| Detectives on Everest: The 2001 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition |  | Authors: Eric Simonson, Jochen Hemmleb, Dave Hahn
Publisher: Mountaineers Books (E)
Category: Book
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 6008407
ISBN: 0898869145
EAN: 9780898869149
ASIN: 0898869145
Publication Date: August 2002
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Book Description
When the research team led by Eric Simonson found George Mallory's body high on Everest in 1999, the news made headlines around the world-and ignited intense debate. One question, at least, remained unanswered: What happened to Mallory's partner, Andrew Irvine? In 2001, Simonson's team returned in search of answers among the high camps on Everest's north side. Detectives on Everest is the story of this second expedition, and what it found, including new archeological findings from the early British and Chinese climbs on Everest. It is also the story of an exciting rescue, one that led the climbers to make some important discoveries about their own values. As Dave Hahn , Andy Politz, Tap Richards, and Jason Tanguay, accompanied by Phu Nuru and Fu Dorji, were preparing for their own summit attempt, they discovered that five climbers from two other expeditions were in dire straits on the mountain . Abandoning their ascent plans, the team pulled off one of the highest, most technically difficult rescues in history even as other climbers passed them by, refusing to help. Although the rescue effectively ended the expedition, it renewed the team's respect for the mountain and its history. It also earned four of the team members and two of the sherpas the David A. Sowles Memorial Award, which the American Alpine Club bestows upon "mountaineers who have distinguished themselves, with unselfish devotion at personal risk or sacrifice of a major objective, in going to the assistance of fellow climbers imperiled in the mountains." But the story does not end there. Surprisingly, the most tantalizing clue to the mystery of Mallory and Irvine was uncovered not on the mountain-but in Beijing. Shortly after the expedition ended, Hemmleb and Simonson traveled to China to interview climbers from the 1960 and 1975 Chinese expeditions. What they were told might hold the key for future detectives on Everest.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 A wonderful journey!! June 11, 2008
I knew very little about the story of Mallory and Irvine and thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. When I finished reading, I was instantly hungry for more and embarked on a journey to learn more about the fascinating history of Everest and explorers from past eras. In today's commercial society it's hard to imagine explorers like Mallory and Irvine entering uncharted territory. Their story really sparks your imagination!
The photographs of artifacts and history of past expeditions were captivating and the book was well written in an easy engaging style.
The side story of a dramatic rescue was also very interesting considering today's controversial commercial climate on the mountain. A wonderful read!
The Latest on the Fate of Mallory and Irvine April 2, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Detectives on Everest" is unusual in the mountaineering literature associated with Everest in that it is not about pioneering some new route up the world's highest mountain. Instead, it is the expedition account of the 2001 return to Mount Everest by the team of historical detectives that found George Mallory's body in 1999.
The expedition did not succeed in its primary purpose, to locate the remains of Andrew Irvine, perhaps with a camera and recoverable images that might settle the question of whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit of Everest in 1924. The expedition did search the Northeast Ridge of Everest, in the process locating many of the old high camps from British and Chinese expeditions and thereby clarifying some history. Sections on Mallory's climbing history in Britain and a superb collection of photographs, descriptions of artifacts, and a history of attempts on Everest via the Northeast Ridge provide some valuable context for the discussion of whether or not Mallory and Irvine were technically capable of reaching the summit of Everest in 1924. The bottom line here remains a question mark.
The most significant relevation may be an interview with the survivors of the 1960 Chinese Expedition, who used the Northeast Ridge and who may have found Irvine's body near one of their high camps. This interview leaves open the possibility that a future search might again locate Irvine's body.
A final section, in which expedition members diverted from a summit attempt to rescue several climbers in trouble on the Northeast Ridge, talks to both the ruthless ethics of climbing in the "death zone" at and above 28,000 feet and the wonder that earlier expeditions with far less equipment and technical expertise got as high as they did.
This book is recommended to fans of the continuing mystery of Mallory and Irvine, and to readers interested in the history of expeditions on Mount Everest.
 To the reader April 14, 2004
0 out of 41 found this review helpful
Dear reader,
Could you really believe that mountaineers climbing at 29000 fts. during nightime and on unknown terrain without torchlighs are able to reach the summitt of Everest? The point is this and, please, don't try to make me believe that Chineses' accurate report of terrain is genuine, because aerial surveys and photos were made in 1960 too and, moreover, mountaineers could have reached a point between the second step and the summit, but to summit in pitch dark seems too much even for the more optimistic.I'm astounded by the accuracy and by the affection that you, reader, seem to feel for Hemmleb's account: have I reached someone near Jochen or Eric? Maybe I'm not expert in history, but geography tells that South Tirol, that is Alto Adige is within the boundary of Italy, keep an atlas at hand and you'll see that this is not a nation represented at the United Nations Organization and that on Messner's passport it's stamped "Italy"... There are many people in Italy who wants the entire northern part of the Country separated from the rest of us: Would you call an Everest ascent from a Milanese an ascent of Padanian Country? Let me tell you that these particularisms in a time of a united Europe sounds a little parochially-minded and anti-historic. But, I was forgetting... Hemmleb is from Germany, so he is sensible to other German speaking people...
Careful research, careless readers April 14, 2004
13 out of 16 found this review helpful
Giancarlo Passarini's review (see below) shows an undercurrent problem certain readers seem to have with the research Hemmleb et al. have done. Passarini doesn't like the possibility that the Chinese climbed Everest in 1960, so he attacks the author and suspects that statements approving of the Chinese claim were a "trade-off" for the information Hemmleb and Simonson received about Irvine. Nonsense! Passarini ignores that "Detectives" is very careful in its analysis of the 1960 Chinese expedition, including qualifying comments such as "Here is the story as the three (Chinese) later put it on record" (p. 156) or "Of the terrain (between the Second Step and the summit) the Chinese could provide only verbal descriptions" (p. 157) - all a far cry from flatly stating "the Chinese did it", as Passarini thinks the book has done. If careful, distinguished research is treated this way, the fault doesn't lie with the author but with the reader. (As for the issue of "South Tyrol", a more impartial view of its history and semi-autonomous status is advisable, but is beyond the scope of this review)
Marking Time While Finding History December 1, 2002
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
This is a most significant book which fills in much of the detail about the early British expeditions to the North Face of Mount Everest. Yes, the 2001 climb failed to locate Irving's body and with it the missing cameras which may determine for once and all whether or not Mallory and Irvine did reach the summit in June of 1924. But the 2001 Expedition did uncover the several of the camps used by these early climbs and Hemmleb recounts how this makes our understanding of these early expeditions much more complete than it previously was. For instance, Hemmleb describes how it can now be determined that Mallory did not relocate his high camp, a point of great interest to and debate among Everest scholars for decades. And, what is most crucial in this book is Hemmleb's description of the patient and persistent work with veterans of the earlier Chinese climbs which has made the future location of Irvine's remains much more likely -- including a revelation that the Chinese had located Irvine's body not just in 1975 but also in 1960. Jochen Hemmleb is to be congratulated for his clear and concise writing, his brilliant scholarship, and the dogged devotion which keeps bringing him back to uncover ever more secrets, however reluctantly surrendered, on the 1921, 1922, and 1924 British expeditons. And this book, in short, is a necessary read for all with even a peripheral interest in the history of Mount Everest and of these early expeditions. Bravo, Jochen!
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