George Mallory

George Herbert Leigh Mallory (June 18 1886 – last seen June 8 1924) was a British mountaineer.

Commentary

Even if evidence is eventually uncovered proving that George Mallory and/or Andrew Irvine reached the summit of Everest on that fateful day in 1924, a small minority questions the view that history should be changed to state that they made the first ascent. A few mountaineers maintain that a successful first ascent not only involves reaching the top but also includes returning to the bottom. Indeed, George Mallory's own son John Mallory, who was only three years old when his father died, said:

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"To me the only way you achieve a summit is to come back alive. The job is half done if you don't get down again".

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It should be noted, however, that it is known that John Mallory had considerably mixed feelings about his dead father's celebrity status, explaining understandably that he would far rather have had a father than a legend. A similar perspective was echoed by Sir Edmund Hillary who asked:

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"If you climb a mountain for the first time and die on the descent, is it really a complete first ascent of the mountain? I am rather inclined to think personally that maybe it is quite important, the getting down, and the complete climb of a mountain is reaching the summit and getting safely to the bottom again."

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In conclusion, Chris Bonington, the widely respected British Himalayan mountaineer, summed up the view of many mountaineers all over the world:

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"If we accept the fact that they were above the Second Step, they would have seemed to be incredibly close to the summit of Everest and I think at that stage something takes hold of most climbers... And I think therefore taking all those circumstances in view... I think it is quite conceivable that they did go for the summit... I certainly would love to think that they actually reached the summit of Everest. I think it is a lovely thought and I think it is something, you know, gut emotion, yes I would love them to have got there. Whether they did or not, I think that is something one just cannot know."

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