Newly digitized letters shed light on mountaineer George Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Mount Everest, leading up to the last days before he disappeared.

The international team that discovered George Mallory’s body on the North Side of Everest in 1999 also found three letters with it, wrapped in a handkerchief and tucked into his pocket. He had written them by candlelight in Camp 1,

The final letter that George Mallory wrote to his wife before he vanished on Mount Everest a century ago has been digitalized.

The British explorer died in 1924 during his third trip to Everest, the world's highest point. In one letter to his wife Ruth, he described the expedition's chance of success as "50 to 1 against us."

On June 6, 1924, Mallory and a newer climber named Andrew Irvine began an attempt to reach the summit. The last time the pair was spotted alive was June 8, and the debate as to whether or not Mallory reached the summit continues to this day, as he could have reached the summit and died on the way down.

It's now 100 years since George Mallory died on Mount Everest - a letter to his wife reveals he told her his chances were 50 to 1

The collection of letters by Mallory, many of them written to Ruth from their engagement in 1914 until his death on Everest in 1924, includes three letters retrieved from his body, discovered in 1999,