Shelly's Book Journal

In 1999 the Irvine/Mallory expedistion (including a camera crew from the BBC) headed to Mt. Everest to retrace the step of Andrew Irvine and George Mallory on their summit expedition from June 8, 1924. Mallory and Irvine were reportedly spotted from camp at 12:50 PM that day, not far from the summit. That was the last time anyone would see them. They disappeared into legend. But the question remains, did they make the summit?The team takes the reader down the road from the conception of the idea to search for them. The summit attempt went from the less traversed North side of Everest (Chinese) and in the subsequent years, far fewer climbers have taken this route. Although some of the previous Chinese expeditions had mentioned seeing "English" bodies and artifacts here. Irvine's climbing ice hammer had been discovered. Nothing conclusive have been put together and neither Irvine or Mallory's body had been definitively identified. This team hoped to search near a location where these "English" bodies had been reportedly sighted (in the 1960s) and then summit to determine if they in fact could have made it from this side with the climbing technology at the time and what could have possibly happened from there.In the first day Mallory's body is discovered. The team later makes a summit successfully and then returns down. They also find an oxygen canister from the 1924 expedition. Artifacts from Mallory's body along with information garnished from their climb - and details and notes from the expedition help the team put together their conclusions.Fascinating read. This book had lots of pictures in it - including some of Mallory's body. It really is a great story. I'm curious to see what the BBC did with it, and might even get a hold of the DVD.Recommend this book for those who love stories of adventure in the great outdoors and history. This book is not overly detailed so it will appeal to anyone who loves those topics.