The son of famed British climber George Mallory said his dad’s scaling of Mount Everest in 1924 isn’t the historic feat it’s cracked up to be – because he didn’t make it back down.
“To me, the only way you achieve a summit is to come back alive. The job is half-done, isn’t it, if you don’t get down again,” John Mallory said yesterday.
The body of Mallory’s father was found by mountaineers over the weekend – 75 years after he disappeared at age 38.
New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary, along with his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, made history by reaching Everest’s summit in 1953 – and making it back down.
John Mallory, 77, says the discovery of his father’s body suggests “they did make the summit, but probably not until very late in the day – and most people who make the summit somewhere around sunset don’t get down.”
Climbers from the Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition of Seattle found Mallory’s body near the summit on Saturday.
He vanished along with climbing companion Andrew Irvine, posing one of mountaineering’s greatest puzzles.
The climbers spotted Mallory’s torso protruding from snow and rocks at 27,200 feet – some 1,800 feet below the summit.
The body was in excellent condition because of the dry air and freezing temperatures.
The climbers followed Mallory’s family’s wishes and buried his remains on the mountain.
“I didn’t see any point in displacing it. Let’s face it – if it comes down to a warmer climate, it’s likely to disintegrate very rapidly. I think it is much happier to leave it where it is,” Mallory’s son said.
He added that the mystery surrounding the climb still remains.
“If they had managed to find a camera and managed to develop the film after 75 years – which sounds unlikely – and found proof, that would be interesting,” he said.
Hillary called the discovery of the body “exciting,” but said the cameras the two ill-fated adventures carried would offer the only proof they reached the summit.