Icefall: Who was first to summit Everest?

By Philip Etherington

ICEFALL -MOUNT EVERESTOne minute visibility is high then you are blind.Gale force winds begin to freeze the blood. As night closed in, Mallory and Irvine succumb to the elements. Your mind goes blank, you cannot think, you lose your way! Trapped in the Death Zone, your body is close to death! You commence a journey into a helpless hallucinatory void.As the storm rages, fear overwhelms you. Only the hand of God will save you now!In 1924 the intrepid climbing team of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine went for the summit of Everest. Then a storm broke. Hours later George Mallory, with Andrew (Sandy) Irvine tethered by a flimsy cord, descends into madness. Approaching 28000 feet and unable to distinguish dream from reality Mallory stumbles and falls down the north face of Everest to his death. Such was the start of the greatest mystery of the 20th century. Did Mallory and Irvine conquer Mt Everest and summit first? Fast forward almost a century and the search for Andrew Irvine continues. Despite reports by a 1960 Russian expedition that an 'old English' had been found near skyline, his body has never been found nor the camera he is believed to be carrying. A camera containing a film roll that could change the course of Everest climbing history. Enter Matthew Tyler, an Everest veteran and now a climbing recluse who refuses to engage with the commercial expeditions that are costing more and more lives. Tyler believes he knows where Irvine's body is climbs into the death zone hoping to find the body and recover the camera. Against fierce opposition he sets out ahead of the climbing season to fulfil what has become an obsession.At 27000 feet Tyler finds himself victim of an icefall and becomes buried alive hundreds of feet inside a crevasse. Attempting to discover Irvine's remains and retrieve the camera (if it exists), Matt Tyler is the only man alive who can develop the truth from the unexposed film. But other parties are looking for him and in particular the camera. They'll stop at nothing not even and avalanche to acquire it. This is the story of rival climbing teams, The Royal Geographic Society and The Alpine Club whose conflicting interests merge on the north face of the world's mightiest mountain - Everest. But is Everest ready to give up its secret!

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1706831692
• ISBN13: 9781706831693
• Release Date: November 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"