George Mallory

British

18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924

Known for:

  • Serving the British Army in the First World War
  • Being the first person to make the first ascent of the world's highest mountain, Everest in which his team achieved a record altitude of 26,980 ft (8,225 m) without supplemental oxygen
  • A very athletic persona plus a mathematics prodigy at his youth
  • Ascended Pillar Rock in the English Lake District, with no assistance, by what is now known as "Mallory's Route"— considered to be amongst the hardest routes Britain for many years, graded Severe 5a (American).
  • A remarkable member of the 1924 British Mt. Everest Expedition who at this point remains talked on whether he summited the mountain before the accident losing his life.

Notable climbs:

  • Everest, 8848m; reached 8225m (rumoured to have summited) before missing and death, body recovered in 1999
  • Mont Vélan, 3727m; returned shortly due to altitude sickness
  • Mont Blanc, 4808m

During the 1924 expedition, Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, disappeared on the northeast ridge of Everest. The pair were last seen when they were about 800 vertical feet (245 m) from the summit. Mallory's ultimate fate was unknown for 75 years until his body was discovered on 1 May 1999 by an expedition that had set out to search for the climbers' remains. Whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit before they died remains a subject of speculation and continuing research.

Till this date, testified by Edmund Hillary, Mallory is considered as one of the pioneers of modern mountaineering and a great academician.

Picture Credit: dailymail.co.uk