Chicago or Toronto, 1999, 1st US or Canadian edition. 224 pp, b/w photos. Hardcover with dust jacket. Fine.
The author was producer of the BBC documentary filmed on Everest during the Eric Simonson led expedition that discovered George Mallory's body. He blends history and his experiences, analyzing the evidence about whether Mallory summited before his death.
Hillary and Sherpa Tensing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Everest. Or were they? Twenty-nine years previously, George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Sandy Irvine died on their attempt on the summit. Many believe they were successful but perished on their return. This passionate debate has lasted nearly 75 years, and the truth can now be uncovered. Today, modern lightweight video cameras and specially tuned metal detectors make it a real possibility that the bodies of Mallory and Irvine will be found and with them, a unique photographic record.
They each carried a Kodak VPK camera, containing negative which could lay to rest the debate over who was first to reach the roof of the world. Beginning with Sikdhar and Hennessy, who are credited with identifying the worlds highest mountain in 1852, Lost on Everest explores the events which led up to Mallory and Irvines climb, traces the subsequent history of climbing on the mountain and concludes with the exciting story of the search for Mallory and Irvine's bodies and cameras.
