Prologue
When George Mallory was asked “Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?“, he responded with “Because its there.” These words have become the three most famous words in mountaineering. It has inspired many to reach for the stars and climb these giants around the world.
The first recorded attempt to climb Mount Everest was by the British in the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition, of which George Mallory was part of. Their attempt failed and they only reached about 8,321 meters above sea-level. 2 years later, Mallory would return to the mountain in the 1924 British Mount Everest Expedition. This expedition would lead to the greatest mountaineering mystery in history: did George Mallory and Andrew Irvine summit Mount Everest? After being missing for over 70 years, an expedition finally found the mummified remains of the legendary climber at the foot of the Northeast Ridge.
It wouldn’t be until 29 years later that the first recorded summit took place when Kiwi Edmund Hillary and Nepali-Indian Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached the summit on 29 May 1953. News of the discovery of Mallory’s body in 1999 was greeted with enthusiasm by Sir Edmund, despite its implications for his record-breaking claim. He said it would be ‘very appropriate’ if Mallory had reached the summit first, adding: ‘He was really the initial pioneer of the whole idea of climbing Mount Everest.’
To fill the quintet is Rob Hall from Adventures Consultants, the man who changed modern Everest forever. He started leading expeditions up and down the mountain and many followed his example from all around the world. These men are Stevo’s heroes. They are the reason for his attempt at Everest. Ever since he was a child, he loved the outdoors and climbing things. At 10, he climbed Table Mountain, Mont-Aux-Source as well as Thabana Ntlenyana, the highest mountain in Southern Africa. His goal was to one day climb the 7 Summits, the highest mountain on each of the 7 continents. If he was still motivated after reaching the 7 Summits, he would aim for the 7 Second Summits and the 7 Third Summits, the second and third highest mountain on each continent. At 11 he climbed his first of the 7 Summits, Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa. At age 12, he climbed Elbrus, Europe. At 13 he climbed Puncak Jaya, Australasia. At 14 he climbed Aconcagua, South America. At 15 he climbed Denali, North America. At age 17 he wanted to climb Everest, the highest of the 7 with Vinson, Antarctica being his last. It was finally time to climb Mount Everest as he had worked is body hard for 2 years to finally conquer the beast. But he knew, no matter who you are or how much experience you have, nothing can prepare you for Everest, as the last word always belonged to Sagarmāthā.
