A National Geographic documentary team has uncovered human remains on Mount Everest, believed to belong to British climber Andrew Irvine, who disappeared nearly 100 years ago while attempting to summit the peak. Irvine, along with his climbing partner George Mallory, vanished in 1924 as they tried to become the first to reach Everest’s 8,848-meter (29,029-foot) summit. Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999, but Irvine’s fate remained a mystery until now.
In September, on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below the north face of Everest, the team, including photographer Jimmy Chin and filmmakers Erich Roepke and Mark Fisher, examined a boot containing a human foot. Upon closer inspection, they found a sock labeled with Irvine’s name, “A.C. IRVINE,” pointing to the remains as his. This discovery could help determine if Irvine and Mallory reached the summit decades before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who were credited with the first successful climb in 1953.
Irvine’s family has offered to provide DNA samples to confirm the identity of the remains. Irvine, who was 22 at the time, was last seen on June 8, 1924, during his final ascent with Mallory. Irvine’s missing vest camera could potentially reveal whether the pair achieved the historic climb, a discovery that might change the history of mountaineering.
Over 300 climbers have died on Everest since expeditions began, with some bodies preserved in ice or lost to crevasses, while others remain visible along the route, gaining macabre nicknames like “Green Boots” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
