Chapter 28 Chapter XXV Malory and Irving

Now we return to Malory.Anger burned in his soul when he was forced to return to the fifth battalion.The anger was not at the individual provocateurs who could no longer go with him, but at the whole situation: when finally the weather improved and victory was in sight, he had to abandon his goal and go back.But Malory was not prepared to be defeated at all.He's going to come back and bounce higher.Climbing Mount Everest was his unrepentant determination; it was not an accidental event in his life, but his entire life.Maybe he doesn't have Somerwell's broad mind, able to bring people by his side, nor Norton's ability to lead a large expedition. He worked with hand-picked companions, but he was more committed to the idea than anyone else.If there is anyone who can be regarded as the soul of this expedition, it is Malory.He is not only indomitable and invincible, nor is he simply possessed of a strong will to conquer, like the artist's imagination that refuses to rest until the work is perfectly presented.Malory himself was the embodiment of the spirit of Everest.Unless Everest threw him back, asking him to go would be like uprooting him from his own essence.

With a new plan in mind, he passed by the fourth battalion that day and went straight down to the third battalion, where he sought the feasibility of using oxygen to climb mountains.Malory had never been a big fan of oxygen climbing, but if that was the only means of climbing Everest, he would use it.Irving was no oxygen enthusiast either, and had privately told O'Dell that he wished he could climb the final pyramid without oxygen.Most of us certainly understand this feeling.Malory probably thought so too.But Malory had to consider this: Norton and Somerwell might have reached the limit of anaerobic climbing on this expedition.If they cannot succeed, then a last resort is to use oxygen.Therefore, just like his usual style, after making up his mind, he put his whole soul into arranging the oxygen equipment, and prepared to attack the top of the mountain again.This time he chose Irving as his partner, not Odell, because Irwin had confidence in the use of oxygen, but Odell did not.Another reason is that Irving has a talent for mechanical devices and has performed magical adjustment skills on those defective devices. It is said that there are defects because there is no device that can store high-concentration gas and can withstand India at the same time. Dramatic temperature changes between the plains and Everest without adjustment.The third, and perhaps the most important reason, is this: Irving had been assigned as his partner on that two-up climb, and he had woven such a grouping into some of his ideas. , so deliberately arranged for two people to really form a pair to create an elite double spirit (esprit de pair).

In the light of subsequent experience, we cannot help but question whether the use of oxygen is wise.The cumbersome equipment was a great hindrance to mobility, and besides, man's ability to adapt to water and soil later proved to be far greater than was then supposed.Odell, who has gradually adapted to the high altitude environment, climbed to 27,000 feet twice, and once carried a 20-pound oxygen device on his back, although he found oxygen after 26,000 feet. Doesn't help much and stops smoking.If Marlowe had been carrying Audell, and oxygen had not been used on that last attempt, it would be reasonable to assume that the summit of Everest had been climbed.

Because Ordell hadn't experienced that rescue operation like Norton, Somerwell, and Malory, maybe he was suitable for climbing to the top.And Malory, though energized by the rescue work, had an energetic and experienced climber by his side and knew someone who had actually climbed to 28,100 feet (which was a big deal for the summit effort. always helpful), and his high-spirited self-sprint, he might have followed Odell all the way up.Alternatively, Odell and Irving could have made the summit without oxygen, since Irving hadn't been drained by the desperate rescue effort. However, this is all speculation.When Malory worked on his preparations, he had no idea that Norton had reached 28,000 feet, nor how well Odell had adapted.All he knew up to that point was this: Ordell didn't fit in as well as the others.So the chances of reaching the summit seem to be tied to the use of oxygen.

On June 3rd, Malory and Geoffrey.Bruce returned directly from the 4th Battalion to the 3rd Battalion, and jointly explored the feasibility of finding enough challenges to transport oxygen equipment to the 6th Battalion.The health of the men had greatly improved with recuperation and good weather, and by forceful personal persuasion Bruce had brought together the necessary men.While the negotiations were going on, Irving worked hard to get the oxygen equipment in order so that they would work efficiently. At this time, O'Dell was in the 4th Battalion with Harold, and Noel, the tireless and strong-willed photographer, set up his camera on the North Peak at an altitude of 23,000 feet to shoot a film documentary .

