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. Famously, when asked by a reporter why he wanted to climb Everest, Mallory purportedly replied, "Because it's there."
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 27,300 ft (8,321 m) 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 at 800 vertical feet (240 metres) from the summit.
Mallory's body, along with personal effects, was found in 1999 by the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition at 26,760 feet (8,160 metres), some 688 vertical metres below the summit.
The discovery, however, provided no evidence that he had reached the summit.
Contents
Early life and teaching career
Childhood
George Herbert Leigh Mallory was born at Newton Hall, Mobberley, Cheshire, on 18 June 1886.
He was the first son and second child of Annie Beridge Leigh-Mallory and the Reverend Herbert Leigh Mallory, rector of the parish.
Mallory had two sisters, Mary Henrietta and Annie Victoria (Avie), and a younger brother, Trafford, who was a 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 an early proclivity for climbing, and at age 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 exploits were the drainpipes of Hobcroft House and the walls that divided the farmers' fields.
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 mathematics 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.
1905–09: Magdalene College, Cambridge
In October 1905, Mallory entered Magdalene College to study history, where his tutor, A. C. Benson, became enamoured of him.
On 6 February 1907 at Christ's College, Mallory dined with Charles Edward Sayle, under-librarian at Cambridge University Library.
At Sayle's he met undergraduates with whom he established enduring friendships including painter Jacques Raverat, surgeon and author Geoffrey Keynes, poet Rupert Brooke, and psychoanalyst James Strachey.
On 12 February 1909, Mallory met Geoffrey Winthrop Young and they developed a strong 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 nature of these friendships.
Following his engagement in 1914, he wrote to one-time 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,
and 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.
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, conversing, and attending the theatre, music halls and Sorbonne lectures.
In April 1910, Mallory returned to Cambridge, again considering his future career options.
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 Gerald Henry Rendall, headmaster of Charterhouse, an English public school, offering him 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,
but due to his youthful appearance he was often mistaken by parents for a student.
He taught through enthusiasm and a friendly manner rather than by imposing authority.
He followed the teaching styles of Irving and Benson, who sought to educate through mutual respect, getting to know pupils as individuals, and rejecting the strict discipline common in British schools at the time.
Some of his colleagues, however, were hostile to his informal teaching methods, believing they eroded discipline.
He recommended students read literature extensively, write essays on subjects such as hypocrisy, candour, and popularity, and engaged them in discussions of politics and literature.
He also arranged visits to scenic landscapes and historic buildings.
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 Young nominated 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.
Climbing in Europe
The Alps
Mallory made eight expeditions to the Alps and accomplished four first ascents.
His first climb was on 5 August 1904, when he, Irving, and Gibson ascended Mont Vélan on the Swiss-Italian border. The team, however, was forced to retreat 600 ft (183 m) below the summit because Mallory and Gibson were suffering 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 15,800 ft (4,807.81 m), the highest mountain in Western Europe, marking Mallory's entry into high-altitude mountaineering.
In January 1905, Graham Irving established the Winchester Ice Club, and 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 would accomplish 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," but he had also nearly fallen 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 14,022 ft (4,274 m), 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 unclear. Sanders was either a "climbing friend" or "casual sweetheart."
Scotland
On 6 April 1906, Mallory, Irving, and Leach reached the summit of Ben Nevis in snowy conditions 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 reached the summit of Càrn Mòr Dearg, before making a second successful ascent of Ben Nevis on the same day via North Trident Buttress.
On 10 April, they successfully scaled a feature on Ben Nevis that they named East Zmutt Ridge after Zmutt Ridge on the Matterhorn, likely graded YDS 5.5–5.6.
On 12 April, Mallory, Irving, and Leach made a successful snow-and-ice ascent of Ben Nevis via the 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 with Mallory leading established another new route on the Western Buttress of the crag, Sron na Ciche, located in the Cuillin mountains; a route now known as Mallory's Slab and Groove, and graded about 5.5.
