It's very much possible that Mallory reached the summit and died on descent. His wife's photo was not found with him and his goggles were in his pocket clearly indicating that he was descending in the dark. There is no way Mallory would have turned around just because it was getting late. He had lost many men in the expeditions, Everest was still unclimbed, it was his last chance and most importantly he was so close. He had four compelling reasons to go for the summit no matter what. Conrad Anker has also shown that the second step could have been climbed without the ladder. I believe that Mallory reached the summit and died that night in the dark. I do not agree with Hilary that descending is more important. Standing on the summit of Everest before anyone else did definitely means a lot.

I find Mallory story better than Hillary

Give todays climbers a tweed thorn proof, cotton shirt and vest and see how far thay get. When it gets really cold Mallory might put on some woolly mittens and a wind sheet. It's insane. These guys were seriously hard men...their diet must have been amazing??

If Mallory had had todays equipment, he would have run up there

Just thinking .. regarding the missing pic of his wife... some say he may have taken it out to look at it before he died and it blew away. But does the evidence not suggest that he had a horrific fall , gashed legs and gash to the skull? If this is the case then I doubt he would be in a position to gently take out the pic... in that case the only explanation would be that he left it at summit .... In my heart of hearts I believed Mallory reached it .

It’s interesting seeing a documentary before they had found Mallory.

I have immense respect for these men. They were pioneers; explorers in the truest sense of the word. The same cannot be said for today’s tourists who like to call themselves “climbers”

Hearing Odell and Noel speak for the first time was extraordinary. Legendary men!

This is so interesting. I will always believe they did summit.

The last great generation of man.. the facts that the pictures of his wife an the flag he carried to place on the top of the world were not found on his body leads me to think perhaps they had achieved the summit

Mallory and Irvine have been my heroes for almost 70 years l think a little before Tenzing and Hillary reached the peak when I read an article about their heroic climb. That article aroused in me an interest in the mountains and nothing that has happened during the last 30 years can take away even an iota of the love l have for these brave hearts. I have some other Everest heroes too --- Major Harsh Bahuguna, his brother Major Jai Bahuguna, Major Kiran lnder Kumar --- and some others who lost their lives while heroically trying to climb the peak but no one, nothing can take the place Mallory and Irvine have in my heart.

Mallory and Irvine are legend of Everest....their soul still there

I've never seen actual video footage of George Mallory... great documentary!

I think part of the reason he was fearless was because he didn’t really care whether he lived or died. He had fought in WW1 and saw things that you can’t forget. It’s enough to make you lose faith in humanity. Realistically he probably knew he wasn’t going to make it before he left with the equipment they had in 1920s and people still die. He was very strong and tough and it’s amazing he got up that far.

What a very brave man Odell was, he selflessly climbed at great risk to himself to try and save his friiends.

Irvine was 22 and had almost no mountaneering experience. The bravery

Mr. Odell, what a lovely man. Would have been wonderful to sit and listen to his many stories! 🧐

Love these two men. They both lived in my home town, too.

Those are true exploring mountaineers. Much respect for them. Rip Mallory and Irvine

I love the quality of that WIDEWORLD intro. It sends me back to childhood when I had re-wound my VHS' so much that they all got super scuffed. Big nostalgia, and thank you for uploading this! Amazing story.