The conventional wisdom is that Mallory attempted to climb the Second Step and may have been successful.  This theory is articulated in The Wildest Dream, Detectives on Everest, and numerous online postings.   In contrast, my website puts forth the idea that Mallory would not have bothered with the First or Second Steps because there was an … More Thus Spoke Mallory

The night before Mallory left Camp IV(North Col), he had spoke with Norton about Norton’s climb. Norton had just returned from his own summit attempt where he reached an altitude record of 28,126 at the top of the Great Couloir. Norton told Mallory that the route was climbable at that point but that he turned around because (1) he was out of energy, (2) he was out of time, and (3) he was climbing unassisted, as his climbing partner, Somervell, had fallen ill and was waiting below the Second Step while Norton climbed on ahead. … More Mallory’s Route to the Summit