Comments on Mallory’s note to Odell

Table of Contents
Introduction June 5, 1924 June 6, 1924 June 7, 1924 – Comments on Mallory’s note to Noel – Comments on Mallory’s note to Odell – Some notes on the oxygen question – Some notes on Mallory’s equipment list – The sleeping bag issue	June 8, 1924 – Mallory & Irvine’s ascent to 8500 m/28,000 ft. – Mallory & Irvine’s ascent beyond 8500 m/28,000 ft. – Climbing the Second Step – Is the Mystery finally solved? Beyond the Second Step – Hypotheses & Considerations Where is Andrew Irvine? Conclusions Expedition Waste

Odell’s comment on the loss of the stove: “[It was] an occurrence which meant cold supper and breakfast for me!” (Odell, p. 266). Not bringing a stove on his own indicates that Odell had expected to find one – Mallory & Irvine’s – at C 5. That Mallory & Irvine continued despite the loss of their stove in turn indicates that they had expected to find a second stove – Norton & Somervell’s – at C 6.

In the context of the previous timings, it now becomes obvious that the consumption of 90 Atm. (400 liters) of oxygen in two days clearly could not have meant they had used it continuously. Used at 1.5 l/min, the supply would have lasted 4 h 25 min for the combined ascent from C 4 to C 6 or even less when used at a higher rate (see Holzel/Salkeld, p. 224). This would assume an unreasonably fast ascent time, even with oxygen, and is furthermore contradicted by the late returning times of the porters. To explain the latter otherwise, the porters would have to have spent a couple of hours at each of the camps, which seems unlikely.

Rather than indicating a fast ascent time, the low oxygen consumption mentioned in Mallory’s note to Odell suggests that Mallory & Irvine had used only little oxygen over the two days of ascent to C6. This had been Mallory’s intention all along, as documented in Norton 4 (p. 116):

“As Mallory and I lay in our tent, he explained that he had decided that […] he was determined to make one more attempt, this time with oxygen, and how he had been down to Camp III with Bruce and collected sufficient porters to enable the attempt to be staged.”

This sentence is footnoted: “It may be asked how it came that sufficient porters were now available for an attempt with oxygen, seeing that we had decided against an oxygen attempt at Camp I on grounds of inadequate transport. Mallory and Irvine decided to use practically no oxygen up to Camp VI […] And, lastly, Camp VI having been established with tents and bedding by Somervell and me, nearly every available porter could now be used for carrying oxygen cylinders.“ (emphasis added) 

And, as a consequence of this combination, almost every oxygen cylinder would have been available on summit day.