Indeed, given the #9 cylinder’s known capacity, pressure and the flow rates that were available, Mallory and Irvine probably reached the base of the First Rock Step between 9 am and 10 am with perhaps Irvine carrying three cylinders and one or both 6 lb sleeping bags, for a total load of 30-36 lbs and Mallory taking just two cylinders of 16 lbs and perhaps his sleeping bag of 6 lbs for a load of 22 lbs at most. The discovery of the #9 cylinder is important as it indicates their route and their rate of progress. Additionally, oxygen cylinder #9 was just one of five cylinders whose pressures were likely measured by Irvine and subsequently listed on the outside of an envelope from a letter that Mallory carried on his person. and the base of the First Step at 8500 m/27,890 ft’ as ascertained by the peerless Everest researcher Jochen Hemmleb, whose ground-breaking research was instrumental in locating Mallory’s remains. It’s known that oxygen cylinder #9 was located in 1999 on a 200 meter section on the North East Ridge at ‘between the exit from the Yellow Band (just southwest of the twin rock towers) at 8440 m/27,690 ft. Fortunately, there is one clear indication of their progress obtained when Noel Odell saw Mallory and Irvine ascending the Second Rock Step at 12.50 pm and from which we can deduce their climb rate, derived from their known oxygen supply and usage rate as a function of time and thus distance. However, there is no clear indication as to what time they departed Camp VI for the summit but its known that no pre-war British expedition ever managed to depart before sunrise.įor the 8th of June, sunrise was estimated at 4.45 am and calculating their ascent rate and timeline is approximate at best. We can reasonably surmise that Mallory and Irvine planned an early start. In terms of analysing George Mallory and Andrew Irvine’s summit attempt and working out what happened to Irvine and indeed his final resting place, it’s important to identify the salient factors relevant to their effort.
This is the third and final in a three-part series.
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