The purpose of Conrad Anker's investigation was to determine whether George Mallory and his team reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1924, making them the first climbers to do so. This is supported by the article, which discusses Anker's efforts to resolve the long-standing debate regarding Mallory's ascent and whether he reached the summit before Edmund Hillary.
In Mallory's Footsteps
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Did Mallory Make It?
LHASA, China. Who was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest? Was it George Mallory or Edmund Hillary? An American climber led an expedition up Everest, the world's highest peak. He was hoping to resolve the debate.
In June 2007, Conrad Anker and his team retraced the 1924 climb of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine. The climb took place on the northern side of the mountain in China. The two Englishmen were last seen about 900 feet (275 meters) from the summit. It would have taken them only a few more hours to reach the top. Witnesses spotted the men from below as swirling mists closed in. After that, no one ever saw them again.
Twenty-nine years later, New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepalese guide Tenzing Norgay successfully scaled the mountain. They reached the top on May 29, 1953. The two men received credit as the first to reach the summit. Through the years, however, many mountaineers have suggested that Mallory and Irvine reached the peak of Everest but died on the way down. Anker wanted to find out what really happened.
In 1999, Conrad Anker discovered the body of George Mallory. This was 75 years after Mallory had disappeared. He was trying to reach the top of Mount Everest. Take a look at a photo of Mount Everest. It shows the route Mallory took in 1924 (marked in green) and where Mallory's body was discovered (marked as +1).
Anker's search actually began with a similar expedition in 1999. He became fascinated with what he found on that climb-and with what he did not find. Anker and his team discovered Mallory's remains high on the mountain. They also found goggles, a pocketknife, and a piece of rope. In addition, they found handwritten letters addressed to Mallory. They did not find a camera that experts believe Mallory was carrying. Something else was missing, too. Mallory's daughter said that her father carried a photograph of his wife with him. He had intended to leave the photo at the summit. Yet, the picture was not found with Mallory's remains. This means that Mallory might have reached the summit, where he would have left the photograph. However, no one who has reached the summit has found the photo.
Did Mallory make it to the summit? After the 1999 expedition, Anker's team seemed to be divided.
"The two could not have made it to the summit due to the length of time they were gone and [degree] of difficulty [of the climb]," Anker said. Another team member, Andy Politz, disagreed. Politz said, "I still think they made it to the top." If Mallory did make it to the top, then it was he, not Edmund Hillary, who first reached the summit.
The 2007 climb gave Anker another chance to settle this debate. The team outlined its goals for the expedition on a Web site.
"The 2007 expedition team will investigate Mallory and Irvine's last journey in forensic detail, test the [strength] of their clothing and equipment in the unforgiving conditions of Everest, and piece together eyewitness accounts-all to reconstruct Mallory and Irvine's final...hours."
Anker and his team set out from their base camp on June 10, 2007. They reached the peak on June 14. The climbers sent movies of their trek to their Web site, but they did not immediately say what they had learned. They were saving that for a 2008 documentary.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Question 1
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Think about the article "Did Mallory Make It?" What was the purpose of Conrad Anker's investigation?
To determine whether it would be possible to climb all the way to the summit of Mount Everest using the exact same clothing and equipment that George Mallory used
To recover a photograph of George Mallory's wife that hikers had reportedly spotted on Mount Everest
To determine whether George Mallory and his team reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1924, making them the first climbers to do so
To find a more direct route to the summit of Mount Everest than the one that George Mallory and his team had attempted to take
1 answer