Mallory and Irvine Memorial Expedition - with Rebecca Stephens

With 2024 marking the centennial of the demise of British mountaineers Mallory and Irvine, Rebecca Stephens, the first British woman to climb Everest, heads to Sikkim with World Expeditions for a memorial trek that goes through the sites where climbers in the 1920s ventured en route to the world’s highest peak.

What memories do you have from your previous expeditions in the Himalaya?

The Himalayas are of a scale found nowhere else in the world, that inspires awe within us. 

And, like every great landscape painting, there is the minutia as well: the footpaths weaving through the forest and over high mountain passes, the tiny Alpine flowers, the yaks, the brilliantly coloured prayer flags catching the wind, and of course the people. 

I’ve been blessed to climb with Sherpas and get to know them well, especially Ang Passang and Kami Tchering who I have to thank for climbing Everest.

For me, walking and climbing in the Himalayas ranks among the most enriching experiences in my life.

What makes this trek so special for you that made you want to lead this trip?

2024 marks 100 years since the disappearance of Mallory and Irvine on Everest, “still going strong for the summit”. 

I didn't want to let the year pass without a nod to these extraordinary pioneers and the all-time biggest mystery in mountaineering: did they or did they not make it to the summit?

I’m intrigued by how the geopolitics of the day shaped where people could travel and climb, just as it does today, and I can’t wait to be walking on this less-trodden path, experiencing something of the remoteness and beauty of Mallory’s and Irvine’s pioneering walk to Everest.

Why is the trek in Sikkim and not Nepal?

Nepal was a closed kingdom 100 years ago, so Mallory and Irvine couldn't approach Everest from the south as so many people do today. 

In the 1920s, a few people were granted permits into Tibet which allowed them to approach the mountain from the north. The journey was on foot, or pony, from Kalimpong in West Bengal into Sikkim and across the Jelep La into Tibet, and ‘off the map’ into an unknown land.

Today, we can still trek in Sikkim, breathe in the mountain air on the Singalila Ridge, the divide between Nepal and Sikkim, and soak in the magnificent panoramic views to Mount Everest, Makalu and, close enough to touch, the third highest mountain in the world, Kanchenjunga.

What specific links with the history of Mallory and Irvine do the areas this trek goes through have?

We will visit the historic sites of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, where climbers in the 1920s ventured en route to the highest mountain in the world.

In Darjeeling, we will visit the Tea Planters Club, where the British interwar expeditions stayed before assembling their Sherpa crews that would accompany them on the long march through Sikkim and across Tibet to the base of Everest; and also the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, founded by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1954 to commemorate the first ascent of Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa & Sir Edmund Hillary, the year before.

What do you expect will be the highlights for the people joining this trip?

This is a trip for people who enjoy trekking in the mountains, particularly on the less-trodden path, meeting the local people and seeing a different way of living. 

To be up high, surrounded by the highest mountains in the world, with time to slow down, switch off from our overly hectic lives and relax into the beauty of one of the most stunning landscapes in the world is really what it’s all about.

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to do this trip?

A trek is always more enjoyable if you start fit. It’s definitely worth building up to it early, stepping up the exercise routine and ideally doing lots of what you’re going to be doing – namely, walking up hills!

How do you hope they will feel upon completion of the trek?

Healthy, uplifted, inspired, humbled. 

A landscape where the views afforded are so vast offers a new perspective; we realise how small we are in the grand scheme of things. 

The simplicity of walking day after day, surrounded by beauty and without the demands and clutter of our daily lives, can also lead to an extraordinary clarity about what is good in life, what isn’t, and what needs to change. Life’s trajectory might be different after a trek on the Singalila Ridge… but undoubtedly better!