Many know of George's grandfather by his response to the question, Why do you climb mountains?

"Because it is there," he said.

On his third expedition to Mount Everest in 1924, Leigh-Mallory and his summit partner, Andrew Irvine, vanished not far from the top of the mountain, which towers 29,000 feet above sea level.

Over the years, the disappearance of the two climbers vaulted them to near-mythical status, with speculation that they, not Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay 30 years later were the first to climb to the tip of the highest mountain on Earth.

So Mallory's namesake joined our 1995 expedition. In a sense, then, he had the opportunity to come full circle on behalf of this family and grandfather by climbing to the summit and, hopefully, discovering some evidence that would put to rest the speculation about who was the first to master Mount Everest.

For me, learning more of Mallory and Irvine's fate - and, perhaps, contributing in some small measure to closure regarding it - was heightened by my friendship with Captain John Noel, one of two surviving members of the 1924 expedition.

During a mid-1980s visit to Noel, I listened as he recalled that fateful expedition to the top of the world.

As the rain drummed on century-old windowpanes at Noel's cottage in England's Romney Marsh and a wood fire cast deep shadows across an otherwise-unlighted room, the 95-year-oldex-British officer from Kiplinger's era told me of his lost friends. His clear, blue eyes glimmered in the dim light, belying his age.

"When last seen, they were four hours behind schedule - nobody knows why," Noel said, his words almost inaudible because of the pattering rain. "They were seen to be going forward, to the top. Did they ever get there? That's what people ask. They never got back and they were never found. What happened to them is an everlasting mystery."

His friend and surviving 1924 Everest teammate, Noel Odell, was the last to have seen Mallory and Irvine, having ascended high on the mountain to support their final summit bid.

Before his death, Odell met them at Cambridge's Blue Boar Inn, a tavern that his 1924 Everest teammates had frequented, and where he recounted his last sighting of Mallory and Irvine.

"I can give very little that is convincing to anybody, having seen them as I did, definitely on their way up the snow slope," Odell said.

Although he would recant an earlier opinion that the two climbers had surmounted a crux obstacle shortly before the summit, other evidence - including a report from a Chinese climber killed in 1979 that he had discovered the body of an "English dead" - only fueled the mystery.

In early May 1995, with the knowledge that his son George soon would make his own attempt on the summit, 74-year old John Mallory arrived at our base camp, also the original site of the 1924 expedition.

He was just 3 when his father disappeared and, now, here he was, having himself come full circle to confront for the first time the great black pyramid that had changed the trajectory of his life's path.

As a veteran climbing team, we were aware of the risks inherent in our effort. We knew that we were venturing to a place whose summit atmosphere provides just a third of the oxygen found at sea level. We also know we would suffer the brittle cold of jet-stream winds.

We had built into our expedition the discipline of "team manship," which would be critical to the safety of each of our members. But, in he end, even our coordinated effort would be thin margin against the fragile conditions of this darkly capricious mountain.

As one of the great wild places, Everest is at once beautiful and terrible, a mountain that rarely spares even an innocent error in judgment.

Finally, after several weeks scaling the mountain, George and two others from our team were chosen as the first to try for the top. On a brilliantly starlit nigh, the trio left their high camp.

They were mindful of the projected time it would take to reach there destination and have enough oxygen and daylight to safely return.

Later, as they surmounted the most difficult section of the climb, "a glow on the eastern horizon signaled that sunrise was imminent," George recalled.

"It then occurred to me that few climbers, if indeed any at all, had witnessed sunrise from the highest vantage point on earth," he said. "The thought so inspired me that I decided to race the sun to the summit and so increased my pace. "My sherpa friend Chrirring and I were about halfway up the final pyramid when the sun's first rays struck the snow, and I realized I had lost the race.

"Looking out to the west, I saw Everest's immense shadow stretching to the horizon past a multitude of Himalayan giants and experienced a growing sense of imminent victory.

"After a few more minutes of struggle, we emerged onto the final summit slope, and there, just 100 meters away, was the top of Mount Everest. Emotions overwhelmed me as I realized that nothing would stop me. I had reached the Holy Grail."

Knowing hat his grandfather had taken a cherished photo of himself and his beloved wife Ruth to leave that summit of the mountain, George pulled a duplicate image from his backpack.

"From my pack, I retrieved a small, laminated photograph of my grandparents...and knelt down to plant it in the snow. This was a profoundly moving moment, one which symbolized the unarguable completion of a family project. No more did my grandfather's name weigh me down."

In all, 13 members would climb to the summit of Everest and, better, safely return. Coming full circle - bringing closure to goals earlier begun - had been at the heart of the force that forged our effort and that also led to the closing of the Mallory family circle begun so many years before.

As with any great goal, including the pursuit of excellence in law school and passing the bar, success does not often come without some measure of struggle.

Have faith in yourself as you climb your own Everest and work to put the bar behind you. Know to look for the positive from the lessons learned along the way. The view from the top will make coming full circle with the price to get there.

Postscript: Just three years after our expedition, the remains and personal effects of George Leigh-Mallory were discovered in remarkably good condition, high on the mountain, my members of another expedition. The revered photo of Leigh-Mallory and his wife was not among the effects.

PAUL PFAU