The third British Everest expedition
On 8 June 1924, two figures climbed into cloud beneath Everest’s summit. One brief sighting and a century of evidence are all that remain.
North face from Rongbuk · Carsten.nebel · CC BY-SA 3.0
The north side
The expedition approached through Tibet, climbed the East Rongbuk Glacier to the North Col, then followed the North Ridge toward the three Steps.
Schematic only; positions and elevations are approximate. The 1924 route ran from the East Rongbuk Glacier to the North Col and northeast ridge.
Evidence ledger
Filter the record by what was written, witnessed, recovered, or inferred. Selecting an entry opens its evidence note.
The unresolved case
Odell first placed the pair at a prominent step high on the ridge. Whether this was the First, Second or Third Step changes the implied pace dramatically. His wording and identification evolved; the sighting remains real, its location contested.
The crux rises near 8,610 metres. Modern reconstructions show it was climbable in period clothing, but not whether Mallory and Irvine climbed it that day—or whether they bypassed it through the Norton Couloir.
Irvine probably carried a Kodak Vest Pocket camera. It has not been recovered. Mallory had promised to leave Ruth’s photograph on the summit; it was not among the effects found with him, but absence is not proof.
Mallory’s injuries and waist rope mark suggest a roped fall. His goggles were found in a pocket, often read as evidence of descent after dark, though they may simply have been spare or removed in cloud.
Responsible conclusion
The evidence supports a high, determined attempt and a fatal fall. It does not establish whether either climber stood on the summit. Hillary and Tenzing’s 1953 ascent remains the first confirmed ascent.
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