On June 3, everything was arranged, and the next day, Malory and Irwin climbed up the North Col again with the new challenger.Using oxygen, the two climbers climbed that section of the mountain in just two and a half hours.They were pleased with the results, but O'Dell was more skeptical: Irwin's throat was already sore from the cold air, and O'Dell believed that the use of oxygen obviously added to his discomfort. On the North Col, the new climbing pair joined the support team.This fourth battalion had indeed become the alpine advance base for the real summit attack.O'Dell once described it.Its special feature is that it rides on snow, unlike other camps, even the highest camp, which rides on rocks.It stands on a protruding ice shelf and has four tents: two for the British and two for the provocateurs.The ice shelf is a shed formed by a 10,000-year-old block of snow that is thirty feet wide at its widest point.On its west side, a high wall of ice formed a comfortable shelter from the constant cold wind from the west.Without this barrier, the Fourth Battalion would never have been able to last that long there.O'Dell himself stayed there for no less than eleven days, if you consider that only a few years ago he was even like Hunter.The fact that mountaineers like Dr Hunter Workman thought sleep was impossible at 21,000 feet is striking enough.

At this altitude, the weather conditions are particularly interesting.On two days, when the sun was 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) at noon, the air temperature was only 29 degrees (minus 1 degree Celsius).Ordell wondered if the air temperature had ever risen above freezing.The snow probably disappeared through direct evaporation.It has always been very dry and unstable, and there has never been any running water. Ordell himself does not seem to have been negatively affected by these trials.He said that after a certain degree of adaptation, his sensory perception is indeed quite normal, and only when he has to exert all his strength to complete a thing, he will feel light and light, as if he has disappeared into nothingness.Surely the effect of altitude on the mind is overstated, he thought.The speed of mental processes may be slowed down, but their function is not impaired.

On the Fourth of June, the first day Malory and Irving had arrived from the Third Battalion, Norton and Somerwell returned from their great feat of ascent.They descended directly from the highest point they had reached, without stopping at the fifth and sixth battalions.Somerwell had nearly collapsed with violent convulsions, and Norton had been completely snow blind that night.It is natural for them to be disappointed, as has been said before.However, the disappointment that it only reached 28,100 feet really confirmed Einstein's theory of relativity.It wasn't that long ago that the man who climbed to where Norton and Somerwell were five thousand feet down was considered a hero!

It was true, however, that they had never reached the summit, and Malory was full of energy preparing for that last, desperate effort.Norton fully agrees with this decision, and marvels at the indomitable spirit of human beings, not caring about the overworked body, and not admitting failure as long as there is a chance.Malory had such willpower and tense energy that Norton thought he seemed perfectly up to the task.The only difference between the two of them was that Norton didn't think he should choose Irving as a partner.Irwin was suffering from a sore throat and was not an experienced climber like Odell.Moreover, although O'Dell adapted slowly, he has begun to show that he is a mountaineer with incomparable stamina and tenacity.But now that Malory had completed his project, Norton quite rightly refrained from attempting to intervene at this final stage.

On June 5, Malory stayed with Norton in the 4th Battalion, when Norton's eyes were suffering from severe pain from snow blindness.On June 6, Malory set off with Irving and four provocateurs.Who knows how he feels?He was, of course, well aware of the many dangers before him, and he set off with unhurried and foolish courage.This was his third Everest expedition; towards the end of the first he wrote that the highest mountains had a dreadful, life-and-death austerity that made the wiser men even in the process of ascents. When the struggle is about to succeed, he will still think twice and be terrified of it; and in the second and third expeditions, he fully experienced the severity of Mount Everest.

