British explorer Sandy Irvine's foot discovered 100 years after he vanished on Everest

The foot, boot and sock thought to belong to Sandy Irvine, who disappeared during George Mallory's 1924 expedition to climb Mount Everest, have likely been found. They could be a vital clue in unraveling an even bigger mystery.


The boot containing a sock bearing Irvine's name and the remains of a foot. (Image credit: Jimmy Chin)

Remains believed to belong to a British explorer who vanished more than 100 years ago while climbing Mount Everest have finally been found. Andrew Comyn "Sandy" