The University of Cambridge publishes the correspondence between Everest pioneer George Mallory and his wife Ruth. Mallory wanted to be the first to conquer the highest peak in 1924 – and died.
Before the three Himalayan expeditions and the First World War, George Mallory climbed primarily in Switzerland and France.
Alamy
Despair spreads across the base camp of Mount Everest on May 27, 1924. The weather had been bad in the previous days, and some members of the British Mount Everest expedition narrowly escaped a snowstorm in the high camp at 7,000 meters.
George Mallory, the most famous mountaineer of this time, sits in a canvas tent 5,500 meters above sea level. He wears several layers of clothing made of silk and sheep’s wool. Mallory, 38 years old, writes a letter to his wife Ruth. It will be his last.
Mallory is a Cambridge University alumnus who studied history at Magdalene College and then worked as a teacher at a private school. This week, his alma mater published the correspondence between Mallory and his wife in digital form. The collection includes, among other things, letters from the front; Mallory fought in the Battle of the Somme in the First World War. Also included are messages from the three Himalayan expeditions that Mallory was part of after the war.
George Mallory in a photograph from 1920.
Kemsley/Getty
Ruth Mallory, née Turner, was worried in May 1924 – as she was every time when her husband was traveling in the Himalayas and she was staying behind in England with their three children. He promised her that he would try to climb Mount Everest for the last time and make his lifelong dream come true. On March 3, 1924, Ruth Mallory wrote to George, who was on the ship voyage to India: “I know that I have often been angry and not nice, and I am very sorry for that, but the reason was almost always that I was unhappy about having so little of you.”
These lines hint at the foreboding that the Everest adventure could go wrong. Archivist Katy Green from Magdalene College also sees it that way. She told British media: “We know he is going to die. If you read the correspondence, you keep thinking: ‘Oh, George, don’t go.'” Ruth Mallory’s letters also provide a rare insight into the world of English women in the 1920s.
Part of this world for the Mallory family is that money is tight. This is because the climbers on the first Everest expeditions are responsible for their own equipment and do not receive any wages. You also have to pay for the loss of income. The British uphold the amateur statute. Ruth Mallory writes to her husband that the account is overdrawn by £935. Based on today’s purchasing power, that corresponds to more than 57,000 pounds. The banker recommends selling shares, writes Ruth Mallory.
In 1922, George Mallory (seen on the right in the picture on the left) attempted to climb Mount Everest from the Tibetan side for the first time. An exploratory expedition took place the year before.
For the British, Everest is a matter of national honor
The climbing attempts are organized by the Mount Everest Committee, which is made up of members of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club. The fact that the British are the first to climb the highest mountain in the world is a question of national honor – in the race for the South Pole, the Norwegians, in the person of Roald Amundsen, trumped them. It is this meaning, among other things, that motivates Mallory to move to the Himalayas for a third time. But perhaps feelings of guilt are also responsible for his return.
The expedition two years earlier was canceled after seven Sherpas died in an avalanche. Mallory wrote: “The consequences of my mistake are terrible.” There was no obligation he wanted to fulfill more than caring for these men. «They are like children when it comes to the dangers in the mountains and they do so much for us; and now seven of them have been killed through my fault.” He did not share his dark thoughts with the media. When asked by the New York Times why he wanted to go to this mountain, Mallory replied laconically: “Because it’s there.”
The second Mount Everest expedition in 1922 ends in disaster – seven Sherpas die in an avalanche.
Imago
Mallory and his colleagues attempt the climb from the Tibetan side; The Kingdom of Nepal is closed to foreigners. This still applies during the last expedition in 1924. On the north side of Everest, Mallory reported bad weather and snowfall on May 16th from Camp II at an altitude of 5,900 meters. But he also writes: “You will be pleased that I survived this bad time unscathed and in excellent physical condition.”
Mallory has less flattering words for some of his friends. He writes: “The performance of (Noel) Odell and (John de Vere) Hazard on the day they were supposed to scout the North Col was certainly disappointing. And (Bentley) Beetham hasn’t found his form yet. None of the three have shown that they have any real guts.” However, he considers himself to be the strongest of all expedition members. “Of all of them, I am the one most likely to make it to the summit.”
Mallory agrees to the Mount Everest Committee’s conditions for participation in the expedition.
Screenshot Magdalene College
Mallory reports coughing fits that can “rip your guts out.”
Two weeks later, the confidence has evaporated. The last letter, dated May 27, 1924, begins: “My dear girl, it was a very bad time.” Mallory writes: “I look back on tremendous effort, exhaustion, and gloomily staring out a tent door at a world of snow and fading hopes.”
They reached the North Col at 7,000 meters and set up camp there. But a night at this altitude pushes Mallory to her physical limits. He has been suffering from a persistent cough for a few days now. “It was hell in the high camp. I couldn’t sleep, but was plagued by coughing fits that can rip your intestines out.”
Mallory no longer seems to believe in the summit success; the chances are “50 to 1 against us”. He hopes that the monsoon will give him another chance. When the summer monsoon sets in with heavy rainfall on Everest, the climbing season ends, and that is still the case today. Mallory writes: “We will climb the day after tomorrow – six days to the summit from this camp.”
And then: “The candle is burning out, I have to end.” Mallory also writes: “Darling, I wish you the best I can – that your fear is over before you get this – with the best news.”
A few days later, Mallory sets off for the summit with Andrew Irvine. The companions wait in vain for her return. Mallory died on June 8th or 9th, 1924, and his body was not found until 1999, around 600 meters below the summit. His comrade Irvine is still missing.
George Mallory’s last letter to his wife Ruth – written in Camp I of the British Everest Expedition at 5,500 meters above sea level.
Screenshot Magdalene College
Whether the two reached Mount Everest remained the subject of heated debate for decades. Irvine’s ice ax is found on the summit ridge at 8500 meters in 1933. The speculation about a summit success is fueled by the fact that a picture of his wife Ruth was missing from Mallory’s body. He had promised her that he would leave the photo behind at the summit. However, experts now assume that the two did not make it to the top.
When Ruth Mallory receives the last letter, her husband is already dead. The last line is: “Forever your lover, George.”
The entire correspondence can be found on the website of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge.