Mystery Revealed

The British launched three expeditions to Mount Everest in the 1920s, hoping to be the first to the summit. On the final push of the 1924 expedition, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine went missing. No one knows whether they reached the top, a feat that, if proved, would rewrite climbing history. Mallory’s body was located in 1999, but Irvine’s fate remained unknown. A 2024 National Geographic expedition located a boot on one of the extensive glaciers surrounding Everest that belonged to the missing adventurer.

Mt. Everest

29,032 ft

8,849 m

Mallory and Irvine’s

planned route to the summit

Third Step

British expedition routes

(1921, 1922, and 1924)

Mallory and Irvine

likely last seen

28,126 ft

8,573 m

Second Step

First

Step

Oxygen tank found (1999)

28,126 ft

8,573 m

Norton and

Somervell (1924)

Ax found

(1933)

Mitten found

(2001)

Norton and

Somervell (1924)

27,300 ft

8,320 m

Mallory’s likely fall

27,300 ft

8,320 m

Final Sighting

Mallory and Irvine were last seen by teammate Noel Odell climbing one of the clifflike “steps”—

many believe the First Step—along the

Northeast Ridge.

Mallory’s likely fall

Odell’s

vantage point

1924 Camp VI

Odell’s

vantage point

1924 Camp VI

Mallory’s body found, 1999

26,700 ft

8,138 m

Finch and Bruce

First use of supplemental oxygen

(1922)

Finch and Bruce

First use of supplemental oxygen

(1922)

NORTH FACE

1924 Camp V

1924 Camp V

Mt. Everest

29,032 ft

8,849 m

Scale varies in these perspectives. The distance from Changtse’s summit to Mount Everest’s summit is 2.5 miles.

VIEW SHOWN

ABOVE

POINT OF VIEW

NORTH

Changtse

24,897 ft

7,583 m

Rongbuk

Glacier

FACE

Expedition high point (1921)

1924 Camp IV

7 Sherpas killed

in an avalanche (1922)

Soren Walljasper and Matthew W. Chwastyk, NGM Staff. Photo: Renan Ozturk.

Sources: Conrad Anker and David Roberts, The Lost Explorer; Jochen Hemmleb; Ed Webster

Mystery Revealed

The British launched three expeditions to Mount Everest in the 1920s, hoping to be the first to the summit. On the final push of the 1924 expedition, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine went missing. No one knows whether they reached the top, a feat that, if proved, would rewrite climbing history. Mallory’s body was located in 1999, but Irvine’s fate remained unknown. A 2024 National Geographic expedition located a boot on one of the extensive glaciers surrounding Everest that belonged to the missing adventurer.

British expedition routes

(1921, 1922, and 1924)

Mallory and Irvine’s planned route

to the summit

Mt. Everest

29,032 ft

8,849 m

Mallory

and Irvine

likely last seen

Ax found

(1933)

Mitten found

(2001)

Camp VI

Oxygen tank found

(1999)

Odell’s

vantage point

Camp VI

Mallory’s body found, 1999

26,700 ft

8,138 m

Odell’s

vantage point

NORTH FACE

Camp V

Camp V

Mt. Everest

29,032 ft

8,849 m

VIEW SHOWN

ABOVE

POINT

OF VIEW

Rongbuk

Glacier

NORTH

Changtse

24,897 ft

7,583 m

FACE

Camp IV

Scale varies in these perspectives. The distance from Changtse’s summit to Mount Everest’s summit is 2.5 miles.

Soren Walljasper and Matthew W. Chwastyk, NGM Staff. Photo: Renan Ozturk.

Sources: Conrad Anker and David Roberts, The Lost Explorer; Jochen Hemmleb;

Ed Webster