My Life-Changing Experience on Everest: Discovering Mallory with Andy Politz #everest #himalayas

the question that I'm asked most about looking  into the face of George Mallory is what was it   like did you take a picture amazing right I'm  the only person alive to have ever looked into   the face of George Lee Mallory it's an amazing  experience and I still can't believe it it's an   experience that I don't take lightly but if you'll  indulge me I'd like to take some time to speak   with my climbing partner that day Andy politz who  was with me at the site but first if you want to   always have the inside scoop on the mystery of  Mallory and Irvin and any stories related to it   be sure that you click subscribe and you comment  and like on this video tell me how you feel about   it did you do it I hope you did and for my members  at 99 cents a month I occasionally send out emails   and newsletters with special inside information  that only members can see think about it click   the button that says join below this video after  the discovery of George Mallory at nearly 20   seven thousand feet or eighty two hundred meters  on the first of May 1999. we all descended back   down to base camp for an extended rest and a huge  party to celebrate the discovery we rested and   then soon we made a plan and that was to go back  up on or about May 12th where we would take some   time two of us would look for Sandy Irvin and  the other four would go on to the second step   and try for the summit we departed for Camp five  and we immediately realized there was way too much   snow to do a new search for Sandy Irvin so the  decision was made for two of us to return to the   site of George Mallory when the other four would  head up to the second step and toward the summit   as it would turn out a gigantic Himalayan storm  comes in pinning us down for three days in the   death zone it was almost impossible just to stand  up outside of your tent so we waited we knew if   the storm went a little bit too long we'd have to  descend and end the Expedition on May 16th the day   dawned absolutely brilliant clear not a breath of  wind in the air so the six of us went up to Camp   six Andy politz and I dropped a oxygen bottle a  rope and some other equipment for the summit team   and then from there we descended down to the site  where George Lee Mallory lay not unlike on the day   of the discovery when Andy and I went to visit the  site of George Lee Mallory on May 16th we revealed   new clues of the fate of Mallory and Irvin among  them the discovery of the watch here's Andy politz   from his home in Washington state on May 16th the  dawn of that day it was brilliantly beautiful we   all went up to Camp six you and I dropped an  oxygen full oxygen bottle a rope some gear and   that high camp you put the batteries in the metal  detector and we he went down to the Mallory site   by going Way Out West from Camp six not that far  and zigzagging down and if you could pick it up   from there I remember you looking at me going well  I'll be damned I can't find George Mallory you I   don't know if that would be that's that's pretty  much in keeping with my typical navigation skills   he's a boat builder people uh you know my goal  was to go up there are we sure the camera hadn't   just fallen out yeah so the idea with metal  detector was to sweep the area sweep up high   down and did it you know look I walked down from  where I was searching when we found him that day   I walked straight down to George Mallory um  I don't know if I deviated more than 50 feet   and so I I walked down his fall line he fell out  of and I'm pretty sure he fell out of this Gully   I was going up into hmm and uh you know I may  have fallen out of it too if Conrad hadn't called   and and turned me around and when he discovered  Mallory so 27 000 feet approximately would you say   yellow band yeah Steve Gully he's a real slabby  Rock would have been very difficult to down climb   and I'd probably have fallen out of it too but how  Mallory fell that's a whole nother discussion so yeah I mean it was your first seat trip to  George Mallory and you know I wanted to just   allow you the full impact of that um because  that's something that's a life experience   yeah we had the metal detector with us  so we were able to do more searching   um uh you worked the metal detector  and I essentially looked under   George Mallory and that's when I found the watch  I remember there was a he had a like a leather   helmet on and he had a clasp underneath it and  I kind of tried to undo it and I couldn't do it   and I decided to leave that why would I do that  now thinking and having seen the trauma over his   left eye I wonder if maybe there was damage  to his skull that we did not see by leaving   the leather cap on him but um in having gone there  twice you being the only person to have done that   what is your belief of to how far they made it  do you think they made it was it possible and   did have you ever worked out a scenario  in your mind of what might have happened   I think anybody who had been through some of these  World War One battles or been through War period   that's not like normal experience not even a  little bit and to think to judge these people's   capacity against our normal stresses their  capacity is stretched so much from that experience it's not the same even close so well  could they have made it of course you know   this last trip uh I ended up taking my oxygen  mask off for the last hour or so just for fun   and uh just to see what it was it was slower I  don't even know if it's a whole lot slower but   could they have made it now this is 2021. and this  is not like Andy's doing his little experiment   with George Mallory it's just life as we get  to it and so looking back at Dad's like well it's similar to Mallory um they started  out with oxygen it sure looks like and   they ended up without somewhere in between  well pretty doable you know it's a hard day good dad died sure um could they have climbed  the second step well they didn't have to do it in   pure technique could George Mallory have stood on  Andrew Irvine's shoulder and reached the hand Jam   of hand jams you couldn't have fallen out of both  your legs popped off you that