The Everest Discrepancy

Contents:
0:00 First!
0:56 Everest
5:40 1922
7:15 1924
14:44 The Summit Question
20:10 Finding George Mallory
23:04 Theories
28:10 The Human Frontier

References and Further Reading:

[infinitemausoleum]

What's interesting is that Everest is still growing, by a few centimeters a year. It's the result of an entire tectonic plate being forced up. The first person to climb everest may have done it first, but the last person to climb it will have climbed the highest.

[BoodooYou]

I “love” how the sherpas always get overlooked as if they’re not doing the same thing, or as if they’re just animals that are carrying supplies.

[Robutube]

Cards on the table - I would love that Mallory and Irving DID summit. However, Edmund Hilary put it well when he said (I paraphrase) "Surely a key attribute of a successful summit attempt is to return alive".

[Draggo_]

Mallory after condeming 7 people to death: "I have made a severe, and continuous, lapse in my judgement, "

[freedfg]

The 20s were fucking wild. People literally were like "what should I wear to climb a mountain that you can literally not breath at the top and is perpetually snowed over?" A sports jacket and oxfords. Don't forget your tie.

[gamerfreak]

Dude, George Mallory II climbed Everest and walked past his own dead grandpa's frozen body without even knowing it, shit.

[celtickiwi]

I knew Ed personally, I asked him "if Mallory was the first to climb Everest" how would you feel?. He said "if he was the first, I would be happy for history to be re-writen".

[KarlRock]

Thanks for the interesting story! The Sherpas definitely deserve the credit too.

[rex-]

7:54
Mallory: "Oxygen is a necessity to reach the summit"
Also Mallory: smoking a fat cigar immediately before attempting to climb the mountain

[asdfreii]

When I was a teenager in the early 2000s I provided care services for an elderly man who was a Mallory theorist. He was around 12 when Mallory’s final ascent happened. He had all sorts of information on Mallory, and it was fascinating. But he always said “Mallory may have reached the summit first, but Hillary was the first to reach the summit and return, so he deserves the accolades”. He was clear that his obsession with Mallory was because he saw something inspirational and tragic in Mallory’s own obsession with summiting Everest, not to take away from Hillary.

[shoto]

As a person who’s summited two mountains(I.e. Kings mountain and an attempt on St. Hellens) that summit fever is no joke. There were times while climbing where my entire thought process was on that single point. When I was trying to summit St. Hellens suffering from Oxygen sickness and blisters all over my feet from the shoes that weren’t properly fitted to my feet, I still wanted to get to the top more than anything. It was only until I was falling over several times and struggling to get off my knees about 2, 000 feet from the summit when my guide pulled me aside and asked if I thought I was well enough to this. I almost answered yes in spite of my current problems and my drive to get to the top but begrudgingly answered no(not towards my guide but towards my inability to summit the mountain). So glad I did though, and plan to summit that mountain someday.

I know this isn’t nearly what the guys on Everest are dealing with but thought I would put into perspective how alluring the top of a mountain can be and how I sorta understand what was going through Mallory’s head when wanting get to the top.

[joejeanes]

Respect to Edward
Norton for being able to return from Everest and continuing his acting career

[Huggbees]

Haven't watched it yet, but I've got a good feeling you'll be talking a lot about trash and corpses, Everest's main imports.

[WobblesandBean]

It's astounding to me that climbing this thing means you are literally in a race against your own death.

[Emily-exps]

The fact that Irvine had the camera in the end is enough proof for me. I’d put money on the idea that Mallory handed it to him at the summit and told him to take a picture to document Mallory’s successful summit. The proof is with Irvine, wherever he is.

[stoptfg]

There's only one event I can think of that would've compelled Mallory to stop and give Irvine the camera.

[microsoftpain]

I think it's absolutely crazy that Mallory's body was finally discovered after being missing for 75 years.

[MapleMilk]

Mallory and Irving's last sighting being for a few minutes as the clouds were parting is kinda beautiful in a way
I kinda want the evidence to point to them reaching the summit

[semibreve]

It would've been sick to see Emp cover a bit more the incredible and vital contribution that the Sherpas brought to these attempts. They were every bit as amazing humans as the climbers who hired them, yet often throughout history they're literally thought of as tools.

[jwil]

Another interesting tidbit: Mt. Rainier, which is often seen as a preparation mountain for people who wish to climb Everest, was actually first summitted right after the American Civil War by veterans of that same war, similar to how George Mallory was a WWI veteran.