IT was perhaps the most dramatic discovery ever on Everest: a well-preserved body of an iconic climber whose final resting place had remained unknown for 75 years.

Now an audience at Malvern Theatres will be able to hear a gripping account of the discovery of George Mallory's body from the lips of the man who actually found him, the legendary modern mountaineer, Conrad Anker.

The discovery of Mallory's body in 1999 led to world-wide news coverage; but what is not quite so well known is the fact that Mallory developed his taste for heights and adventure upon the Malvern Hills, and he trained there on occasions.

The Malvern Beacon site explains how Mallory walked the Malvern Hills in his early teens and, before taking up mountain climbing in the Alps at the turn of the twentieth century, the Malverns were the highest peaks he had tackled.

But Mallory was to return to the Malverns.

The Malvern Beacon article adds: "He continued to walk on the hills whilst preparing for his Everest expeditions.

"One documented occasion of Mallory walking near the Malvern Hills was when he climbed Bredon Hill with author and friend Arthur Benson in April 1914. It is alleged that they left some coins hidden in a limestone boulder on the summit, surveyed the views and then descended."

Mallory was a hero of the British Empire, tall and handsome with a climbing style that was both graceful and powerful. His abilities and accomplishments are highly ranked even by present day mountaineers.

But his disappearance on Everest in 1924, alongside Andrew Irvine, turned him into an enduring legend.

Many still believe that Mallory and Irvine had reached the summit of Everest on the day they died, and it was upon their return that disaster struck.

Mallory had promised his wife that he would leave a photograph of her on the summit. When his body was finally found, his belongings were still on his body - except for that image of his wife.

This is circumstantial evidence, but the discovery of Irvine's body could settle the matter either way. Irvine was carrying the camera that would have been used to take pictures on the summit. Photography experts believe that, given the icy conditions on Everest, it might be possible to develop the negatives even now. Sadly, however, Irvine's body is yet to be found.

Conrad Anker will touch on these matters and his own exciting climbing career at a talk in Malvern Theatres on April 4, at 7.45pm.

But what does he believe about the Mallory and Irvine ascent. Did they actually make it to the summit before fate intervened and robbed them of the ultimate prize - of survival? Where they the first men to the summit?

He is on record saying "it's possible, but highly improbable, that they made it to the top".

But somewhere on Everest, the body of Irvine, possibly barely touched by time, could still prove him wrong.

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