Wales
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 dismay, 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 trio climbed two routes: Great Gully, at 732 ft (223 m), and Amphitheatre Buttress, at 961 ft (293 m), 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 220 ft (67 m), 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.
England
Mallory's first rock climbing experience in England took place 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 56 ft (17 m), 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 pioneered two new routes on the Ennerdale face of Great Gable: Mallory's Left-Hand Route, at 98 ft (30 m), graded YDS 5.5, and Mallory's Right-Hand Route, at 120 ft (37 m), graded about 5.8.
In August 1913, Mallory and Geoffrey Winthrop Young achieved a new route, Pinnacle Traverse, at 200 ft (60 m), 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 210 ft (65 m), 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.)
Marriage and the First World War
Christiana Ruth Turner 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 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.
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.
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; and 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 attempt to reach the summit.
On 23 January 1921, Mallory received a letter from John Percy Farrar, secretary of the Alpine Club, its former president and member of the nascent Mount Everest Committee.
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 questioned the viability of the expedition and was reluctant to accept, also knowing that his participation would mean a lengthy separation from his wife and young children.
Everest expeditions
1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition
The objective of the first Everest expedition in 1921 was to reconnoiter the mountain and its approaches to determine the best route to the summit.
Expedition surveyors Henry Morshead and Oliver Wheeler, with the assistance of Indian surveyors, produced the first accurate maps of the region.
On 18 August, after a two-month survey of Everest's northern and eastern approaches, Mallory, Guy Bullock, Henry Morshead, and a porter left their camp at approximately 20,000 ft (6,096 m).
From the western head of the Kharta Glacier, they ascended to the col of Lhakpa La, at 22,470 ft (6,849 m).
The head of the East Rongbuk Glacier lay 1,200 ft (366 m) below Lhakpa La, and across the glacier rises a 1,000 ft (305 m) wall of snow and ice leading to Everest's North Col, at 23,030 ft (7,020 m). The team determined that the summit could be reached from there via the North Col-North Ridge-Northeast Ridge route.
On 23 September, Mallory, Bullock, Wheeler, and ten porters left their camp on Lhakpa La, descended to the East Rongbuk Glacier, and pitched camp at an elevation of 22,000 ft (6,706 m), 1 mile (1.6 km) from the beginning of the ascent to the North Col.
On 24 September, the three expedition members and three porters crossed the East Rongbuk Glacier to the foot of the 1,000 ft (305 m) wall of snow and ice, and after an arduous climb reached the North Col.
On the col and above, gale force winds were blowing from the northwest, making further progress impossible, and they were forced to return to their camp on the East Rongbuk Glacier.
The next day, with the severe winds unabated, Wheeler suffering from frostbite, and the porters exhausted, Mallory decided to abandon the attempt.
Lectures, writing, and preparation for the 1922 expedition
On 20 December 1921 in the Queen's Hall, London, Mallory and Charles Howard-Bury delivered a narrative of 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 asked Mallory to lecture throughout Britain and contribute to the official expedition book, Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance, 1921.
On 10 January 1922, Mallory gave his first lecture in the Queen's Hall, afterward giving 30 more at various locations in Britain.
The financial results were lucrative, as his 25% share earned him £400, far exceeding his annual salary as a teacher.
Before departing for the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition, Mallory completed his written contribution to Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance, 1921. The work, titled The Reconnaissance Of The Mountain, contained 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 then turned his attention to assisting the Committee and reviewing equipment for the 1922 expedition.
1922 British Mount Everest expedition
Mallory returned to the Himalayas as a member of the 1922 British Everest expedition which was attempting to be the first to summit Everest.
On 2 March 1922, Mallory, Howard Somervell, John Noel, Edward Strutt, George Finch, and Arthur Wakefield, crossed the English Channel, travelled by train to Marseille and, on 3 March, departed for Bombay on board the passenger liner Caledonia.
