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17th out of 18 books
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14 voters
Ghosts of Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine
Did Mallory and Irvine reach Everest's summit 30 years before Hillary and Tenzing? Until now, clues about what happened to these two Everest pioneers had been scant and misleading. Until now, no one has known whether they reached the summit. Until now, no one has known where or how they perished.
This is a detective story of the first order. It is the story not just of M
...morePaperback, 208 pages
Published
September 1st 2001
by Mountaineers Books
(first published 1999)
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Really good companion to Dark Summit The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season and High Crimes CD The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed.
In 1924, two climbers, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, left on their third attempt to climb Everest. They were never seen again. A couple of blacks specks had been seen through a scope making their way toward the summit, but no confirmation was ever received or discovered that it had been reached.
This book describes the expedition that discovere...more
In 1924, two climbers, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, left on their third attempt to climb Everest. They were never seen again. A couple of blacks specks had been seen through a scope making their way toward the summit, but no confirmation was ever received or discovered that it had been reached.
This book describes the expedition that discovere...more
In 1924 two British climbers, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, died in an attempt to climb Mount Everest. Their bodies were not recovered and, as they were last seen just short of the peak (although facing seemingly impossible conditions), the question remained as to whether they had reached it, almost 30 years before the men credited with the first successful attempt (Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary).
This book tells the story of an expedition organised by Jochen Hemmleb, Larry A Johnson and...more
This book tells the story of an expedition organised by Jochen Hemmleb, Larry A Johnson and...more
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...more
The team takes the reader down the road from the conception of the idea...more
The subtitle of Ghosts of Everest, The Search for Mallory & Irvine, tells the subject of the book. It is the story of the 1999 expedition that discovered Mallory's body and began to unravel a mystery that has been plaguing mountaineers since the disappearance of Mallory and Irvine in 1924. Mallory and Irvine were last seen "going strong for the summit" on June 6, 1924. Mallory's body was discovered in a remarkably well-preserved condition by the 1999 expedition on May 1, 1999. The book was w...more
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I read this book as a companion to Jeffrey Archer's "Paths of Glory." One of the tasks in the book challenge I'm doing this spring is to read a fiction and a non-fiction book on the same subject. There are quite a few non-fiction books about George Mallory and the Everest expeditions in the 1920's. But, this was the only one my library had. It got off to a slow start with a lot of detail about the back-and-forth between various sponsors and interested parties in mounting the 1999 expedition, but...more
There’s a lot of logistics in this adventure. And a lot of reasons to dislike the BBC. And a lot of glowing descriptions of Mount Everest majesty. All that may be necessary, but none of it gets to the core: what happened to George Mallory and Andrew Irvine on Everest in 1924? How did they die, and did they make it to the summit? The authors put together an expedition in the late 1990s to find out. They’ve made some amazing discoveries, enough to make it worth sifting through all the background n...more
Did Mallory and Irvine reach Everest's summit 30 years before Hillary and Tenzing? Until now, clues about what happened to these two Everest pioneers had been scant and misleading. Until now, no one has known whether they reached the summit. Until now, no one has known where or how they perished.
This is a detective story of the first order. It is the story not just of Mallory and Irvine's last climb, but of the team of climbers and researchers who, together, found the body of perhaps Britain's...more
This is a detective story of the first order. It is the story not just of Mallory and Irvine's last climb, but of the team of climbers and researchers who, together, found the body of perhaps Britain's...more
Story of the successful attempt to find the bodies of Mallory and Irvine who died attempting to summit Everest in 1924. The mystery of what happened to them is compelling, and the finding of Mallory in 1999 shed some light on what happened although the mystery of whether they made it remains intact.
Takes a little time to get going with the story of the difficulties in getting the expedition together but it is gripping when they make the discovery and well told in it's summary of what seemed to h...more
Takes a little time to get going with the story of the difficulties in getting the expedition together but it is gripping when they make the discovery and well told in it's summary of what seemed to h...more
I happen to think climbing 8000 meter peaks is a foolhardy undertaking. I offer as proof this story which started with the death of two climbers attempting to be the first reach the summit of Mt Everest in 1924. Mallory and Irvine were last seen "climbing with alacrity" toward the peak...and were never seen or heard from again. Their fate was unknown, until a 1999 expedition was mounted to solve the mystery, find the climbers' bodies, and determine if they reached the summit. The 1999 expedition...more
Good follow up to "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer which I read for book group, this chronicles a team climbing the North side of Everest in search for clues about the 1924 expedition where Mallory and Irvine were lost. Interesting because they find Mallory's body and discover how he died, they also encounter other clues which give them reason to hypothesize whether he may have actually been the first to reach the summit of Everest. I would have liked the authors to spend more time on the mysteri...more
Wow...I can't image anyone wanting to do this (especially with the threat of death at pretty much every turn - and not just from the mountain herself, but also from your own body) but then again, seeing the pictures of both the mountains and the men (especially the early ones), I can totally understand the appeal. It must just take your breath away!
