The world’s best introduction to the George Mallory Everest mystery

July 10, 2024 Reviews and tributes everest, george finch, george mallory, history of mountaineering, mick conefrey, mountain literature, tibet

George Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappearance on Everest in 1924 is one of the most enduring myths in exploration history. If you’re new to it then Mick Conefrey’s latest book, Fallen, offers the best introduction you can find. If, like me, you think you’ve read it all, it’s a highly readable refresher offering sensible conclusions.

Did George Mallory climb Everest in 1924? I asked ChatGPT for an answer

December 14, 2022 Humour chatgpt, china, chu yin-hua, everest, first ascents, george mallory, history of mountaineering, interviews, noel odell, sandy irvine, tibet, wang fu-chou 6 Comments

There’s been a lot of hype about the new chatbot ChatGPT. If it can impersonate a real person, then it occurred to me that I could interview George Mallory and find out if he actually reached the summit of Everest in 1924. So I did, and here’s what happened.

His father, Frank Smythe — biography of a Himalayan legend

August 12, 2020 Reviews and tributes bill tilman, eric shipton, everest, frank smythe, george mallory, harriet tuckey, himalayas, history of mountaineering, howard somervell, kamet, kangchenjunga, mont blanc, mountain literature, tenzing norgay, thomas graham brown, tony smythe 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I wrote at length about Frank Smythe, the legendary British mountain explorer who was something of a celebrity in the 1930s when he became one of the first people to make a career of climbing,

What does Mount Everest look like from space?

July 15, 2020 Opinion and advice everest, george mallory, international space station, island peak, lhotse, mountain photography, mountains from space, nepal, nuptse, tibet 2 Comments

If you follow the Everest Today (@EverestToday) account on Twitter, you may be used to seeing the occasional photo of mountains taken from the International Space Station. Mountains look very different from above, and views from the International Space Station are not always recognisable. But this one of Everest is so distinctive that I had to annotate it and share it with you.

An audio excerpt from my book Seven Steps from Snowdon to Everest

April 8, 2020 My books and writing everest, george mallory, hill walking, john d burns, mountain huts, mountain literature, seven steps from snowdon to everest 0 Comment

Well folks, I have something rather special this week to help stimulate the senses while you are in coronavirus lockdown. Fellow mountain writer John D Burns has featured an audio excerpt from Seven Steps from Snowdon to Everest on his weekly podcast, and it’s great — a dramatic reading of the crux section where I tackle the infamous Second Step.

The Guardian prints another self-righteous opinion piece about Everest by some couch potato

September 7, 2016 Opinion and advice edmund hillary, everest, george mallory, media sensationalism, the guardian 9 Comments

Why does The Guardian so often commission people who haven’t got a clue about Everest to write self-righteous opinion pieces about it, instead of asking someone knowledgeable to write them instead? It’s an exercise in shit stirring that achieves nothing useful.

Everest is not piled high with dead bodies

April 6, 2016 Opinion and advice art gilkey, buddhism, charles houston, david sharp, everest, george mallory, media sensationalism, mountaineering ethics, sandy irvine

One of the things that shocks people when I tell them about Everest is that I had to walk past dead bodies on my summit day. In this post I debunk a popular media myth, and discuss how we need a more mature attitude towards death.

Leo Houlding does his bit for the Sherpas

June 11, 2014 Reviews and tributes antarctica, chance, climbing fatalities, conrad anker, edmund hillary, everest, first ascents, george lowe, george mallory, himalayan trust, leo houlding, mountain films, mountain talks, nepal, rebecca stephens, rock climbing, sandy irvine, sherpas, ulvetanna 6 Comments

Last week one of Britain’s top rock climbers did a lecture at the RGS in London. Rock climbing isn’t generally my thing, but this talk had an Everest theme, and one of its aims was to raise money for the families of the Sherpas who died in the 18 April avalanche.

The mother of all avalanches: an eyewitness account

May 16, 2014 Reviews and tributes climbing fatalities, everest, everest base camp, george mallory, history of mountaineering, howard somervell, nepal, sherpas 8 Comments

At approximately 6.45am on Friday 18 April, 2014 I was walking with team mates through Everest Base Camp on the way to my first foray into the Khumbu Icefall. It was a climb I wasn’t to start, for at that moment a huge chunk of ice fell off Everest’s West Shoulder, triggering an avalanche which swept across the entire width of the Icefall.

Frank Smythe is more interesting than George Mallory

December 4, 2013 History chris bonington, darjeeling, eric shipton, everest, frank smythe, garhwal, george mallory, gunther dyhrenfurth, himalayas, history of mountaineering, kamet, kangchenjunga, malaria, mountain literature, sandy irvine, tenzing norgay 14 Comments

The headline ‘Mallory’s body discovered on Everest in 1936’ appeared widely on social media sites last week. Had new revelations emerged about whether Mallory reached the summit of Everest? No, the real subject of the story wasn’t George Mallory at all, but arguably a much more interesting character.

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