MOUNTAINEERING'S
BIGGEST MYSTERY
Celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Sir
Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing’s ascent of Mount Everest have
reopened debate about whether they were actually the first to climb
the world’s tallest mountain. Graham Hoyland believes not...
Some believe Hillary and Tensing were preceded by two
North West climbers 29 years earlier, George Mallory from Cheshire and
Sandy Irvine from Birkenhead.
Mallory and Irvine made a final bid to become the first
to climb Everest on June 8 1924.
They were last seen going strong for the top just eight
hundred feet short of their goal.
But then thick cloud enveloped Everest and they disappeared
into the mists of time. They were never seen again.
Vital clue
Among those on the fateful 1924 expedition was Howard
Somervell from Kendal.
 |
| Somervell's camera
like this could solve the mystery |
He came close to the top without using oxygen but had
to turn back within sight of the summit.
On his way down he met Mallory and Irvine coming up.
Somervell gave Mallory his camera to record his momentous achievement.
To this day, the camera has never been found. Experts
say amazingly that it might still be possible to get images from the film
even after all these years.
As the camera may hold the key to the mystery of who
was the first to ascent Everest, it has become the holy grail of mountaineering.
Intrigued
One of those who believe that Mallory and Irvine did
succeed is Graham Hoyland.
He says, "I have always thought they could have done
it. I think the spirit of the man would have gone for it."
 |
| Graham practises
in the Lake District |
Graham is one of the elite group who have climbed Everest.
He has been to Everest five times and in 1999 he mounted an exhibition
which discovered Mallory’s body.
Unfortunately, the camera was not on Mallory’s body,
so the mystery is still far from solved.
Quest
Each year seems to bring fresh discoveries on Everest.
Just a few weeks ago the British Royal Marines expedition
to the mountain had high hopes of finding Sandy Irvine’s body after one
of the sherpas claimed he’d seen it on a previous expedition.
But for Graham the highs of expectancy soon became the
lows of reality as nothing was found.
 |
| Mallory's watch
was one of the items recovered from his body in 1999 |
This hasn’t deterred Graham from his quest. He will return
to Everest this September.
His dream is to fine Irvine’s body and find the camera.
Nothing will shake him from his belief that it should
be the names of Mallory and Irvine and not Hillary and Tensing who claimed
the mountain first.
Legend
Perhaps the mystery will never be solved and the legend
will grow and grow.
In the meantime, it is ironic that the only memorial
to Mallory in the North West is a stained glass window in the church in
Mobberley.
This is the same church whose tower Mallory used to climb
over a hundred years ago as a small boy when his climbing obsession was
just beginning. |
