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Sandy Irvine: the man, the mountain and the mystery - With Julie Summers

As part of our Everest Revisited programme of talks, we are delighted to welcome Julie Summers to Rheged. Julie is Sandy’s great niece and biographer.

Event Date

10 January 2025

Description

Julie was one of the first people Jimmy Chin contacted when he made his remarkable discovery on Everest of Sandy Irvine's boot in September 2024. The ensuing media interest reminds us that speculation about what happened to Sandy Irvine and George Mallory 100 years ago, is still very much alive in people's minds. In this lively and beautifully illustrated talk, Julie will explore the extraordinary life of Sandy Irvine, the youngest member of the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition and bring to life the young man whose story has once again come to prominence.

Julie will talk about Sandy’s early life, his rowing career and his successful crossing of the Norwegian Island of Spitsbergen before focusing on the 1924 Mount Everest expedition. There is no mystery in British mountaineering more famous than the story of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine. Julie will explain why Irvine was selected by the Mount Everest Committee for the 1924 expedition and why this young man of 22 was chosen by Mallory to make the final attempt to reach the top of the world. Julie will also share her thoughts on whether they reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain, 29 years before Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary.

Julie Summers will be selling a selection of her books including Fearless on Everest: The Quest for Sandy Irvine as well as her latest book British Vogue: The Biography of an Icon.

7.30pm-9.20pm (includes a 20 minute interval plus Q & A). £12pp.

Image credit: Sandy Irvine Archive, the Warden and Fellows of Merton College, Oxford.