A Mountain of Interest

In assessing the whirlwind of fascination for Mt. Everest following a 1996 climbing tragedy, bookseller Michael Chessler pondered the long-term impact of “Into Thin Air,” the eyewitness account of the disaster by Jon Krakauer. “If history is a guide,” Chessler wrote in the American Alpine Journal, “the public will forget about climbing until another tragedy occurs.”

Barely had his article reached print last May when an American expedition discovered the body of British climber George Leigh Mallory at the 27,000-foot level on Everest--not a new tragedy certainly but the partial solution to a mystery that has tantalized the world for 75 years. Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared as they climbed toward the summit of the world on June 8, 1924. What happened? Did they reach the top?

The 1999 expedition led by Eric Simonson provided no definitive answers, but it set off a vigorous new wave of media and public interest in Mt. Everest in particular and mountaineering in general.

Now, the mystery is explored in three new, authoritative books: “Ghosts of Everest; the Search for Mallory and Irvine” by Simonson and two colleagues; “Last Climb: the Legendary Everest Expeditions of Mallory and Irvine,” by David Breashears and Audrey Salkeld, and “The Lost Explorer: Finding Mallory on Mount Everest,” by David Roberts and Conrad Anker, who found Mallory’s body.

The verdict? Simonson argues that the two may well have reached the summit and fallen during the descent. Anker and Breashears, who has attained Everest’s summit four times, say it’s unlikely they reached the top. All the experts, however, came away with heightened respect for the climbers of that day--ascending into unknown territory with heavy, rudimentary gear and woolen tweeds rather than today’s Space Age climbing suits.

Perhaps interest in Mt. Everest will fade with the latest news, but the search will continue for Irvine’s body and the climbers’ camera, which could provide conclusive evidence. For now, “Into Thin Air” continues as a bestseller in two hardback editions, paperback and audiotape. Many climbing classics are being republished, and climbing books have moved from obscure corners to the fronts of book stores.

Everest continues to make news on its own. Last month, the National Geographic Society and the Boston Museum of Science disclosed that the height of the world’s highest peak has been recalibrated with satellite precision. The summit now is listed at 29,035 feet, seven feet higher than what has been marked on maps since 1954. What cannot be measured is Everest’s apparently endless allure for mountaineers and those who climb with them from the safety of their armchairs.

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Atop Everest

Currently measured height: 29,035 feet.

First ascent: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, May 29, 1953.

First American: Jim Whittaker, May 1, 1963.

Total ascents: 1.,052 as of March 1999

Deaths: 161

First ascent without artificial oxygen:

Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler, 1978.

First solo ascent: Reinhold Messner, 1980

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Source: Climbing Magazine