Each chapter starts off with the 1924 expedition, then goes to the 1999; I found both riviting, and the evidence to whether Mallory and Irvine made i...more
Each chapter starts off with the 1924 expedition, then goes to the 1999; I found both riviting, and the evidence to whether Mallory and Irvine made i...more
I've been kind of an Everest kick lately, I think partly because I can't believe that people actually want to climb this mountain after so many people have died here. This book was one of my favorites. It was a little slow in the beginning, but the action quickly picked up. The photographs in the book are really remarkable, and the story of the discovery of Mallory's body is compelling. Although we'll probably never know for sure whether Mallory and Irvine summited in 1924, the evidence that was...more
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I've had this book on my shelf for a while and idly picked it up on New Year's Day--and finished reading it within 24 hours. It's a very brisk, engaging account of the 1999 Everest expedition that located the long-lost body of pioneering mountaineer George Mallory, who disappeared along with Sandy Irvine during a 1924 summit attempt. If they succeeded (and some say they very well may have, although no one knows for sure), they would have been the first men to top the world's highest mountain, th...more
Mar 04, 2013
Monique
rated it
4 of 5 stars
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A very interesting book. I found the pictures of Mallory's body really shocking, but the fact that the team found him very moving. I would love to believe that he and Andrew Irvine were the first man on Mount Everest. It would be fantastic if one day the body of Irvine would also be found, because I think he's has the camera with all the pictures on it to prove that Mallory and he were the first ones on the top.
Wishing to change my literary diet, I've selected this book, as it at first glance shared some traits with superb 'Shadow Divers'. Topic is very similar, a historal and obscure mystery is finally being resolved. It's a good, fast read and the story in itself did grab my interest. At the same time, the book failed to transfer the grandiosity and immense difficulties of alpinistics on this very highest level.
I’m a sucker for adventure stories when it comes to the world’s highest peaks. This book details the 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition and their attempt to find substantive proof as to whether or not George Mallory and Andrew Irvine reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1924. The most fascinating part of the story is the discovery of George Mallory’s body. I really enjoyed this book and the many theories proffered within.
Outstanding coffee table book about the team that retraced Mallory's ill-fated Everest attempt in 1924. They, in fact, discovered his frozen body on the slope remarkably intact. They found new clues and lay out four different possible time-lines for Mallory and Irving's last day. Great photos of the 1999 and the 1924 expeditions!
This book is fascinating. I LOVED how it parallels the two expeditions- the 1924 English Expedition and the 1994 search! I also loved how each member of the team (except the BBC, evidently) truly contributes to the search - from going to verify viewpoints to going to verify a free climb up the second step. The pictures were stunning, the maps and landmarks very educational! The book is a wonderfully fascinating tale, woven very skillfully by Bill Nothdurft from the expedition records and journal...more
This was my first Everest book and I enjoyed it immensely. As I had no idea who Mallory or Irvine were, I found it highly informative. The image that will stay with me forever is George Mallory's body in the snow.
Good book about climbing Everest and searching for Mallory's body. Probably would have enjoyed it more but I listened to the audiobook and the reader kind of sucked.
I really enjoyed this book! The test of people's endurance and tenacity on Everest always fasinates me.
The best thing about this book was that the photo's give you a real feeling for the terrain of the mountain.
A must read if you are intrigued by Everest as I am.
Feb 07, 2013
Sumir Narasimhan
added it
I couldn't keep the book down till I finished it.
This book is so interesting... and so tragic.
Love to read about these daring adventurers.
Amazing story and the photos are unbelievable.
A bit slow. Decent history.
A great story but badly told. I mainly skipped over the tedious account of the modern-day expedition and read the bits about the 1924 expedition during which Mallory and Irvine were lost.
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