The Story
The greatest danger in life is not to take the adventure.
So said George Mallory and his words echo back from a bygone era - presenting a timeless challenge to us all, no matter what our individual goals and aspirations might be. Like Mallory, we can all strive to achieve our One Great Moment in Time.
Listen to show's finale One Great Moment In Time
​After graduating from Cambridge, Mallory pursued a career as a history teacher at Charterhouse School in England. Then came the slaughter and mayhem of WWI, during which he fought at the front and was separated from his wife and children for a total of eighteen months. Like so many young men during this time, he never knew if he would come back home alive from each deployment. Luckily, he survived and returned to his teaching position at Charterhouse, but he soon realized that his quest for extreme adventure could not be tamed.
George
George Mallory
(on Everest)
The Quest
Mallory became one of Britain's finest post-WWI rock climbers and mountaineers, and when spurred-on by his friend and mentor, Geoffrey Winthrop Young, to accept the offer of a place on the 1921 Everest Reconnaissance Expedition, the temptation proved too much to resist.
George and his wife Ruth Turner
The Conflict
Mallory is torn between the relentless pursuit of his wildest dream and the deep love he shares with his wife, Ruth. The mountain calls to him, a towering testament to the adventure he craves and the legacy he seeks. Yet with every step he takes towards the summit, the stakes become ever greater. Is true happiness to be found in the conquest of a dream or in the love of his wife and children? The musical captures the universal struggle between taking a risk and seeking security — a battle of the heart that transcends time.
Ruth Mallory
The photo that George said he
would leave on top of Everest
George decides to "take the risk" and pursue his dreams. Just before he boards for his third expedition in 1924, he makes a promise to his wife Ruth that this would be his last attempt. He told Ruth if successful, he would place her photo (the above photo that he always carried with him) on top of the world.
The 1924 Expedition
Climbing into uncharted territory is always a formidable challenge. In the 1920s, mountaineers not only faced the limitations of primitive clothing and equipment but also the brutal realities of Everest’s extreme altitude and unforgiving weather. At 29,000 feet, where oxygen levels are perilously low, George Mallory believed—somewhat controversially—that supplemental oxygen was essential for a successful summit attempt. To maximize its effectiveness, he enlisted the expertise of Sandy Irvine, a skilled engineer, whose innovations aimed to give them a critical edge in their historic climb.
A ritual blessing by the Tibetan monks of Rongbuk monastery (below) served to lessen the fears of the Sherpa porters who are an indispensable part of any Everest expedition - both then and now.
Click on button above to play music from Rongbuk monastery scene
The climbing sequences in the musical are spectacular and breathtaking and give an audience a realistic, multi-sensory 4D theatrical experience, of what it was like for these early Everest pioneers to take on this wildest of dreams.
George Mallory (on top) climbing up the North Col ... like a spider!
Mallory (Left) and his climbing partner, Sandy Irvine (Right)
(Photo taken just before they set off for their fateful summit attempt in 1924)
The Discovery
When Mallory's almost perfectly preserved body was eventually discovered on the mountain in
1999, no photo of Ruth was found . . . and thus the mystery remains. Did he conquer his mountain of dreams? Whether he did or not, Mallory's spirit lives on triumphantly in the hearts of those who dare to take the adventure.
