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The issue will shortly be decided. The third time we walk up East Rongbuk Glacier will be the last, for better or worse.
George Mallory wrote those words in May 1924, just days before he and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine made their final attempt to summit Mount Everest. They disappeared on June 8, 1924, and mystery has swirled around them ever since. Did they reach the summit, 29 years before Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary?
The recovery of Mallory's body in May 1999 provoked more questions than it answered. Clearly Mallory fell and then died of exposure. But was he on his way up or down? David Breashears (of IMAX Everest fame) and mountaineering historian Audrey Salkeld devote a thoughtful chapter to the discovery, examining the clues found with Mallory and speculating on his experiences on that fateful day. As is to be expected, however, Breashears and Salkeld leave it to others (including Conrad Anker and Jochen Hemmleb) to make conclusions; their book is about much more than Mallory's disappearance. Last Climb is an affectionate biography of Mallory, his fellow climbers, and their three Everest expeditions. Diaries and letters written by expedition members bring their voices into the present, while the authors' considerable Everest expertise ensures historical accuracy. Dozens of vintage photographs taken by Mallory and the other expedition members illustrate the text, revealing a time when "gentlemen mountaineers climbed in leather boots and tweeds"--their gear better suited to a bright day in the Scottish highlands than the slopes of Everest.
The morbid-minded may be disappointed that the only photograph of Mallory's remains is of his hobnailed boot, but others may see this as a mark of respect for the great climber. Beautifully presented and carefully written, Last Climb is easily the classiest book on the Mallory mystery. --Sunny Delaney
From Publishers Weekly
Completing the trio of new books on George Mallory (see Ghosts of Everest and Lost on Everest, above), this breathtakingly illustrated volume unfolds as a vivid, engaging pictorial documentary, offering an incredible armchair adventure on the roof of the world. Spectacular color and black-and-white photographs from Mallory's expeditions and from the 1999 search distinguish this volume, capturing the grandeur and almost unearthly beauty of the Himalayan heights. When Mallory and Andrew Irvine vanished at the top of the world in 1924, team member Noel Odell, the last person to see the two men alive, reported that they were ascending the Second Step, an escarpment just 800 feet from the summit. Odell later suggested that the duo might have been on the much lower First Step, and historians have debated the question ever since. IMAX filmmaker and Everest veteran Breashears (High Exposure, Forecasts, Apr. 26) and mountaineering historian Salkeld (Climbing Mount Everest, etc.) believe it's unlikely that Mallory and Irvine reached the Second Step and concur with the authors of the other two books that the question of whether the duo reached the summit remains unresolved. The spectacular photographs are accompanied by a perceptive probe of Mallory the man, an Edwardian idealist who threw off the shackles of Victorian restraint yet remained torn between fatherly duty (he left his wife and three children for long periods) and his sense of mission as "a child of Empire... conscious of what England expected." Included also are a poignant introduction by John Mallory, the explorer's son, who pays tribute to the father he hardly knew, as well as a brief essay by George Mallory II (John's son), who reached Everest's summit in 1995, symbolically completing his grandfather's quest. BOMC selection. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The New York Times Book Review, Susan Reed
...a retread of previously published material, although with wonderful period photographs of the 1920's expeditions.
The New York Times, December 5, 1999
Wonderful period photographs of the 1920's expeditions...Last Climb is straightforward with vintage photographs taken by Mallory and on other British expeditions.
Sports Illustrated, November 29, 1999
This...ambitious book, by mountaineer-filmmaker Breashears and Everest historian Salkeld, is the definitive account of all three British attempts on Everest involving Mallory in the 1920s. Its pages, enhanced by maps, charts and vintage photographs, some taken by Mallory himself, convey the ordeal endured...in tackling a part of the world so unexplored at the time that it might as well have been (and in fact is closest to) the surface of the moon.
Book Description
From renowned Everest mountaineer and filmmaker David Breashears and historian Audrey Salkeld, comes the first lavishly illustrated account of Englishman George Mallory's 1920's Everest expeditions, including the ill-fated 1924 attempt with Andrew Irvine to be the first to summit Everest. Included are rare, never-before-published archival photographs, as well as an account of the recent, sensational discovery of Mallory's body, 75 years after his disappearance. The question of whether George Mallory and Andrew Irvine reached the summit of Everest in June 1924, thirty years before Edmund Hillary remains one of the great mysteries of twentieth century exploration. That mystery was partially solved on May 3, 1999 when the body of George Mallory was found on a rocky ledge about 2,000 feet below the summit. But was he on the way up, or down, when he died in a fall? David Breashears and Audrey Salkeld have culled remarkably evocative archival photography from Mallory's expeditions to Everest and, by virtue of their long familiarity with Everest, bring a uniquely insightful perspective to this dramatic story. The world's tallest mountain, lying on the border between Tibet and Nepal-though it had been identified since 1856 and its summit was distantly visible as a small bump on the Himalayan horizon from the Indian hill station of Darjeeling-had remained remote because both countries were at the time strictly out of bounds to travelers. Having negotiated permission to enter Tibet, three expeditions in the 1920s (1921, 1922, 1924) succeeded in surveying and mapping territory unknown to outsiders, and climbing to heights above 28,000 feet-and just maybe all the way to the top of Mount Everest. All in all, while it was a magnificent achievement, these first three ventures cost the lives of at least twelve men. These brave explorers brought home the magnificent images of Himalayan mountains and a medieval way of life on the roof of the world, which are dramatically showcased in this book. AUTHOR BIO: David Breashears is a world-class filmmaker and mountaineer, who has worked on such feature films as Seven Years in Tibet and the award-winning documentary Red Flag over Tibet. In 1983 he transmitted the first live pictures from the summit of Mount Everest. Breashears is the recipient of four Emmy awards for his achievements in cinematography. In 1987 he directed and produced the documentary film, "Everest: The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine." In 1996, he co-directed, photographed, and co-produced the acclaimed IMAX large-format film Everest, and contributed his still photographs from that climb, as well as a foreword, to the best-selling National Geographic book Everest: Mountain Without Mercy. David is largely credited with spearheading rescue efforts during the harrowing tragedy of May 10, 1996. The first American to summit Mount Everest twice, he has made four successful ascents of the world's highest mountain. David Breashears is the author of High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places, recently published by Simon & Schuster. Audrey Salkeld maintains one of the most comprehensive private archives on mountaineering. She has written the scripts for a number of films including David Breashears' The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine, for which she took part in Tom Holzel's 1986 expedition and climbed to the North Col of Everest. With Holzel she is the author of The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed book on her Himalayan travels in Mustang and Tibet, People in High Places.
About the Author
David Breashears, an award-winning filmmaker and world-class mountaineer, has climbed to the summit of Mount Everest four times. In the spring of 1996, he was the expedition leader and co-director for the acclaimed IMAX® large-format film Everest. In 1983, he transmitted the first live pictures from the summit and directed and produced the documentary, Everest: The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine. He is the author of High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places and contributed photographs and an afterword to the National Geographic book Everest: Mountain Without Mercy. He lives in Boston.
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