Author(s): George Leigh Mallory

Biography & Memoir

In Climbing Everest, George Mallory (18 June 1886 - 8/9 June 1924), possibly the first man to summit Everest, takes us with him on his climbs in Britain and the Alps, culminating in his three expeditions to Mount Everest - the last of which cost him his life (a few days after the final piece in this book). Mallory was one of the first climbers to explore the emotional meaning of climbing, discarding the Edwardian stiff upper lip in the face of adventure. All his writings on climbing - here collected for the first time - started out as letters to his wife Ruth. He turned them into finely-crafted pieces which can be read by climbers as well as arm-chair climbers. When questioned 'Why climb Everest' he crafted the gnomic climbing phrase 'Because it is there.' His body was dramatically found five years ago on Everest in 2007. One day, nonetheless, his lost camera may provide the answer to the question whether he was the first human to summit Everest.