hand Jam was so good   that it's so natural I don't think  there's any trouble with them having   climbed the second step with  the handstand a shoulder stand   probably not with a handstand but you know  even going from a shoulder to an upraised arm   all those were techniques that were being  done once in a while and at the time and then it's just a matter of finishing off that  long ridge to the top and I'm sure that's a hard   day but they do I think they know yeah they know  Mallory was a student of the classics since you   know in school and would know the value of your  team winning the national football championship   everybody in town suddenly stands a little taller  is willing to take a little more risk willing   to work a little harder just by inspiration  and what they were looking at back then was   uh Europe that had been decimated from war from  four years of war bombing in just cities and   rubble and having to rebuild uh nine million  people had died 37 million people were injured   and unbelievable amounts of pain and I think  they knew what the summit of Mount Everest would   do for their country just like the North Pole  or the South Pole had done for those countries   or the first person on the moon had done for this  country you know what's the next one out there is   there something else probably you know it might  be I don't know Mars yeah it could be or could   be an electric car that's really functional or  yeah cost effective or you know climate change   I mean those are moonshots similar to anyway  could they have done it yeah were they motivated   yeah it would be a career move to be the first  to climb the highest point on Earth sure that's   a good move and I can't I would think that's  a driver for George Mallory and Andrew Irvine   but I think at the same time being  rich and famous is not good enough   motivator to to face very difficult situations you  know rowing across the Atlantic may you may start   I'm going to be rich and famous if I can do  that not really tons of people have done it   but you may start with some Vision like that some  foggy idea that that's what's going to be your   but very soon reality steps in and it's survival  and then Rich and Famous doesn't matter anymore   it's am I going to survive and what's going  to be the element that's going to keep me   taken one more or stroke or do one more  difficult thing to keep this boat upright   yeah yeah and so they were deep into the survival  component and for some reason they kept going   you know and there's probably a you  know the cards you're dealt you're   you're holding all the cards that are keeping  you taking one more step and one more breath   wow and they may be uh Society they may be  personal family um and career so do you think   they did make it to wrap this all up so yeah they  could have okay I think they did I think there was   plenty of motivation to put in a long  hard day to get done with this and   you know mountaineering is full of long hard  days um they we didn't invent 40 hour days   and certainly in the war they had their share  of 40-hour days yeah and that's probably you   know they were just looking at a long  long day so so to wrap it all up Andy   um not to say you'll never go back to Everest  but you certainly have a a breadth and wealth   of experience there what I hear when I when  I've spoken with you is immense gratitude   absolute gratitude for just waking up in the  morning being able to as you even said when   I talked to you a year ago being able to put one  foot in front of the other and actually keep doing   what you do and being alive and to  me that's a really beautiful message you look at the challenges and stress as  most people have and I've been able to do   what I've been able to do sure yeah it's  it's I can't explain it and you know every   so I've been that lucky you know my I'm well  my responsibility is to try and pay that back   to younger Generations or older  gen to pay that back to anybody   and encourage and help and somehow for them to try  and gain a portion of the incredible luck I've had   somehow we're pretty damn lucky just to be  able to be here and to be able to take on a   challenge like Everest is is a real gift and  uh at 61 I'm glad I'm just glad I lived I've   been there four times I've looked looked down the  the barrel of the shotgun a couple of times and   the best part of it is the friendships that were  made along the way yeah yeah yeah somehow try and   take the essence of what we've learned and  pass it on that's you know that's probably   what God I don't know it's probably what  everybody's trying to do every old person and   the Young Folks you know their responsibilities  to set their perspective aside and to listen   otherwise they're losing that opportunity  to hear what this old guy is trying to   say wearing the wrong clothes listen to  The Wrong music saying it the wrong way they have to get past that and hear what they're  trying to what message they're trying to pass   on to make their lives easier the young person  the younger Generations life easier Andy thank   you cannot say thank you enough for the time  you've taken to share with me your experience   during the first and 16th of May 1999 if any of  you would like to I hope you will take time to   subscribe leave me some comments let me know  what you think and also if you want to write   me you can reach me at tom.dharma.pollard  gmail.com and in the Box on this side of   the screen is a playlist for all things about  the mystery of Mallory and Irvin and over here   is a subscribe button choose it pick it  click it thanks very much have a good day

Channel: Everest Mystery

Views: 49,643

Keywords: everest, thom pollard, mount everest, mystery, george mallory, climbing mount everest, bikkhu, sangha, dharma, everest summit, mt everest, inspiration, inspirational video, climb your everest, andrew irvine, mallory and irvine, sandy irvine, everest expedition, climbing everest, everest documentary, sir edmund hillary, peter habeler, reinhold messner, conrad anker, andy politz, first ascent, british everest, change, life, everest climbing, everest death zone

Id: WCraijhm7z8

Length: 16min 18sec (978 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 11 2022