“It” being the summit of Everest. Odell claimed so.
This may be more of an IMHO than a GD.
As I have mentioned before, I pushed to name our twins Hillary and Mallory, but lost, with one being my juniorette and the other being named after a squirrel.
No, Lisa. Oldest named all male squirrels “Tickle” and the female ones “Lisa.” No idea why. No idea how she told them apart. But being from Frostbite Falls, MN, I was tempted, except Bullwinkle is a boy name.
I think there is good but not unquestionable proof that they summited. I believe an expedition is trying to get money together to find Irvine’s body and the infamous Kodak camera.
Most likely not, IMO. Based on the relative skill of the climbers, the difficulties above their last sightings on their route, and the location of the bodies where they were found, they probably fell on the way up. They just weren’t equipped to tackle the challenges remaining. But we may never have definitive proof.
Sure, they were wearing natural fibers, whose qualities are overrated, but they were only a couple hundred meters from the summit. They got that far, why not the rest of the way?
It has nothing to do with the natural fibers. It was the difficult technical climbing that remained above them (the Second Step) and the fact that they had limited oxygen - not enough for both to summit. Their bodies were found very far apart, meaning either they separated or one fell a long way. I trust the analysis of David Breashears who believes they just didn’t have the time, the oxygen, or the skills to make the summit.
Those couple of 100 meters are a HUGE obstacle, not comparable to the same elevation at sea level.
Possible reasons: the weather, the lack of oxygen, the difficulty of the climbing.
It’s inherently difficult to prove they didn’t make the summit. Even if the camera is found and shown to contain photos but none from the summit, it will be possible to argue that they made it, but for some reason didn’t/couldn’t use the camera.
I reckon we may find conclusive proof that they did but are highly unlikely to get conclusive proof they didn’t. Anyway…life needs a mystery or two.
I do find the history of mountaineering enthralling and this thread gives me a chance to link to fascinating program that I saw last year. All about the north face of the Eiger, Interesting and heartbreaking stuff.
Called “The Eiger: Wall of Death” apart from the rather melodramatic title it is the classic BBC sober appraisal of the men involved and their various attempts over the last century. As you might guess from the title, not all were a rousing success. Well worth watching.
For what it’s worth, this biographer thinks that on balance, they probably didn’t make it to the top.
She’s Irvine’s great-niece and I went to a talk she gave a few years ago about her book (some years after it was published, iirc) and she was asked specifically what she thought.
I think you’re right. I was confusing my memories with the sighting by the Chinese climber of a body up high which could only have been Mallory or Irvine. Assuming that was Irvine, they ended up quite a distance apart. But that sighting hasn’t been confirmed.
If you haven’t already, you should see North Face, a German film based on one of the first attempts at Eiger. Not to spoil it for you, but it’s not one of the successful ones.