British Company Sponsors Second Mallory Expedition

British company Craghoppers is sponsoring the controversial 2001 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition they announced today.

The company, currently best known for its hillwalking clothing and equipment had early links with Himalayan mountaineering having supported Doug Scott on a successful 1965 ascent of Everest as well as 8000-metre peak climbs by Jonathan Pratt.

The March 2001 Expedition comprises the team that discovered George Mallory's body high on Everest in May 1999 in an attempt to uncover proof of whether or not he and companion Andrew Irvine had succeeded in climbing the mountain. The resulting controversy over the ethics of interfering with the dead mountaineer's body has rumbled on ever since and Doug Scott recently appealed, on behalf of the Irvine family, for Irvine's body to be treated with 'the utmost respect' - see link to earlier article below.

For their part, the Expedition team led by Eric Simonson are clearly keen to deflect critcism issuing a statement which reads: '... finding the remains of Andrew Irvine is not the goal of this expedition. Recovery of a camera and images that might definitely tell the story of Mallory and Irvine's final day is the goal. This expedition team has no morbid fascination with the dead and is only willing to confront that grim reality high on Mt Everest in order to seek the truth, a truth that this team believes the dead would want known to the world.'

Many will regard this statement as semantics and point out that the chances of discovering a camera seperate from the body are miniscule. Interestingly Crags is thought to be the only British company directly sponsoring the Expedition, however leading American gear companies are heavily involved.