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Hello this Conrad Anker reporting from the Advanced Base Camp on the Rongbuk Glacier, May 3rd. On the first of May we left the Camp V, at the elevation of 25,700', to go up to Camp VI and to initiate the search. We left about five in the morning; it was real cold and windy, and, for myself, it was the first time I had been at that altitude. And it was quite a challenge just to walk around up there let alone try to keep everything in line — what you want to do.

We got to Camp VI around 10 in the morning and then we split up to various groups to initiate the search. I began by going out to the ill-defined rib where the 1975 Chinese Camp was and then, from this point, I spotted a body and went and looked at this body; ascertained that it was from a modern, recent era due to the clothing and equipment on the body; and then, from this, sort of figured looking at where he was in position to the rock; then started going west and lower and sort of going on intuition; eventually got to the lowest I could go before it cliffed out; and, on this lowest bench, there was another body which I thought might be the... one of the people we were looking for due to the fact it was very bleached and everything; got close, realized that it had modern climbing gear, and then started zig-zagging back up the slope towards Camp VI on the west side of the ill-defined rib.

About 15 minutes after I started up I paused, took my crampons off to climb on the rock, and continued up and eventually I saw an old fluttering tent which I wanted to go look at and then, looking to the west, I saw a patch of white, that was whiter than the rock that was around and also whiter and whiter than the snow that was there, and went there. And within a few minutes of being there realized that this wasn't a body from recent times; it was something that had been there for quite awhile.

At this point I radioed up to my fellow team members and we all came down and began the process of identifying the body. After we did this we climbed back down to Camp V, which was an arduous task in itself and ended up being a 12 hour day, all said and done when we were climbing.

My own personal thoughts about coming upon what we believe is George Mallory was, I wasn't spooked. I had been seeing the other bodies here. He seemed quite at peace, and it was something that wasn't really scary from my own perspective. He seemed to be at peace with himself. He had been there quite awhile, and there was something very, very subtle about his being there, not really scary and violent. So that is all from me. Have a wonderful day, take care, be good. Have fun. Bye.

—Conrad Anker, Climber
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The Expedition Leader and High Altitude Search Team's Dispatches on Finding Mallory:

• Eric Simonson Announces Mallory's Body is Found
  
• Dave Hahn: Climbers Amazed by Discovery at 27,000'
  
• Conrad Anker: A Patch of White
  
• Tap Richards: A Peaceful Spot In A Great Space
  
• Andy Politz: An Image That Will Stick In My My Mind Forever
  
• Jake Norton: Kind of An Eerie Job

• Statement From George Mallory's Family

DISPATCHES