Conrad Anker
Big Oak Flat, California
Conrad Anker has made a specialty of climbing the most technically challenging terrain he can find. This search has taken him from the icefalls of Alaska and Antarctica to the big walls of Patagonia, from mixed climbs in the Alps and Russia, to the massive peaks of the Himalayas.
In May of 1999, as a member of The Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition, Conrad discovered the body of George Mallory, the preeminent Everest explorer of the 1920ıs. The disappearance, of Mallory and Irvine on their summit bid in June of 1924, is one of climbingıs great mysteries. Conradıs discovery and analysis of the find has shed new light onto the pioneering climbs of early alpine expeditions.
In 1997, Conrad teamed up with North Face team members Alex Lowe and Jon Krakauer and traveled to Antarctica to climb Rakekniven, a 2,500-foot wall in Queen Maud Land. This incredibly remote climb was covered by The National Geographic Society for both a magazine article and documentary film.
In the Sentinel Range, Conrad has climbed Vinson Massif via two new routes and currently holds the speed record for the regular route (9 hours, 11 minutes).
Conrad is highly respected in the big wall mecca of Yosemite Valley for his numerous speed records on El Capitan. He has established a difficult new line on Continental Drift (VI 5.10 A4) that has yet to see a second ascent. In Zion National Park, he made the first ascent of the intimidating Streaked Wall with Mugs Stump, as well as climbing four grade-V walls in a single day.
In Patagonia, he has climbed all three towers of the Cerro Torre group, including new routes on Torre Egger and Cerro Stanhardt. In 1992, he traveled to Baffin Island to explore the remote Sam Ford Fjord by sea kayak. With light gear and provisions, he and Jon Turk climbed two grade V big walls rising straight out of the ocean.
Anker also climbed the west face of Latok II in Pakistanıs Karakoram. This El Cap-sized wall begins at the same height as the summit of Denali, and tops out a t 23, 342 feet. The route, Tsering Mosong (VII 5.10 A3+) climbs 26 pitches on a vertical cliff that may be the highest big wall completed to date.
Conrad graduated from the University of Utah and is currently based in Big Oak Flat, just outside Yosemite National Park. In his spare time, Conrad studies watercolor painting and stays in shape for his ascents with a rigorous training regime of running, skiing and of course by climbing. a lot.
This is the adventure story of the year -- how Conrad Anker found the body of George Mallory on Mount Everest, casting an entirely new light on the mystery of the explorer who may have conquered Everest seventy-five years ago.
On June 8, 1924, George Leigh Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine were last seen climbing toward the summit of Mount Everest. Clouds soon closed around them, and they vanished into history. Ever since, mountaineers have wondered whether they reached the summit twenty-nine years before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
On May 1, 1999, Conrad Anker, one of the world's strongest mountaineers, discovered Mallory's body lying facedown, frozen into the scree and naturally mummified at 27,000 feet on Everest's north face. The condition of the body, as well as the artifacts found with Mallory, including goggles, an altimeter, and a carefully wrapped bundle of personal letters, are important clues in determining his fate. Seventeen days later, Anker free-climbed the Second Step, a 90-foot sheer cliff that is the single hardest obstacle on the north ridge. The first expedition known to have conquered the Second Step, a Chinese team in 1975, had tied a ladder to the cliff, leaving unanswered the question of whether Mallory could have climbed it in 1924. Anker's climb was the first test since Mallory's of the cliff's true difficulty. In treacherous conditions, Anker led teammate Dave Hahn from the Second Step to the summit.
Reflecting on the climb, Anker explains why he thinks Mallory and Irvine failed to make the summit, but at the same time, he expresses his awe at Mallory's achievement with the primitive equipment of the time. Stunningly handsome and charismatic, Mallory charmed everyone who met him during his lifetime and continues to fascinate mountaineers today. He was an able writer, a favorite of the Bloomsbury circle, and a climber of legendary gracefulness. The Lost Explorer is the remarkable story of this extraordinarily talented man and of the equally talented modern climber who spearheaded a discovery that may ultimately help solve the mystery of Mallory's disappearance.