During the voyage, Mallory attended Finch's bottled oxygen class, which help him to overcome his uncertainty about its use.
After docking in Bombay, they arrived in Darjeeling on 20 March, where they met up 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 16,500 ft (5,029 m), 2.75 miles (4.43 km) below the junction of the Rongbuk Glacier and East Rongbuk Glacier.
On 20 May, at 7:30 a.m., Mallory, Howard Somervell, Edward Norton, Henry Morshead, and four porters began their day at Camp IV, on the North Col at an elevation of 23,000 ft (7,010 m).
After roping up at 8:00 a.m., the team began their ascent without supplemental oxygen.
They planned to climb the North Ridge and establish Camp V at an altitude of 26,000 ft (7,925 m), and from there attempt to reach the summit.
Announcement of a third expedition, lectures and writing
On 16 October 1922 at a combined meeting of the Royal Geographical Society and Alpine Club it was announced that the Tibetan government had formally authorised the third expedition to Everest.
The Everest Committee resolved that the third expedition would commence in spring 1924.
The committee was eager to generate money to cover some of the 1924 expedition's costs and discussed terms for a lecture programme.
A large-scale lecture tour was organised, with Mallory and George Finch selected as the two speakers.
On 20 October 1922, Mallory and Finch delivered their first public lectures on the 1922 expedition.
During the winter, Mallory presented a round of talks throughout Britain and Ireland, with engagements in 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 that Mallory contribute to the official book of the 1922 expedition, The Assault on Mount Everest: 1922.
North America lecture tour and writing
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.
Cambridge lecturer and Olympic medal
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.
1924 British Mount Everest expedition
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 350 miles (560 km) 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 16,800 ft (5,120 m).
On 9 April, General Bruce had collapsed due to recurrent malaria and had ongoing cardiovascular issues during the trek to Base Camp.
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 began their summit attempt from Camp VI, at 27,490 ft (8,380.4 m), on the Yellow Band, below the Northeast Ridge.
At an elevation of 27,720 ft (8,450 m) after approximately one hour of climbing, Wyn-Harris, who was leading, found an ice axe located about 60 ft (18 m) below the crest of the Northeast Ridge and 751 ft (229 m) east of and below the First Step.
The axe was left where it had been found and, after returning from a failed summit attempt, Wyn-Harris retrieved the axe, apparently leaving his own in its place.
Because of its location the axe was thought 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.
When Wyn-Harris showed the axe to Noel Odell in 1934, Odell noticed three parallel horizontal nick marks on its shaft.
Odell thought it was a mark Irvine might have used on his equipment, and some members of Irvine's family seemed to remember seeing a similar marking.
Mallory's widow Ruth told Odell that "as far as she was aware" Mallory did not mark his equipment with triple marks or any other type of mark, and therefore believed 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 this was not the practice of all of the 1924 porters.
Frank Smythe's sighting (1936)
In 1937 Frank Smythe wrote to Edward Norton in reply to Norton's praise for Smythe's book Camp Six, an account of the 1933 expedition.
In his letter he mentioned the discovery of the ice axe in 1933, which he felt certain marked the scene of an accident to Mallory and Irvine.
Smythe said that when scanning Everest's North Face with a high-powered telescope during the 1936 British Mount Everest expedition he had spotted an object which he believed was either Mallory or Irvine.
At the time he decided not to publicize what he had seen to avoid press sensationalism.
Smythe's sighting remained unknown to the public until his son Tony Smythe revealed it in his 2013 book, My Father, Frank: Unresting Spirit of Everest.
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 12:50 p.m.
Each had only 1+1⁄2 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 26,700 ft (8,138 m)—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 p.m. 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.
Holzel theorised that from where the ice axe was found in 1933–presumably the scene of an accident—a body tumbling down the North Face would come to a halt on a snow terrace below at approximately 26,900 ft (8,200 m).
In 1980 Holzel received a letter from Hiroyuki Suzuki, foreign secretary of the Japanese Alpine Club.
