Seattle, The Mountaineers, 1999, 1st edition. 208 pp, 30 color, 20 b/w photos. Larger hardcover with dust jacket. Fine.
The inside story of the 1999 expedition that discovered the body of George Mallory, who disappeared with Andrew Irvine on Mt Everest in 1924.
History is in the making on Mount Everest. As this is written in May 1999, a climbing expedition is unraveling mountaineering's greatest mystery -- the fate of the 1924 Mallory/Irvine expedition. Ghosts of Everest is the inside story of the 1999 Everest expedition, by team leader Eric Simonson, team historian Jochen Hemmleb, and expedition coordinator Larry Johnson, plus contributions from art of the team members.
Set against the backdrop of the 1924 expedition and historical clues from subsequent expeditions, Ghosts of Everest brings to life the events surrounding the ill-fated Mallory/Irvine climb, while following the Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition team as it retraces the route up the North Col and makes a discovery that rocks the world - George Mallory's body at 27,000 feet.
Ghosts of Everest is a riveting recounting of a story that is capturing the world's attention, three-quarters of a century after the mystery began. What happened to Everest climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine on June 8, 1924, the day they set out on their summit bid only to disappear without any evidence of their fate or possible achievement? Were these two brave pioneers, whose determination has inspired generations of climbers, the first to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain, 29 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? How did they perish? Seventy-five years later, do we now have the answers?
From early preparations to the day-by-day, blow-by-blow events of both expeditions, the narrative weaves through time bringing together past and present to create a seamless adventure narrative that captures the voices and the action asit unfolds on the mountain. This modern-day drama of discovery is coupled both with a sense of grand exploration and the lurking danger these climbers face at high altitude in treacherous conditions.
Meticulously researched and with new evidence and artifacts found on the mountain, this narrative promises to shed a revealing light on the seventy-five-year-old Mallory/Irvine mystery and two of the greatest heroes of our time.
