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The
Brief History:
The
discovery of George Mallory’s body on the North side
of Everest has been astonishing to many, but should it
have been? A quest that was started by several people
including Graham Hoyland, Tom Holzel, and Jochen
Hemmleb over the years resulted in an expedition in
1999, which “found” Mallory’s body. Climbers
have been captivated by the mystery of George Mallory for
years; however, many were appalled by the sale of
photographs of his corpse. They may also be
disappointed that the evidence appears to leans
heavily on the side that neither George, nor his
climbing partner that day, Sandy Irvine made the
Summit of Everest.
EverestNews.com
has been told that Sandy Irvine might have carried as
many as four cameras to the Summit of Everest that
day. Frankly, this is hard to believe, but it is
Everest so anything is possible, however 1-2 cameras
would seem like a more likely number. One of the
cameras was owned by Graham Hoyland’s relative
Howard Somervell.
Somervell was on his second trip to Everest and
became friends with Mallory. According to the story
told by Graham Hoyland, “ Mallory had forgotten his
camera, and so Somervell handed him his Vest Pocket
Kodak. The two parties separated the next morning, and
Somervell never saw his friend Mallory again.”
Of
course the mystery deepens when the report by Odell is
told that he spotted them "going strongly for the
top".
The
Photos:
EverestNews.com,
while publishing several opinions from team members,
historians and others, has chosen to stay out of the
fray of the Mallory and Irvine controversy. However,
if we did not “find” Jochen Hemmleb and then
publish his papers, the 1999 Expedition may never have
taken place. It seemed like the right thing to do at
the time.
In
spring of 2000, readers of EverestNews.com, who never
cease to amaze us, started e-mailing us with potential
information on the location of Sandy Irvine. Frankly,
we were initially unbelieving and very unsure what to
do with this “information”.
In
the last year, this “issue” of the location of
Irvine’s body has been discussed quietly among
readers, climbers and EverestNews.com. In the last two months,
with the Everest season approaching, the readers and
the climbers have begun talking again. EverestNews.com
began to ask Everest climbers what we should do with
this “information”. Everyone seemed to believe last
week that this “information” should be published.
If became clear to us
that any secret was out, and that most climbers on
Everest in Spring 2001 would know this information.
Therefore, here is the “information”.
People
believe that in photos taken in spring 1999, two
bodies show up in some of the pictures taken of the gulley
area before Mallory’s body was covered with rocks.
It would seem logical that this second body could be
seen in photos taken after Mallory’s body was
covered, however, pictures with Mallory’s body seem
to give researchers (and others) a focal point to
start looking for Irvine’s body. EverestNews.com
does not own the copyrights to the photos.
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