Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering

  • 📰 CTVNationalNews
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 109 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 47%
  • Publisher: 51%

Canada Headlines News

Canada Latest News,Canada Headlines

George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.

Mountaineer George Mallory and Andrew Irvine were never seen alive again after attempting to climb Everest in 1924. George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s — until the mountain claimed his life.

Over the past 18 months, archivists scanned the documents in preparation for the centennial of Mallory’s disappearance. The college will display a selection of Mallory’s letters and possessions in the exhibit “George Mallory: Magdalene to the Mountain,” opening June 20. He went on to describe a harrowing brush with death during a recent climb, when the ground beneath his feet collapsed, leaving him suspended “half-blind & breathless,” his weight supported only by his ice axe wedged across a crevasse as he dangled over “a very unpleasant black hole.”

“There’s something in him that drove him,” Green said. “It might have been his wartime experience, or it might have just been the sort of person that he was.” “They are really personal. They are documents of his character. They provide unique insights into his life, and especially into the 1924 expedition — his state of mind, his accurate planning, his ambitions,” said Hemmleb, who was not involved in the scanning project. “It’s such a treasure that these are now digitized and available for everyone to read.

Mount Everest, the highest peak in the Himalayan mountain range, is also the tallest mountain on Earth, rising 29,035 feet above sea level on the border between Nepal and Tibet — an autonomous region in China. Its Tibetan name is Chomolungma, meaning “Goddess Mother of the World,” and its Nepali name is Sagarmatha, meaning “Goddess of the Sky.”

“ risked a lot despite the fact that he had a family back home and three small children,” Hemmleb said. “We don’t know whether it was really irresponsible to make that final attempt, because we don’t really know what happened. It could be that in the end, he simply had bad luck.” “I had a conversation with one of Edward Norton’s sons a couple of years ago,” Hemmleb said. “When I asked him, do you think it was mere luck that your father survived and Mallory died? He said, ‘No, I think there was one difference: My father, Edward Norton, didn’t need the mountain.’”“That is something I personally learned from Mallory,” he said. “You need to be very careful not to make yourself dependent on that summit success.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 82. in CA

Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Prince George Citizen acquires Hell Yeah Prince GeorgePrince George Citizen owners Cameron Stolz and Terresa Randall-Stolz have purchased Hell Yeah Prince George to further their pro-Prince George mandate.
Source: PGCitizen - 🏆 65. / 51 Read more »

Fredericton investment advisor climbing Mount Everest to raise $100K for Heart & Stroke FoundationExplore stories from Atlantic Canada.
Source: SaltWire Network - 🏆 45. / 63 Read more »

China reopens Mount Everest access to foreignersFor the first time since the pandemic, China is allowing foreign climbers to access Mount Everest via Tibet.
Source: CTVNews - 🏆 1. / 99 Read more »

India inspects spice makers MDH, Everest over alleged contaminationExplore stories from Atlantic Canada.
Source: SaltWire Network - 🏆 45. / 63 Read more »

Home prices expected to climb 4.9% in 2024 as sales rise last month: CREAThe Canadian Real Estate Association says it's now expecting the national average home price to climb 4.9 per cent on an annual basis to $710,468, more than double the hike it had predicted at the start of 2024.
Source: PGCitizen - 🏆 65. / 51 Read more »

Home prices expected to climb 4.9% in 2024 as sales rise last month: CREAThe Canadian Real Estate Association says it's now expecting the national average home price to climb 4.9 per cent on an annual basis to $710,468, more than double the hike it had predicted at the start of 2024.
Source: BurnabyNOW_News - 🏆 14. / 77 Read more »