He clearly understood the danger before him, and he was ready to fight it.But he was visionary, imaginative, and courageous, and he could see what it meant to be successful on the world's highest mountain.Everest is the embodiment of the physical power of the earth; to counter it, he has to raise the human spirit.If he succeeds, he can see the joy on the faces of his comrades; he can imagine the great excitement that his success will bring to all his climbing partners, the glory it will bring to Britain, the great attention it will attract all over the world, the great attention it will bring. Giving him personal fame and the permanent satisfaction that comes from having accomplished his own life. All of this must have been on his mind.He had tasted the utter bliss of success in his smaller alpine campaigns; now, on this sublime Mount Everest, the bliss would be bliss, perhaps not now, but surely later.Perhaps he had never described it with such precision, yet the thought must have crossed his mind: Either he would have everything or he would have nothing.For these two choices: admit defeat for the third time and return, or die, perhaps the latter is easier for Malory.The distress in the former choice may be too unbearable for him as a man, mountaineer and artist. Irving, who was younger and less experienced than Mallory, might not have been as keenly aware of the risks he was taking.On the other hand, he is less able to vividly see what success means to him.But O'Dell recounted that Irving was no less determined to fight than Malory.He has always had the ambition to hit the top of the mountain.Now, since the opportunity presented itself, he approached it with almost childlike zeal. It was in such a state of mind that the climbers set off on the morning of June 6.Norton, who is now blind, can only squeeze their palms and wish them good luck sentimentally.O'Dell and Harold (who had come up from the Third Battalion when Somerwell came down) prepared food for them: fried sardines and biscuits, and plenty of hot tea and chocolate.At eight forty, they hit the road.Their personal luggage consisted only of well-adjusted oxygen supplies, with two cylinders, and a few other small items, such as cloaks and rations for the day, weighing about twenty-five pounds.The eight challengers with them brought provisions, bedding and extra oxygen tanks, but no oxygen supplies for their own use. It was fine in the morning, cloudy in the afternoon and a little snow in the evening; but nothing serious.Four of Malory's pickers returned from the Fifth Battalion in the evening with a note saying that there was no wind above and that all looked promising.The next day, on the morning of June 7th, Malory and his party advanced to the Sixth Battalion, and O'Dell advanced to the Fifth Battalion to support them.Of course, it would be even better if he could go with them, the three of them.A group of three is ideal for mountaineering, but that tiny tent only fits two.There wasn't enough challenge to bring a second tent up.He was only a day behind them and pushed up, playing a supporting role. Malory and his four pickets settled easily in the Sixth Battalion.This is yet another piece of evidence of the value of the work Norton and Somerwell have done.Thanks to the fact that they had successfully mobilized the provocateurs to the 26,800-foot camp, this time, it seemed almost natural that the second group of provocateurs who came with Malory came here.The four provocateurs were sent back from here with a note to Ordell saying that the weather was very favorable for work, but the oxygen supply was an annoying burden when climbing. As O'Dell looked out of his tent in the Fifth Battalion that night, the weather was ideal.He thought about how Malory and Irving would go to sleep hopefully.Finally, victory seemed within reach. We know very little about what happened next.Perhaps because of some error in the oxygen equipment that needed to be adjusted, or perhaps for some other reason, their departure must have been delayed, for they had just arrived at No. Two rocky steps, and according to Malory's timetable, he should have arrived by eight o'clock in the morning at the latest.Besides, the weather was not as good as promised the night before.There is much mist surrounding the mountains.The weather should be better at the altitude where Malory and Irwin are, because when Audell looked up from the bottom, he noticed that the fog above was bright.But the mist was thick enough to prevent O'Dell from continuing to follow the figures of the two climbers up the mountain; through the drifting mist he saw them only once more. When he reached the top of a small cliff about 26,000 feet high, the clouds above him suddenly cleared.The clouds parted, and the entire summit of Everest and the final pyramid were unobstructed.In the distance, on a snowy slope, he noticed a small thing moving, approaching the rocky stair, with a second thing following behind.Then, the first thing climbed to the top of that ladder.As he stood there contemplating the dramatic scene, the mist gathered again, obscuring the scene.This was the last time Malory and Irving were seen.After that, everything became a mystery.