Mount Everest yields a clue to the century-old climbing mystery
An extraordinary discovery on Mount Everest could explain one of the greatest mysteries in the history of mountaineering. A film crew working on a documentary for National Geographic came across a foot, which, according to preliminary findings, belongs to the British climber Andrew Comyn "Sandy" Irvine, who went missing nearly 100 years ago.
11:13 AM EDT, October 11, 2024
In June 1924, Andrew Comyn "Sandy" Irvine and his partner George Mallory attempted to reach the world's highest peak. It was a brave expedition that unfortunately ended in tragedy—both climbers went missing during the climb.
Mallory’s body was found only in 1999, but Irvine never made it back home, and his fate remained unknown for decades. He was last seen alive on June 8, 1924, when he set off for the summit with Mallory. He was just 22 years old at the time.
Discovery under the glacier
The breakthrough in the case came this September when a group of climbers working on the documentary for National Geographic found a foot emerging from beneath the melting ice of the Central Rongbuk Glacier on Everest's northern side.
The expedition, led by acclaimed explorer and Oscar winner for the documentary "Free Solo," Jimmy Chin, was stunned by this discovery. As Chin said, it was a "monumental and emotional moment" that moved the entire team.
Findings spark hope of solving the mystery
The foot, found inside a boot that contained a sock with the embroidered letters "A.C. Irvine," immediately caught researchers' attention. What initially seemed like a random discovery quickly gained immense significance, especially for the mountaineering community, which had long speculated whether Irvine and Mallory could have been the first to reach Everest's summit—a full 29 years before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's historic feat in 1953.
Many researchers and climbers believe that Irvine might have had a camera with him, which could contain crucial evidence of whether they reached the summit. Although Irvine's body has yet to be found, the discovery of his foot on the glacier near an item related to the 1933 expedition—an oxygen canister—has raised hopes that his remains might be nearby.
Amid concerns that birds might disturb the foot, the climbing team handed it over to the Chinese authorities responsible for the northern side of Everest. Currently, British authorities are conducting DNA tests to confirm the identity of the found body part.
Controversies around the search
The search for the missing climbers’ bodies has been controversial over the years. There are suspicions that the bodies could have been moved by changing conditions on the mountain, further complicating the research. Nonetheless, this latest discovery gives hope that the mystery of Irvine might finally come to an end.
The finding of Irvine's foot is not only a historically significant event but also a breakthrough discovery for the relatives of the missing climber and the entire mountaineering community. As Jimmy Chin noted: "Sometimes in life, the greatest discoveries occur when you aren’t even looking."
