-Harris retrieved the axe and presumably left his own in its place.

The axe was ascertained to be either Mallory or Irvine's. During his descent with Edward Norton on 4 June 1924, Howard Somervell had dropped his ice axe in the Yellow Band near the Norton Couloir, farther west from where Wyn-Harris had found the ice axe, and no mountaineers from the expeditions before 1933, other than Mallory and Irvine, had moved through the location where Wyn-Harris had discovered the axe. The axe found by Wyn-Harris was therefore definitively Mallory's or Irvine's, but the men present could not identify it further at the time.

When Wyn-Harris showed the axe to Noel Odell in 1934, Odell noticed three parallel horizontal nick marks on its shaft, something which neither Harris nor Wager had noted before.

Odell thought this to be a mark which Irvine might have used on some of his equipment. Some members of Irvine's family also seemed to remember seeing a similar marking, although this could not be verified by visual inspection of items which had been returned to Irvine's family.

Mallory's widow Ruth informed Odell that, "as far as she was aware"—which may indicate she was unsure—Mallory never marked his equipment with triple marks or other type of mark, and assumed the axe belonged to Irvine. To Odell, Wyn-Harris suggested a porter may have cut the triple mark to identify individuals' property during the 1924 expedition, though such was not the practice of many, if any, of the 1924 porters. Wyn-Harris assured Odell that his porter Pugla cut the X mark, seen lower down on the shaft of the axe found in 1933, during the return journey from the 1933 expedition. Several 1933 expedition members considered it likely the axe belonged to Mallory because it had a Swiss manufacturer, Willisch of Täsch, stamped on it, and Mallory had journeyed to the Alps shortly before the 1924 expedition, when he may have acquired it. They were unaware this manufacturer had supplied all members of the 1924 expedition with light axes, and Mallory or Irvine might have used them during their fatal summit attempt.

In 1962, a brother of Irvine found a military swagger stick, presumed to have belonged to Irvine, and on it are three horizontal identification nick marks resembling those on the axe discovered by Wyn-Harris in 1933; therefore, the axe is most likely Irvine's.

In 1977, Walt Unsworth, author of Everest: The Ultimate Book of the Ultimate Mountain, examined the axe discovered in 1933 and observed four sets of marks on its shaft. In addition to the three nicks seen by Odell and the cross mark cut by Pugla, he saw a single horizontal nick mark above the three observed by Odell and another three nick marks, though fainter in appearance, on the other side of the shaft opposite the cross mark.

Smythe's sighting (1936)

In 1937, Frank Smythe wrote to Edward Norton in reply to Norton's approbation of Smythe's book Camp Six, an account of the 1933 expedition. Noted in his letter was the discovery of the ice axe in 1933 found below the crest of the Northeast Ridge, where Smythe felt certain it marked the scene of an accident to Mallory and Irvine. Smythe disclosed that during the 1936 British Mount Everest expedition, scanning Everest's North Face with a high-powered telescope from Base Camp, he had spotted an object, which he presumed was the body of either Mallory or Irvine. At the time he decided not to publicize the fact to avoid press sensationalism. Smythe's sighting remained unknown to the public until his son Tony revealed the information in his 2013 book, My Father, Frank: Unresting Spirit of Everest; the author discovered a copy of the letter in the back of a diary.

Everest historian Tom Holzel's theory (1971)

Everest historian Tom Holzel, co-author with Audrey Salkeld of The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine, first became interested in the two mountaineers after reading about them in a 1970 edition of The New Yorker. Holzel's theory, published in a 1971 edition of Mountain magazine, was that Mallory and Irvine split up soon after Odell had sighted them ascending the Second Step at 12:50pm. Each had only  hours of supplemental oxygen remaining, insufficient for both to reach the summit in two or three hours. Mallory took Irvine's oxygen equipment, belayed him down the Second Step—from which point Irvine would descend towards Camp VI at —and with the additional oxygen attempted to reach the summit alone. As Irvine descended, the "rather severe blizzard" described by Odell as lasting from approximately 2 to 4 pm covered the mountain with snow, causing him to slip and fall to his death. Continuing on, Mallory could have reached the summit in the late afternoon. Suzuki said that although Hongbao did not speak English he repeated the words "English, English" when describing the bodies to Hasegawa. Suzuki thought that the first body was possibly Maurice Wilson, but could offer no identification for the second body. Hongbao said he had seen torn clothes on the second body and he had buried it under the snow.

Mount Everest North Face Research Expedition (1986)

On 25 August 1986 the Everest North Face Research Expedition, organized by Tom Holzel, arrived at the North Base Camp to try to determine what had happened to Mallory and Irvine. Their primary objective was to ascend to the snow terrace where they hoped to locate the remains of the "dead" English that Hongbao had sighted during the 1975 Chinese expedition. In addition, they hoped that if the body or bodies were indeed Mallory or Irvine, the cameras they carried might have images that could help solve the mystery of whether or not they had reached the summit. Although that effort was unsuccessful they did find two oxygen cylinders from the 1922 expedition. It was organised by expedition leader Eric Simonson, advised by researcher Jochen Hemmleb, and included mountaineers Conrad Anker, cameraman Dave Hahn and others.

After he had re-examined the historical record of Everest North Face expeditions, Jochen Hemmleb recognised the only seemingly factual information about Mallory and Irvine—other than artefacts such as the ice axe, found in 1933—was that during the 1975 Chinese Everest expedition, Wang Hongbao had discovered a body he had insisted was "English, English" during a twenty-minute walk from Camp VI. The initial challenge was to identify the location of Chinese Camp VI and use it as the centre point of a circular search zone with a twenty-minute walk radius. From a photo of Camp VI, Hemmleb determined it was on an ill-defined rib of rock that bisected the snow terrace on the North Face.

On the morning of 1 May 1999, Anker, Hahn, Norton, Politz, and Richards reached where they were to establish Camp VI. From there, they set out for the "ill-defined rib", traversing west over the North Face's precipitously angled terrain. Anker searched on intuition and descended to the lower margin of the snow terrace, where it drops away approximately to the head of the central Rongbuk Glacier. While zig-zagging back up in the direction of Camp VI at he noticed a "patch of white" to his west. Upon investigation he found it was a body partially frozen into the scree with the remnants of a braided cotton climbing rope tied to its waist and tangled around the body.

Since it was believed that Irvine had fallen from the place where the ice axe was found in 1933 the team expected the body to be his, but Politz said, "This is not him." After finding garment labels reading "G. Mallory" the expedition members realised that they had found, not Irvine as expected, but Mallory. Because the corpse had frozen into the surrounding scree, the mountaineers used their ice axes and pocketknives to search the site for any artefacts, especially Vest Pocket Kodak camera Somervell had supposedly lent Mallory for his attempt. If found, the camera might contain images that could help solve the mystery of whether or not the summit was reached for the first time in 1924, nearly 30 years before the first confirmed summit in 1953. Experts from Kodak said it might be possible to develop images from the film and have drawn up guidelines for any expedition that might discover the camera. Personal possessions were discovered on Mallory's body including letters