The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest, By Mark MacKenzie
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.On 8 June 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine went missing on Mount Everest, within striking distance of the top. In 1999, American climber Conrad Anker came across Mallory's body, preserved in the ice, but the mystery remained tantalisingly intact: had the mountaineer reached the peak before he died?
Eight years later, Anker returned to Everest, retracing Mallory and Irvine's route in an effort to determine whether they could have gained the summit without modern climbing equipment.
It's a fascinating story, and Mark MacKenzie tells it well, getting to the root of Mallory's obsession with the mountain. If the Boy's Own accounts of dashing climbers' heroic battles with the elements are a little too reverential, then MacKenzie provides the necessary corrective in a chapter describing the anguish of loved ones left behind; Mallory's correspondence with his worry-stricken wife gives us a sense of the human cost of his ultimately tragic attempt to conquer what he called "the infernal mountain".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments