"I'm quite doubtful if I shall be fit enough. But again I wonder if the monsoon will give us a chance. I don't want to get caught, but our three-day scheme from the Chang La will give the monsoon a good chance. We shall be going up again the day after tomorrow. Six days to the top from this camp!"

--from George Mallory's last letter to his wife prior to disappearing on Mt. Everest with his partner Andrew "Sandy" Irvine in 1924

"My face is in perfect agony. Have prepared two oxygen apparatus for our start tomorrow morning".

- Sandy Irvine's last diary entry

About Me

Celebrating my 50th birthday on pitch 3 of Prodigal Son, Zion National Park, Utah (guided, all I did was jug up the ropes!)

I am an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at Western Oregon University where I taught for 31 years.

The Geology of Mount Everest

Noel Odell (L) and Lawrence Wager (R)

Early Everester Collections - these expeditions had several geologists who were among the first to map and study Himalayan geology.

• Follow this link for a description of The rocks collected by Noel Odell of the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition (archive.org)
  
  
• 1933 Everester Professor Lawrence Wager's rock collection at Oxford (PDF file) and more details of the rocks he collected in 1933

Mike Searle, Oxford

Current Research -

• Professor Mike Searle (retired) at Oxford is probably the foremost expert on Himalayan and Karakoram geology in the world. He has extensively mapped the Everest Region, and you can view his publications list on his website. Here is an example of the type of research he does: "The structural geometry, metamorphic and magmatic evolution of the Everest massif, High Himalaya of Nepal–South Tibet", M. P. Searle, R. L. Simpson, R. D. Law, R. R. Parrish & D. J. Waters
• You also might be interested in his book Colliding Continents: a geological exploration of the Himalaya, Karakoram and Tibet
  
  
• Giancarlo Bortolami at Università di Torino, Italy - Geology of the Higher Himalayan Crystallines in Khumbu Himal (Eastern Nepal)

News

2019 Searches and Evidence that Irvine and the Camera Were Found by the Chinese in 1975?

Along with Mark Synnott, Thom Pollard was part of the National Geographic 2019 search, as well as a member of the 1999 search that found Mallory's body. I recommend his Facebook page as well as his YouTube channel where he has been producing videos dealing with the new theories that are given below.

After his book "The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest" was published, Synnott uncovered resarch that seems to prove that Irvine and the camera were found by the Chinese back in 1975.

Let's not forget that Jake Norton was on a Discovery Channel search at the same time, but looking in a different place!

There were two films produced about these searches, and you can watch them here: Pollard/Synnott movie "Lost on Everest (Discovery+), and the Norton film Everest's Greatest Mystery (this is an Amazon Prime link, but the movie is available on AppleTV as well).

New Theories

It has recently come to my attention the theories of Ajay Dandekar, a historian and a faculty member of Shiv Nadar University, Delhi. I find his theory that Irvine stayed behind in a sleeping bag while Mallory went to the summit to be highly questionable. Please see my two part series on why I think this is true: Part 1 and Part 2

He's been around for awhile, but you'll want to read Michael Tracy's thoughts of what happened to Mallory and Irvine, along with his repository of YouTube videos. He's very mercurial and you'll need a thick hide if you debate him!

New Mallory and Irvine Forum hosted by Jake Norton

Please visit and become a member of Jake Norton's new Mallory and Irvine forum. You'll want to check out his image-based collection of all of the searches for Irvine from 1999 to 2019. He also has a three part series on his theory of what happened to Mallory and Irvine: part 1, part 2, part 3. And finally, here is the link to his Mallory and Irvine archive.

Articles and Editorials

A new article by researcher Wim Kohsiek, who has convincingly interpreted the time Mallory's watch was pointing to when it stopped, at odds with Jochen Hemmleb's interpretation that it was pointing to the time of Odell's sighting of the pair at 12:50 pm.

An interview with Graham Hoyland, author of the new book “Last Hours on Everest - The gripping story of Mallory and Irvine's fatal ascent”

Harvey V. Lankford, MD, has written a paper documenting the origin of the term "Glacier Lassitude" as a diagnosis for the debilitating effect of altitude as experienced by members of the early British Everest expeditions.

My new "what if?" theory about Mallory and Irvine's last climb, where I assume Odell's sighting was erroneous, and have them taking the Couloir route instead.

Part 1: the ascent
Part 2: the descent

Warwick Pryce is a new researcher who has arrived on the scene, and he has a new theory about how Andrew Irvine could have been the first person to stand on the top of the world.

Wim Kohsiek has a new interpretation of what Mallory's altimeter can tell us based on scientific applications of meterology.

Mallory and Irvine researcher Wim Kohsiek has two new thought-provoking articles about Mallory's watch and Irvine's location:

• Does Mallory's watch point to the time of his death?
  
  
• Where is Irvine?

Mallory's Watch - Does it Really Point to 12:50 PM?

1924 Oxygen by Richard McQuet and Pete Poston

Why the Camera and Film are not Doomed to Destruction!

The Politics of Mallory and Irvine

Why Andrew Irvine Will Not be Found in a Sleeping Bag! Part 1 and Part 2

Chomolungma Nirvana: The Routes of Mount Everest

Rust Marks on Mallory's Altimeter

Little Known Free-Solo Ascent of the Second Step in 2001 by Theo Fritsche - I should never have written this - Anker and Houlding deserve credit for the first free ascent

Criticisms of the 2004 EverestNews.com search for Irvine --

The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine's Fate (with J. Hemmleb): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.

Mallory and Irvine - Comments on the 'real Second Step' route: Part 1 and Part 2

Conrad Anker's comments on the unlikeliness of a direct route up the prow of the 2nd Step

Articles about my heroes Walter Bonatti and Chris Bonington --

Spilling the Beans - Lino Lacedelli's Book "Price of Conquest: Confessions from the First Ascent of K2" Part 1 and Part 2

The Life and Climbs of Chris Bonington, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 final - interview