Translator’s Note: I have read, with considerable interest, the muddled stories in the West regarding Chinese mountaineers finding the remains of George Mallory – who went missing seductively near to the peak of Mount Everest on June 8th, 1924. As I write in 2024, it is now over 100-years since George Mallory and Andrew Irvine went missing on the 3rd (and final) attempt of the 1924 British Expedition to conquer the peak (with news breaking that the body of Andrew Irvine has been re-discovered – with its location being kept secret – for now – with no camera yet being found). These British imperialist efforts are essential middle-class affairs – as those who participate possess the wealth and leisure not to be tied-down to a pointless, and poorly paid dead-end job. Being intrigued by George Mallory’s glorious efforts – I recently have read the book entitled “Fallen – George Mallory, The Man, the Myth and the 1924 Everest Tragedy” by Mick Conefrey. I find myself acting with repugnance at the blatant Eurocentric bias and racism with regard to China and its Tibetan region. I also find myself laughing at the disinformation.
A post-1945 Japan (a US colony) is encouraged by their American pay-masters to continuously “lie” and “disinform” about China – Just where Conefrey is finding his “Chinese” stories from eludes me. I suspect Conefrey is a victim of Japanese lies about China and things “Chinese”. Whatever the case, I have checked Chinese language sources and have discovered that NO recorded Chinese climber found Mallory in 1975 (?) as asserted by Conefrey (he repeats the story doing the rounds within English-language sources that one “Wang Hongbao” found Mallory. I have found a 1975 Chinese climber named “Wang Fuzhou” [王富洲] but with no mention of him finding Mallory) – but a very real Chinese mountaineer did report that he had discovered a Western (possibly “English”) body on the North-East face of Everest in 1960 – one “Xu Jingzeng” (许竞曾). A typical Chinese-language encyclopaedia entry for this climber states:
“Xu Jingzeng, a senior Chinese mountaineer, claimed that he had seen Irvine’s body above 8,300 metres in 1960. Mallory’s family firmly believed that he had indeed reached the summit, because Mallory had said before his death that he would leave a photograph of his wife on Mount Everest if he reached the summit. As no photograph of his wife was found within his well-preserved clothes, so it can be inferred that he had left the photo on the summit.”
I translate the following article below – which combines the legitimate Chinese story of the first discovery of the dead body of Andrew Irvine – separate and distinct from the discovery of Geoorge Mallory’s body by the 1999 (BBC-funded) US Everest Expedition. ACW (24.12.2024)
George Mallory’s name is somewhat unfamiliar to the general public in China, and his answer to the question – “Why climb Mount Everest?” – “Because it is there!” – may well be more famous than him! People in China know the quote – but not being “British” have little interest in the climber himself. After-all, Chinese climbers have traversed up and down Mount Everest many times.
On June 8th, 1924, Mallory and his partner – Andrew Irvine – were last seen 800 feet (about 244 metres) from the summit, when the clouds rolled-in and obscured their figures. The two never appeared again.
In May 1999, American mountaineer – Conrad Anker – organized a search on Mount Everest. He found George Mallory’s body at an altitude of 8,170 metres below the summit.
The above 6-minute video features the moment of discovery.
After carefully examining the body and relics, Conrad had a significant question-did Mallory and Irvine climb Mount Everest in 1924?
The documentary “The Wildest Dream: Conquering Everest” attempts to answer this century-old mystery. Conrad launched an unprecedented attempt to climb Mount Everest. He and his partner – Leo – tried to climb with bare hands using the equipment from 1924, without the help of the Chinese ladder on the second step, to see if they could climb this natural barrier.
The film does not give a conclusion.
There is still a chance. The camera they carried with them at the time was not found. Perhaps Irvine’s body will be found one day, which may solve this century-old mystery.
I saw an article on the Internet reporting that Chinese mountaineer Xu Jingzeng once said that he had seen Irvine’s body at 8,300 meters on Mount Everest in 1960. Yesterday, a netizen commented in my previous article that the documentary about the Chinese climbing Mount Everest in 1960 mentioned that they found the bodies of foreign climbers during the climb.
In 1960, the Chinese completed the first ascent of Mount Everest from the north slope. Before that, there were only a few climbing records, including Mallory in 1921 and 1924. It is indeed possible that they found Irvine’s remains, but no one paid attention to these things at the time, and they were lost in history again.
Chinese Language Text:
https://overseas.weibo.com/detail/4830028472522030
发现乔治·马洛里遗体的那一刻
对于大众来说，乔治·马洛里的名字有些陌生，那句“为什么要登珠峰？因为它就在那里”的问答，可能比他本人还要出名。
1924年6月8日，马洛里和搭档欧文最后被人们看见，是在距离顶峰800英尺(约244米)的位置，然后云雾卷积过来，笼罩了他们的身影。两人再未出现。
1999年5月，美国登山家康拉德·安柯(Conrad Anker)组织了一次珠峰搜寻活动，在偏离常规路线的地方，海拔8170米位置处，他找寻到了乔治·马洛里的遗体。
下面这段6分钟的视频是当时发现的一刻。
在仔细检查遗体和遗物之后，康拉德产生一个巨大的疑问——1924年，马洛里和欧文是否登顶过珠峰？
纪录片《最狂野的梦想：征服珠峰》试图解答这个世纪疑云，康拉德为此发起一次史无前例的珠峰攀登尝试，他和搭档里奥尝试以1924年的装备，以徒手攀登、不借助第二台阶上的中国梯子，看看能否攀越这段天堑？
影片最后并未给出定论。
还有一个机会。当时他俩随身携带的相机未被发现，或许在欧文身上，有朝一日找到欧文的遗体，也许能解开这段世纪疑云。
看到网络上有文章报道，中国登山家许竞曾表示，1960年他在珠峰8300米处曾见过欧文遗体。昨日有网友在我的上一篇文章里评论，1960年中国人攀登珠峰的纪录片里有提到，他们在攀登过程中发现外国登山者遗体。
1960年中国人从珠峰北坡完成首登，在此之前的攀登记录屈指可数，其中就包括马洛里在1921年和1924年这两次。确实有可能他们发现的是欧文的遗体，不过当时没人关注这些事情，又重新湮没于历史。
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 