Summit Gallery

George Leigh Mallory (1886-1924)

Photographic portrait of George Leigh Mallory, the British climber who took part in three expeditions to Everest in the 1920's, pictured in 1924. Mallory and Andrew Irvine, the British climbers, were last seen by N.E. Odell near the Second Step during their attempt to climb Everest on 8th June 1924. They did not return from their attempt and the question of whether they reached the summit remains

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Alison Jane Hargreaves - British mountain climber

"Alison Jane Hargreaves 1962 - 1995 was a British mountain climber. Her accomplishments included scaling Mount Everest alone, without supplementary oxygen or support from a Sherpa team, in 1995. She soloed all the great north faces of the Alps in a single season-a first for any climber. This feat included climbing the difficult north face of the Eiger in the Alps, in 1988. Hargreaves also climbed 6, 812-metre (22, 349 ft) Ama Dablam in Nepal.In 1995, Hargreaves intended to climb the three highest mountains in the world-Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga-unaided. On 13 May 1995, she reached the summit of Everest without the aid of Sherpas or bottled oxygen; on 13 August, she died while descending from the summit of K2" Date: 1992

© Philip Dunn / Mary Evans Picture Library

Monument to Eugenie de Montijo on the summit of Larrun

Monument to Eugenie de Montijo on the summit of Larrun (La Rhune), a mountain at the western end of the Pyrenees. It is located on the border of France and Spain, where the traditional Basque provinces of Labourd and Navarra meet. The mountain started to become a popular destination for tourists following Eugenie de Montijo's holidays in Biarritz since 1864, and her outings to its summit. Eugenie was Empress of the French from her marriage to Emperor Napoleon III on 30 January 1853 until the Emperor was overthrown on 4 September 1870. Empress Eugenie climbed the Rhune in 1859. The party travelled to and from Biarritz by horse carriage and then on the back of mules up the mountain, stopping for a large lunch half-way up. This was followed by dancing and an exhibition match of pelota and the party arrived on the summit at dusk. The monument to this event originally had a bronze eagle on the top (as shown here) but this was removed in 1940, to be used for German munitions. Date: circa 1920s

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection