Mallory’s Poignant Final Letters Shed Light on Everest Obsession
Nearly 100 years after his tragic disappearance on Mount Everest, the last letters written by legendary British mountaineer George Mallory have been digitized and made public for the first time by his alma mater, Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge.
The extensive collection, which spans from Mallory‘s engagement to his wife Ruth in 1914 until his death in 1924, provides an intimate glimpse into the hopes, fears and all-consuming passion that drove pioneering climbers to risk everything in pursuit of the world’s highest peak.
In his final letter to Ruth before his fateful 1924 Everest expedition, Mallory acknowledged the immense challenges that lay ahead.
“It is 50 to 1 against us but we’ll have a whack yet & do ourselves proud,” he wrote, adding, “Great love to you. Ever your loving, George.”
This would be the last time Ruth heard from her husband, as Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine vanished just 800 feet below the summit on June 8, 1924. Their disappearance has fueled nearly a century of speculation about whether they reached the top before meeting their demise.
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The letters reveal the conflicting beauty and devastation wrought by the allure of Everest and other unclimbed peaks in the early 20th century.
While Mallory waxed poetic about the sublime landscapes and unparalleled adventure, he also grappled with the immense risks and the toll his absences took on his family.
“I know I have rather often been cross and not nice, and I am very sorry, but the bottom reason has nearly always been because I was unhappy at getting so little of you,” Ruth lamented in a March 1924 letter as Mallory embarked on his third Everest attempt.
Mallory‘s zeal for climbing was unquenchable, even after the deaths of seven Sherpas in an avalanche during the 1922 expedition.
He was driven by the romantic ideals of the age and a desire for glory, embodied in his famous quip about wanting to climb Everest “because it’s there.
But the digitized letters also paint a picture of a devoted husband and father who struggled to balance his love of family with his obsession for mountaineering.
The publication of Mallory’s letters sheds new light on the human side of early Everest expeditions, which have long been steeped in mythical romanticism.
They serve as a poignant reminder of the heavy price paid by families left behind when climbers lost their lives chasing lofty goals in the world’s highest mountains.
As the centenary of Mallory’s disappearance approaches, his words offer a haunting glimpse into the eternal pull of Everest and the sacrifices made in pursuit of its summit.
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