When a National Geographic documentary team discovered a boot and sock protruding from a melting glacier on Mount Everest in September, they almost immediately recognized its significance as a clue to a centuries-old mystery.
A badge still sewn onto the wool sock read ‘AC Irvine’, revealing it probably belonged to British climber Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine. Irvine’s disappearance on Everest in 1924, along with compatriot George Mallory, is one of mountaineering’s greatest mysteries – with a solution that has the potential to change history.
When did it disappear?
The pair disappeared on June 8, 1924, 250 meters below the summit of Mount Everest, as they prepared to complete the first recorded ascent of the world’s highest mountain. But it remains unknown whether they managed to reach the top and thus become the first known people to reach this milestone, before dying.
Although Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999, neither Irvine’s body nor the camera the climbers carried, which could have revealed whether they reached the summit, have been found.
That was until this latest expedition, when the National Geographic team, which included “Free Solo” director Jimmy Chin, discovered a foot inside what they believe to be Irvine’s boot. While they await DNA confirmation, comparing samples from the leg with samples taken from Irvine’s family members appears to be the first evidence of his death since his disappearance.
“The first real evidence”
“It’s the first real evidence of where Sandy ended up,” Chin said, according to National Geographic. “Many theories have been put forward.
“When someone goes missing and there is no evidence of what happened to them, it can be very difficult for families. And having some definitive information about where Sandy may have ended up is definitely (helpful), but also a big clue for the climbing community about what happened.”
Just days before finding the boot, the team discovered an oxygen cylinder from a 1933 expedition that had also attempted to climb Everest. Although the mission failed, he found an ice ax belonging to Irvine on the mountain’s northeast ridge, leading Chin’s team to speculate that it might be near his body.
Following suit, they spent the next few days searching the glacier, until filmmaker and mountaineer Erich Roepke spotted the boot. “I think she literally melted a week before I found her,” Chin said.
Chin and his team removed the boot and foot from the mountain in a cooler when they realized the birds were bothering it and handed them over to the China-Tibetan Mountaineering Association (CTMA). Soon after his discovery, the team informed Irvine’s family, including his great-granddaughter Julie Summers, who wrote a book about the climber.
Emotion
Summers “cried to tears” when she learned of the boot’s existence, in what she said was a “wonderful and painful moment”, according to news agency PA Media.
“I have lived with this story since I was seven years old, when my father told us about the mystery of Uncle Sandy on Everest,” he added.
“The story became more real when climbers found George Mallory’s body in 1999 and I wondered if Sandy’s body would be discovered next. A quarter of a century after this discovery, it seemed extremely unlikely that anything new would be found.”
Source: CNN