The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest

Dressed in gabardine and wearing hobnailed boots, George Mallory risked everything in pursuit of his dream. He was last seen alive just 800 feet below Everest's peak, before the clouds closed in and he disappeared into legend. His death stunned the world. In 1999, renowned mountaineer Conrad Anker discovered Mallory's frozen body high in the mountain's 'death zone'. Remarkably all Mallory's belongings were found intact. The only thing missing was a photograph of his wife, Ruth, which Mallory had promised to place on the summit if he succeeded. This documentary follows Anker as he returns to Everest, following in Mallory's footsteps along the North East Ridge, to solve the enduring mystery surrounding the ill-fated expedition and discover whether the British explorer could have reached the summit. Joined by British climbing prodigy Leo Houlding, Anker replicates Mallory's ill-fated expedition as closely as possible. They even remove the ladder from the infamous Second Step to 'free climb' this dangerous 90-foot (27 metres) sheer rock wall just as Mallory and Irvine would have had to do eight decades earlier. Told through the poignant and evocative letters between Mallory and his beloved Ruth, the film combines previously unseen archive photos, specially restored film footage and dramatisation with the present-day story of Anker's expedition.