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In 1999, renowned American mountaineer Conrad Anker made a discovery that reverberated around the globe. High in Mount Everest’s “death zone,” he found the body of George Mallory—75 years after the British explorer mysteriously vanished during his attempt to become the first man to summit the world’s tallest peak.

Mallory had risked everything as he set out, dressed in gabardine and hobnailed boots, in pursuit of his dream of reaching the top of Everest - which in 1924 was the last great adventure left to man. He was last spotted alive just 800 feet below the summit. Then the clouds rolled in and Mallory vanished into legend.

Far more than a film about mountain climbing, The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest tells the remarkable story of George Mallory, whose famous reply to a reporter’s question about his reason for wanting to climb Everest (“Because it’s there”) has inspired generations of adventurers. Mallory was a passionate and complex man, torn between two overwhelming and competing loves: his wife and the mountain that ultimately took his life.

Told through the poignant and evocative letters between Mallory and his beloved Ruth, the film combines previously unseen archival photos, specially restored film footage and dramatization with the present-day story of Anker’s expedition to tell the tale of the quest to conquer Everest and the compelling longing for home. In this, Anker’s story parallels Mallory’s in a tale of obsession as relevant today as it was in 1924.

The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest starts September 2 at IMAX in Darling Harbour. This is a 2D feature-length presentation, 94 minutes.


Conrad Anker and Leo Houlding in 1920s climbing gear hit the slopes of Everest. Copyright Altitude Films Ltd, Jimmy Chin.

After discovering Mallory’s body, Conrad Anker’s life became intertwined with Mallory’s story. Remarkably, Mallory’s body was found with all his belongings intact. The only thing missing was a photograph of Ruth, which Mallory had promised to place on the summit. Haunted by Mallory's story, Conrad longed to return to Everest to lay Mallory’s ghost to rest.


Re-tracing the journey taken by George Mallory and Sandy Irvine at the foot of Everest. Copyright Altitude Films Ltd, Jimmy Chin.

Directed by Emmy® award winning filmmaker Anthony Geffen (Jerusalem: City of Heaven, The Promised Land, The Greeks: Crucible of Civilisation) and featuring the vocal talents of Academy Award® nominees Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes, as well as Hugh Dancy, Alan Rickman and the late Natasha Richardson, The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest is a breathtaking mountaineering adventure that seeks to provide answers to the enduring mysteries surrounding the death of George Mallory on Mount Everest. Foremost among them: Could Mallory have succeeded in reaching the summit before he and fellow climber Andrew “Sandy” Irvine disappeared in 1924?


Conrad Anker, in modern climbing gear, ascending one of Everest’s most challenging rock formations. Copyright Altitude Films Ltd, Jimmy Chin.

In the quest for answers, Anker finally returns to Everest in 2007 with British climbing prodigy Leo Houlding, replicating as closely as possible Mallory’s ill-fated expedition. The men retrace the North East Ridge Route, even removing the ladder from the infamous Second Step to “free climb” this dangerous 90-foot sheer rock wall just as Mallory and Irvine would have had to do 83 years earlier.


Conrad Anker and Leo Harding triumphant on the summit of Everest, 14 June 2007. Copyright Altitude Films Ltd, Jimmy Chin.

From September 2, IMAX will re-enact George Mallory's wildest dream - to reach the summit of Everest - in the new film from National Geographic, The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest. What's your wildest dream?