Back Expedició de recerca de Mallory i Irvine Catalan Expedición de búsqueda de Mallory e Irvine Spanish Expédition de recherche de Mallory et Irvine French Поиски Мэллори и Ирвина Russian
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The goal of the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition of 1999 was to discover evidence of whether George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had been the first to summit Mount Everest in their attempt of 8–9 June 1924. The expedition was instigated by British climber Graham Hoyland.[1][2][3] It was organised by regular Everest expedition leader Eric Simonson and advised by researcher Jochen Hemmleb, with a team of climbers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Hemmleb's investigations of reports of earlier sightings and photographs had led him to identify what he believed was the area in which Irvine's body lay, some distance below where his ice axe had been found by Percy Wyn-Harris on the expedition led by Hugh Ruttledge in 1933. The team hoped in particular to find a camera on Irvine's body which, had the pair been successful, should have contained a picture of the summit. After commencing the search on 1 May 1999, Conrad Anker mistakenly got off course and, surprisingly, found Mallory's body, not Irvine's.[4]
Mallory lay face-down, arms outstretched as if to break a sliding fall, with one broken leg and a serious wound to the skull, but otherwise very well-preserved. It seemed probable that he had been a victim of a fall while roped to Irvine. The body was only an hour or two from the safety of camp.
Many artefacts were found on the body, including a pocket knife, altimeter, and snow-goggles, but no camera. Three discoveries in particular fuel continuing speculation:
- First, a pair of goggles were in Mallory's pocket, suggesting he was descending at night when he fell (though he may have had a second pair, ripped off in his fall).
- Second, on an envelope he had noted the amounts of oxygen in each of their cylinders, figures which suggest a slight possibility that the pair may have taken three cylinders on their final climb, rather than two as generally believed.
- Finally it had been reported that Mallory carried a photograph of his beloved wife Ruth with him which he planned to place on the summit in the event of success; it was not found among his remaining personal possessions.
The expedition interred Mallory where he lay.[2]
- ^ Douglas, Ed (28 September 2007). "Did Mallory make it? Researcher believes he has the answer". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ a b Koul, Maharaj (8 August 1999). "Mallory may yet rewrite history". The Tribune (Chandigarh). Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ "Did George Mallory make it to the summit of Everest before he died?". The Independent. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ Simonson, Eric; Hemmleb, Jochen; Johnson, Larry (1 October 1999). "Ghosts of Everest". Outside Online. Retrieved 19 January 2024.