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I’ve always envisioned Mallory and Irvine rushing to the summit with light nailed boots, no oxygen and tweed jackets, dammit! Armed with only their insane coura

by Jun8 2y ago

I’ve always envisioned Mallory and Irvine rushing to the summit with light nailed boots, no oxygen and tweed jackets, dammit! Armed with only their insane courage. Turns out he had a gabardine jacket fortified with wool and silk: https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_2007_files/AJ%202007%20243-246%20Hoyland%20Clothing.pdf https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_2007_file.... But still … mad respect. Speaking of insane courage, Henry Worsley, should be mentioned: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/12/the-white-darkness https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/12/the-white-dark.... His final photo on the plane to a Chilean hospital is haunting. For the Mallories of the future there are so many options to continue the tradition: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_mountains_in_the_Solar_System https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_mountains_in...

rob74 2y ago
An article posted here a few days ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40611058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40611058) wasn't so charitable. The Wikipedia article on the expedition also hints that sending these two specific people to climb Mt. Everest was pretty irresponsible: > The question of which mountaineers would comprise the climbing party was no easy one. As a consequence of World War I, there was a lack of a whole generation of strong young men. George Mallory was again part of the mission, along with Howard Somervell, Edward "Teddy" Norton and Geoffrey Bruce. George Ingle Finch, who had gained the record height in 1922, was proposed as a member but eventually was not included. The committee's reasons included that he was divorced and that he had accepted money for lectures. The influential Secretary of the committee, Arthur Hinks, made it clear that for an Australian to be first on Everest was not acceptable; the British wanted the climb to be an example of British spirit to lift morale. Mallory refused to climb again without Finch, but changed his mind after being personally persuaded by the British royal family at Hinks's request. [...] Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, an engineering student whom Odell knew from an expedition to Spitsbergen, was a so-called "experiment" for the team and a test for "young blood" on the slopes of Mount Everest. So Irvine was very inexperienced, and Mallory's absent-mindedness also didn't bide well for their chances of coming back alive. However, the article also directly contradicts the Wikipedia page (Wikipedia states that Mallory initially refused to go without Finch, while the article writes that "he would not think of joining the new expedition if Finch was going" - so make of it what you will...
- ziggy_star 2y ago
  You will find that on occasion grown men throw caution to the wind and consciously take seemingly unnecessary irresponsible risks for personal glory and the greater good. As a consequence of World War I, there was a lack of a whole generation of strong young men. The British wanted the climb to be an example of British spirit to lift morale. God bless, reading this only makes me think of these heroes even more charitably. Such irresponsible people are once again desperately needed. If you'd like this sentiment expressed in a less somber manner Shatner got you covered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ
  - rob74 2y ago
    I think that in cases like this the line between heroism and foolishness is very thin (and also subjective). Ok, these guys can probably be considered heroes. But how about the three Swedes that set out to reach the North Pole in a balloon that one of them hoped would be able to not only reach the Pole, but carry them past it to an inhabited place (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9e%27s_Arctic_balloon_expedition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9e%27s_Arctic_balloon... - it later turned out that the balloon failed after only four days, followed by several grueling months of trying to trek back to civilization using the completely inadequate equipment that the balloon was able to carry, only to die, probably by being eaten by polar bears, on an uninhabited polar island)? Or that more recent guy who tried to dive to the Titanic using a largely untested submersible, which eventually killed himself and his four paying passengers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_submersible_implosion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_submersible_implosion)?
    - ziggy_star 2y ago
      These are examples of foolhardy people who miscalculated risks. But at the same time these are also examples of people who were solely motivated by selfish reasons. There is a romance to it if you squint but it is not the same. The mountaineers knew the odds are long and did it anyway for a cause greater than themselves. That is what makes them heroic.

by Jun8 2y ago

rob74 2y ago

An article posted here a few days ago (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40611058 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40611058) wasn't so charitable. The Wikipedia article on the expedition also hints that sending these two specific people to climb Mt. Everest was pretty irresponsible: > The question of which mountaineers would comprise the climbing party was no easy one. As a consequence of World War I, there was a lack of a whole generation of strong young men. George Mallory was again part of the mission, along with Howard Somervell, Edward "Teddy" Norton and Geoffrey Bruce. George Ingle Finch, who had gained the record height in 1922, was proposed as a member but eventually was not included. The committee's reasons included that he was divorced and that he had accepted money for lectures. The influential Secretary of the committee, Arthur Hinks, made it clear that for an Australian to be first on Everest was not acceptable; the British wanted the climb to be an example of British spirit to lift morale. Mallory refused to climb again without Finch, but changed his mind after being personally persuaded by the British royal family at Hinks's request. [...] Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, an engineering student whom Odell knew from an expedition to Spitsbergen, was a so-called "experiment" for the team and a test for "young blood" on the slopes of Mount Everest. So Irvine was very inexperienced, and Mallory's absent-mindedness also didn't bide well for their chances of coming back alive. However, the article also directly contradicts the Wikipedia page (Wikipedia states that Mallory initially refused to go without Finch, while the article writes that "he would not think of joining the new expedition if Finch was going" - so make of it what you will...

ziggy_star 2y ago
You will find that on occasion grown men throw caution to the wind and consciously take seemingly unnecessary irresponsible risks for personal glory and the greater good. As a consequence of World War I, there was a lack of a whole generation of strong young men. The British wanted the climb to be an example of British spirit to lift morale. God bless, reading this only makes me think of these heroes even more charitably. Such irresponsible people are once again desperately needed. If you'd like this sentiment expressed in a less somber manner Shatner got you covered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU2ftCitvyQ
- rob74 2y ago
  I think that in cases like this the line between heroism and foolishness is very thin (and also subjective). Ok, these guys can probably be considered heroes. But how about the three Swedes that set out to reach the North Pole in a balloon that one of them hoped would be able to not only reach the Pole, but carry them past it to an inhabited place (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9e%27s_Arctic_balloon_expedition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9e%27s_Arctic_balloon... - it later turned out that the balloon failed after only four days, followed by several grueling months of trying to trek back to civilization using the completely inadequate equipment that the balloon was able to carry, only to die, probably by being eaten by polar bears, on an uninhabited polar island)? Or that more recent guy who tried to dive to the Titanic using a largely untested submersible, which eventually killed himself and his four paying passengers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_submersible_implosion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_submersible_implosion)?
  - ziggy_star 2y ago
    These are examples of foolhardy people who miscalculated risks. But at the same time these are also examples of people who were solely motivated by selfish reasons. There is a romance to it if you squint but it is not the same. The mountaineers knew the odds are long and did it anyway for a cause greater than themselves. That is what makes them heroic.