The legendary Mount Everest climbing expedition of British climber George Mallory and his climbing partner Sandy Irvine has been shrouded in mystery. The climbers were last spotted in June 1924 a few hundred yards from the summit before a snowstorm closed in and obscured their fate forever.
Since world-class mountaineer Conrad Anker found Mallory's body in 1999 on the north, Tibetan, side of the mountain, he has always wondered whether the two reached the top, as well as questioned the entire fateful expedition.
In partnership with AOL, Altitude Everest Expedition 2007 is an expedition and documentary film project investigating the last journey of Mallory and Irvine.
The expedition team includes Anker and Sun Valley resident Gerry Moffatt, a world-class kayaker and an expedition guide for Altitude Everest Expedition 2007. The film's producer, Anthony Geffen, also a Sun Valley resident, is making his first Everest climb. Geffen is the founder of Atlantic Productions, which is documenting Altitude Everest Expedition 2007 as a film and online at www.ueverest.com.
On Thursday, June 14, the team plans to summit Mount Everest in a free climb—not roped together—which is believed to be Mallory and Irvine's attempted method of ascent.
The project recreates the brutal conditions of Mount Everest that may have existed in June 1924, when Mallory and Irvine made the climb at the start of monsoon season. It attempts to piece together the last hours of their lives as they attempted to be the first climbers in history to summit the mountain.
"The expedition is going well," Moffatt said by satellite phone Saturday from advanced base camp 6,400 meters above sea level. "There are problems with people getting ill, but that is to be expected."
With Internet access, the entire world can follow the expedition on its Web site, where images, diary logs and information reveal the triumphs and defeats of the climb.
"There is a lot of film in the can and when we get home to make the film we will integrate everything we are doing," Geffen said. "We have been out here for 60 days. We leave at 6 a.m. (Thursday) to finish the climb. We are the last expedition on the mountain. Everyone else has been cleared out because we are on the heels of monsoon season so there is a very small window of opportunity."
Moffatt said he trained for the climb with twice-per-day hikes of Bald Mountain.
"I came out to Nepal with Conrad, and we did the south side of the mountain and then met the team in Katmandu and drove out to Lhasa (Tibet)," he said. "It is one thing to climb Everest—it is quite another to film it on the summit."
Both Geffen and Moffatt said they feel part of an incredible piece of history retracing and following in the footsteps of the pioneers of Mount Everest.
"I've never done Everest before," Geffen said. "I would have to say it is tough and both extreme and fascinating at the same time."
The expedition Web site predicts good conditions for the climbers for their Thursday climb and reports on their preparations for the ascent.
"We are the only ones left," Moffatt said. "It's quite unusual and eerie, but very exciting."
Photo courtesy of Altitude Films
Prayer flags fly over Mount Everest Advanced Base Camp, at 6,400 meters above sea level, on June 10, 2007.