Suzuki's letter was in reply to Holzel, who had previously written to the Club about their upcoming 1979 Sino-Japanese Everest expedition, asking that they look for Irvine's body and camera on the snow terrace identified in his 1971 article.
Suzuki's letter contained tragic news.
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 27,000 ft (8,230 m) snow terrace where they hoped to locate the remains of the "dead" English that Hongbao claimed to have seen 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.
Their secondary objective was to search the area immediately above the Second Step where they hoped to find Mallory and Irvine's used oxygen cylinders, proving they had reached that elevation and thus possibly the summit.
They successfully established Camp V on the North Ridge at an elevation of 25,500 ft (7,772 m) but snowstorms and avalanches prevented them from reaching 27,500 ft (8,382 m) where they had planned to establish Camp VI and search for Mallory and Irvine.
Although that effort was unsuccessful they did find two oxygen cylinders from the 1922 expedition.
Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition (1999)
The 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition was undertaken to determine whether Mallory and/or Irvine had been the first to summit Everest.
Objectives included locating Irvine’s body and retrieving his camera that might hold proof of any summit success.
It was organised by expedition leader Eric Simonson, advised by researcher Jochen Hemmleb, and included mountaineers Conrad Anker, cameraman Dave Hahn and others.
After re-examining the historical record of Everest North Face expeditions, Jochen Hemmleb realized that, other than artefacts such as the ice axe found in 1933, the only seemingly solid information about Mallory and Irvine was Wang Hongbao's assertion that he had discovered an "English" body 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 26,900 ft (8,199 m) where they established 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 7,000 ft (2,000 m) to the head of the central Rongbuk Glacier.
While zig-zagging back up in the direction of Camp VI at 26,800 ft (8,156 m) he noticed a "patch of white" to his west.
Further expeditions
The 2001 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition retraced Mallory and Irvine’s route and attempted to find artefacts from the early attempts.
Jake Norton and Brent Okita discovered the remnants of the 1924 Camp VI at an altitude of 26,700 ft (8,138 m), from which Mallory and Irvine had departed on 8 June.
Norton found a wool mitten of unknown origin on the Northeast Ridge at an altitude of 27,690 ft (8,440 m) that may have belonged to Mallory or Irvine.
There were research initiatives in 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2019 and the 2007 Altitude Everest expedition that retraced Mallory and Irvine's footsteps.
Timeline
1893: Aged 7, climbed the roof of a church.
1904: Aged 18, made his first significant climb by summiting Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe.
1909: First ascent of the Southeast Ridge of Nesthorn (3,822 m).
1911: First ascent of the Western Ridge of Herbétet (3,778 m) and third ascent of the Southeast Ridge (Frontier Ridge) of Mont Maudit (4,465 m).
1912: Established a new route on the West Face of Dent Blanche, marking a first ascent of this face.
1915–18: Officer in the First World War.
1919: First ascent of a new route on the Aiguille des Grands Charmoz (3,445 m) and Aiguille du Midi (3,842 m), later named the "Rectified Mallory-Porter Route."
1920: Summiting the Matterhorn (4,478 m) and Zinalrothorn (4,221 m).
1921: First British reconnaissance expedition to Everest, helping to map out potential routes to the summit.
1922: Second British expedition to Everest, where his team set a world altitude record of 27,300 feet (8,231 m) using supplemental oxygen.
1924: Disappeared near the summit along with Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, leading to one of the greatest mysteries in mountaineering.
1924–1950s: Speculation about whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit, adding to the mystery surrounding their disappearance.
1953: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Everest, renewing interest in Mallory and Irvine.
Theories
"Second Step"
As Mallory and Irvine used the Northeast Ridge route, they would have had to free-climb the formidable Second Step.
Of the Three Steps on the upper Northeast Ridge, the Second and most prominent, rising approximately 100 ft (30 m) and consisting of precipitous, brittle rock at an extreme altitude of 28,250 ft (8,610 m), is the most demanding.
