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Emulating an alter ego

Emulating an alter ego
Media trainer followed his hero up Mount Everest
By Shawn Selby

We all have alter egos -- real or fictional people that we wish we could be. Among Alistair Macdonald's alter egos is George Leigh Mallory, the Mobberley mountaineer who died on his third attempt to climb Mount Everest in June, 1924. It is possible Mallory reached the summit of the world's highest mountain, which would mean he got there before Sir Edmund Hillary who was credited with the feat in 1953...

"He was last seen very close to the summit. It is the greatest mountaineering mystery. We still don't know whether he and his partner got to the summit," said Macdonald, a long-time BBC and Granada journalist, presenter and producer, and partner at Alexander Macdonald, a media training and consulting firm in Altrincham.

'A captivating story'

Macdonald, who is an avid mountain climber, first learned of Mallory in the 1970s. "His is a captivating story. I have many, many books on it," he said.

Macdonald got a chance to re-trace Mallory's final journey in 1986 when he was asked to participate by an American company on a film about Mallory called Everest: The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine.

"The equipment back then was amazingly primitive. They didn't know if you could survive at that altitude. I climbed to 23,000 feet, the same rout Mallory took. I could only marvel at what he did," said Macdonald.

In addition to Mount Everest, Macdonald has climbed hundreds of other mountains, including Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Blanc. "I have wandered and climbed and explored remote areas in about 20 countries," he said.

Alter egos: Alistair Macdonald

Partner, Alexander Macdonald, Altrincham

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