My hand trembles, my heart palpitates, my whole being swoons ... he's six foot high, with the body of an athlete by Praxiteles, and a face—oh incredible—the mystery of Botticelli, the refinement and delicacy of a Chinese print, the youth and piquancy of an unimaginable English boy."

[141][143] On 28 July 1918, Mallory, David Randall Pye, and Leslie Garnet Shadbolt,[144] climbing together, made a new route on the North Face of Sgùrr a' Mhadaidh on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, graded 5.5–5.6.

[168] Mallory's first rock climbing experience in England transpired during a nine-day excursion to the Lake District in September 1908 with Geoffrey Keynes, Harry Gibson, and Harold Porter.

[238][239] Mallory felt dissatisfied as a schoolmaster, devoting more attention to mountaineering issues, the direction of international politics, and the fundamental objectives of education, and pondering how he could find more time for writing.

"[247] Although grateful for the invitation, Mallory initially felt reluctant to accept it, knowing that his participation would mean a lengthy separation from his wife and young children, and he also expressed scepticism regarding the viability of the expedition.

[248][249] Geoffrey Winthrop Young visited him at the Holt, Godalming when he learned of his hesitance and swiftly persuaded him and Ruth not to disregard the opportunity, saying that it would be an incredible adventure and earn him reputable renown for prospects in future professions as an educator or writer.

[259][260][261] On 18 August at 3am, after an arduous two-month-long reconnaissance of Everest's northern and eastern approaches, Mallory, Guy Bullock, Henry Morshead, and a porter left their high camp at approximately 20,000 ft (6,096 m).

[322] Mallory's arithmetical computation estimated their vertical ascent rate at an unsatisfactory 400 ft (122 m) per hour, not including stops, from which it was apparent they would be climbing after nightfall, a risk they were unwilling to take, and decided that 2:30pm was their retreat time.

[359] The announcement that the Tibetan government had formally authorised the third expedition to Everest came on 16 October 1922 at a combined meeting of the Royal Geographical Society and Alpine Club at Central Hall, London.

[380][381] The next day, The New York Times ran a story under the headline, SAYS BRANDY AIDED MT EVEREST PARTY; A Swig 27,000 Feet Up 'Cheered Us All Up Wonderfully,' Mallory Tells Audience, which diverted its coverage of the tour into anti-prohibition propaganda.

[397] Mallory immersed himself in his new employment with zeal, assisted organising the Golden Jubilee of Cambridge Local Lectures in July, and helped arrange summer schools during the Long Vacation.

[401][402][403] On 6 November, after a medical examination by a physician recommended by the Everest Committee, Mallory was declared "fit in every respect," eliminating the last potential obstacle between him and participation in the expedition.

[436] At 1 pm, suffering from temporary visual impairment due to oxygen deficiency,[n 17] exhausted from his efforts, and knowing that from his location and the current time, he stood no chance of reaching the summit and returning safely, Norton retreated from where he had attained a new world altitude record of 28,126.0 ft (8,572.8 m).

The location of Odell's initial reported final sighting of Mallory and Irvine—before they disappeared into the clouds and was to become the last time the pair were seen alive—was at the top of the Second Step and determined by expedition member John de Vars Hazard using a theodolite to be at an elevation of 28,230 ft (8,603.5 m).

[468] Within one hour, he retreated, and at approximately 4 pm, as he re-attained Camp VI, the weather cleared; the entire North Face became bathed in sunshine, and the upper crags became observable, but there was no sign of Mallory or Irvine.

[476] After trudging for two hours with no sign of Mallory or Irvine, he ascertained that the likelihood of finding them was remote in the expanse of crags and slabs, and an extensive search towards the final pyramid necessitated a larger party.

[478][479][481] After being informed about the situation, expedition leader Norton ordered a response for Hazard on the North Col.[482] Richard Hingston positioned three lines of blankets arranged apart on the glacier a short distance beyond Camp III, conveying the message, "Abandon hope and come down.

[484][356][485] On 19 June, Arthur Robert Hinks, who was then in London, received a coded telegram that read, "Mallory Irvine Nove Remainder Alcedo," sent from expedition leader Edward Norton.

[487] On 17 October, a solemn memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral, was held in honour of the two climbers, at which the Right Reverend Henry Paget, Bishop of Chester, from whose diocese both men had come, delivered the sermon.

[488][489] The parents of both mountaineers, Ruth, relatives and close friends, members of the expeditions and Mount Everest Committee, the Alpine Club, Royal Geographical Society, and other explorers and scientists attended.

[492] On 30 May 1933, during the 1933 British Mount Everest expedition, Percy Wyn-Harris and Lawrence Wager commenced their summit attempt from Camp VI, at 27,490 ft (8,380.4 m), on the Yellow Band, below the Northeast Ridge.

[510][509] Smythe's sighting was unknown to the public until his son Tony revealed the information in his 2013 book, My Father, Frank: Unresting Spirit of Everest; the author discovered a copy of the letter in the back of a diary.

[515] He further surmised that as the exhausted Irvine descended, the "rather severe blizzard" described by Odell,[516] which lasted from approximately 2 to 4pm,[517] covered the mountain with snow, turned his descent into a deadly endeavour, and caused him to slip and fall to his death.

[521] He wrote that on 12 October 1979, as their reconnoitring party attempted to reach the North Col, an avalanche occurred that swept three Chinese including Wang Hongbao, into a crevasse, resulting in their deaths.

[521][524] Suzuki added that the first was possibly Maurice Wilson, questioned who the second he saw at 26,570 ft (8,100 m) was, and informed Holzel that Hongbao touched the latter's torn clothes, some of which the wind had blown away, and buried the corpse by placing snow on it.

[530] Their secondary objective was to search the area immediately above the Second Step, where they hoped to discover Mallory and Irvine's empty oxygen cylinders, proving they had reached that elevation and thus possibly gained the summit.

[562][555] Because the corpse had frozen into the surrounding scree, the mountaineers used their ice axes and pocketknives to excavate the site to find crucial artefacts and, most importantly, Somervell's Vest Pocket Kodak camera he "allegedly" lent Mallory for his attempt.

[585][588] In 1985, during full-monsoon conditions and without supplementary oxygen, Òscar Cadiach, climbing on lead, achieved the first successful free-climb of the Second Step, ascending the crux on belay with a sling tied to one of the rungs of the Chinese ladder.

[609][610] A stained-glass triptych window at St Wilfrid's Church, Mobberley, Cheshire, portraying three figures from English mythology, Saint George, King Arthur and Sir Galahad, also has two panels with inscriptions commemorating Mallory.

Everest, a proposed Hollywood version of the 1924 attempt, adapted from Jeffrey Archer's novel Paths of Glory, to be directed by Doug Liman, had Ewan McGregor slated to play Mallory.