One hundred years ago, two men set out to summit Mount Everest. Neither of them returned.
British explorers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine tried to be the first to reach the top of Everest, the world’s tallest mountain. In 1924, they began their climb and later disappeared on the mountain’s northeast ridge.
Mallory’s body was found in 1999. Irvine’s body has yet to be found.
Smithsonian Books’ newest release, Everest 24: New Views on the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition, focuses on this expedition and others, with rare and never-before-published images. The book examines the meanings and mysteries of Everest mountaineering, while telling the stories of the Indigenous Himalayans who help the many Everest explorers, who are often overlooked and overshadowed.
Everest 24’s foreword was written by Norbu Tenzing—son of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, along with Edmund Hillary, in 1953.
The featured photographs are part of the Royal Geographical Society’s collections and were taken by John Noel, the expedition’s official photographer and cinematographer; Bentley Beetham; and various other team members.
The photographs reveal more about the mountaineers behind these expeditions and the striking natural landscapes of the mountain itself.
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