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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 reported to be last seen ascending near Everest's summit during the 1924 expedition, sparking debate 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 renewed 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 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 alive approximately 800 vertical feet (240 metres) from the summit, sparking debate as to whether one or both reached it before they died. Mallory's body was found in 1999 by the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition at 26,760 feet (8,160 metres), along with personal effects. The discovery provided clues, but no definitive proof about whether they reached the summit. When asked by a reporter why he wanted to climb Everest, Mallory purportedly replied, "Because it's there."
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. 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.
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.
"Mon dieu!—George Mallory! ... My hand trembles, my heart palpitates, my whole being swoons ... he's six foot high, with the body of an athlete by Praxiteles, and a face—oh incredible—the mystery of Botticelli, the refinement and delicacy of a Chinese print, the youth and piquancy of an unimaginable English boy."
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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 reported to be last seen ascending near Everest's summit during the 1924 expedition, sparking debate 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 renewed 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 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 alive approximately 800 vertical feet (240 metres) from the summit, sparking debate as to whether one or both reached it before they died. Mallory's body was found in 1999 by the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition at 26,760 feet (8,160 metres), along with personal effects. The discovery provided clues, but no definitive proof about whether they reached the summit. When asked by a reporter why he wanted to climb Everest, Mallory purportedly replied, "Because it's there."
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. 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.
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.
"Mon dieu!—George Mallory! ... My hand trembles, my heart palpitates, my whole being swoons ... he's six foot high, with the body of an athlete by Praxiteles, and a face—oh incredible—the mystery of Botticelli, the refinement and delicacy of a Chinese print, the youth and piquancy of an unimaginable English boy."