The final upper section of this step is its crux, a 16 ft (4.87 m) nearly vertical headwall slab to which the 1975 Chinese expedition affixed a 15 ft (4.6 m) aluminium ladder.
Although disputed, the first successful ascent of the Second Step occurred during the 1960 Chinese Mount Everest expedition, as all four mountaineers were breathing supplemental oxygen.
They used a technique called "short ladder" in which Chu Yin-hau stood on Liu Lianman's shoulders to climb to the top of the crux.
Chu Yin-hau then belayed himself to a rock at the top of the Step and brought others up on the rope.
It took 3 hours for 4 mountaineers to ascend the crux, and they used pitons, which neither Mallory nor Irvine had.
In 1985, during full-monsoon conditions and without supplementary oxygen, Òscar Cadiach, climbing on lead, achieved the first successful free-climb of the Second Step, ascending the crux on belay with a sling tied to one of the rungs of the Chinese ladder. He graded the vertical crack, that forms the crux, at about 5.8.
In 2001, Theo Fritsche free-soloed the crux without supplementary oxygen, and assessed it as about 5.7.
In 2003, Nickolay Totmjanin free-climbed it without supplementary oxygen.
Western disturbance
Research published in 2010 indicates an extreme storm may have contributed to the deaths of Mallory and Irvine.
Physicist George Moore discovered meteorological data from the 1924 expedition at the Royal Geographical Society's library in London.
The data consisted of daily barometric pressure and temperature measurements recorded at Base Camp at 16,500 ft (5,029 m). Temperature measurements were also recorded at higher camps. The data collected, together with an analysed sea-level pressure map hand-drawn by the India Meteorological Department, were used to show that Mallory and Irvine's summit attempt occurred when there was a drop in barometric pressure and temperature, which was likely the result of the passage of an upper-level trough.
This is known locally as a western disturbance.
The authors hypothesised that the passage of the disturbance possibly triggered an outbreak of convective activity that resulted in the blizzard, witnessed by observation, engulfing Everest during the attempt.
Odell described the morning of 8 June as "clear and not unduly cold", with snowfall and increasing winds beginning at approximately 2:00 p.m., which he described as a "rather severe blizzard," lasting about two hours and possibly severe enough to force Mallory and Irvine to abandon their bid.
Records show a drop in barometric pressure at Base Camp of 18 millibars during the attempt.
A drop of a similar magnitude possibly occurred at higher altitudes on the Himalayan peak.
This decrease in barometric pressure likely induced aggravation of their hypoxic state.
Also, if they had run out of supplemental oxygen during the early afternoon, this would have exacerbated their hypoxic condition.
Legacy
At Winchester College there is a memorial to him in the cloister adjacent to the college chapel.
Mallory was honoured by having a court named after him at Magdalene College, with an inscribed stone commemorating his death set above the doorway to one of the buildings.
To commemorate Mallory's position as Magdalene Boat Club Captain, the Friends of Magdalene Boat Club changed their name to the Mallory Club.
A plaque commemorates him in the South African Cloisters at Charterhouse.
A stained-glass triptych window at St Wilfrid's Church, Mobberley, Cheshire, portraying three figures from English mythology, Saint George, King Arthur and Sir Galahad, also has two panels with inscriptions commemorating Mallory.
In addition to his father, Herbert Leigh Mallory, the rector of Mobberley, Mallory's grandfather, George Leigh Mallory, was the parish's rector.
In the cloisters of Chester Cathedral, there is a memorial window commemorating Mallory and Irvine.
Two high peaks in California's Sierra Nevada, Mount Mallory and Mount Irvine, are named after them.
Two other members of Mallory's family died in the mountains.
His brother, Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, died when the Avro York carrying him crashed in the French Alps in 1944, killing all on board.
Mallory's daughter, Frances Clare, married physiologist Glenn Allan Millikan, who was killed in a climbing accident in 1947 at Buzzard's Roost in Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee.