16 October 2024
By Tim Koch
Tim Koch sees Everest giving up one of its secrets.
The Wikipedia entry on the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition notes:
At the beginning of the 20th century, the British participated in contests to be the first to reach the North and South Poles, without success. A desire to restore national prestige led to scrutiny and discussion of the possibility of “conquering the third pole” – making the first ascent of the highest mountain on Earth.
In one of the great unsolved stories of mountain climbing, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, part of the 1924 expedition to be the first to reach the top of Mount Everest (8,850 metres / 29,035 feet) were last seen alive on 8 June 1924 at 7,680 metres / 25,200 feet.
If they had succeeded in reaching the highest point on Earth, it would have been twenty-nine years before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay officially conquered Everest in 1953. The unanswered question remains: did Mallory and Irvine perish before or after they reached the summit?
Mallory’s remains were located in 1999, less than 600 metres from the top, and offered two clues. His snow goggles were in his pocket, suggesting that he died in the evening as the pair had been descending from the peak. Further, Mallory had planned to leave a photograph of his wife on the summit and this picture was not found on him.
The discovery of Irvine’s remains could be the first step to finding the rest of his body and the camera that he had on him. If the camera film could be recovered and developed, it could provide the only definite proof that the two succeeded in their goal before their tragic death.
The full story of the discovery is on the National Geographic website.
Sandy Irvine’s old Oxford college, Merton, has some excellent pieces on its website, including a biography, the 1924 Expedition timeline and a digitised version of his Everest diary.
HTBS Types may also be familiar with Irvine as an Oxford rowing Blue (though Mallory was also an oarsman, rowing in the 1st VIII of Magdalene College, Cambridge).
Born in 1902, Irvine attended Shrewsbury School and was selected for the First Eight in 1917 when he was only 15.
His most notable school win was the equivalent of the Ladies Plate at the Henley Peace Regatta of 1919, the Elsenham Cup For Schools and Colleges. With the 11 stone 7 pound, Irvine at “4”, Shrewsbury won three rounds and then met Bedford School in the final.
In an exciting race, Shrewsbury went ahead off the start but at the quarter mile the crews were level. Bedford were slightly up at the half mile but Shrewsbury drew up at Fawley. By the three-quarter mile, Bedford were a canvas up. Shrewsbury fought back and led by a third of a length at the mile. They rowed “in splendid form” from there and won by a length and a quarter.
Irvine rowed for Shrewsbury at Henley in the Ladies’ Plate races of 1920 and 1921 but was beaten in the second round in both years. In his final year, 1921, he was Captain of Boats.
Going up to Oxford in January 1922, Irvine rowed for his college, Merton, and was rapidly selected to row in the “2” seat in Oxford’s 1922 Boat Race Crew, despite having missed December’s Trial Eights. He had put on a stone in weight since 1919.
In a form of popular rowing journalism long past, in February 1922 The Times had this to say about Irvine in training:
He appears to be powerful for his age, and is evidently a hard worker, but he suffers from a fault which he shares with the majority of post-war Shrewsbury Eightsmen – namely, moving his body back and kicking his slide away before he gets his blade in the water. He is also inclined to be stiff and heavy-handed… but he is young and teachable, and there is no reason why he should not make a No. 2 capable of holding Mallam at bow.
The Official Boat Race Centenary History is harsh on the 1922 race:
…it was immediately evident to all that Cambridge were decidedly the better crew. They were soon clear at the Mile, two lengths ahead at Hammersmith and, rowing well within themselves, won comfortably by four-and-a-half lengths…
In 1923, Irvine moved from “2” to “3”. Oxford had a poor start but soon moved ahead and at the Mile Post had a quarter-length lead and extended this to three-quarters of a length at Hammersmith Bridge. Spurting soon after, Oxford began to draw clear. Cambridge fought back at Barnes Bridge but, even with the bend in their favour, could not move ahead, and lost by three-quarters of a length. In a dark period for the Dark Blues, it was their first win since 1913 and their last until 1937.
Irvine made two attempts at Henley with Merton College crews while at university but both ended in round one. In 1922, he was at “3” in a coxless four in the Visitors’. They lost to Jesus College, Cambridge, and fouled the piles just before the finish.
In 1923, Irvine stroked a pair in Henley’s Silver Goblets but lost by a length to a Pembroke College, Cambridge, boat stroked by three-times Blue David Collet who later won three Wingfield Sculls and a bronze in the singles at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.
Had he not gone on the Everest Expedition, Irvine would almost certainly have been selected for the 1924 Boat Race and would probably have been chosen as OUBC President. His final service to OUBC was to coach Trial Eights crews in the last three months of 1923.
In 2014, William O’Chee produced a two-part post on Irvine for HTBS titled From Oxford To Everest. A link to Part I is here and to Part II here. O’Chee concludes:
Whatever happened (on their final day), Mallory and Irvine probably climbed higher than any human beings before them. So close did they come to the Nepalese goddess of the sky, Sagarmatha, that they passed into legend like gods.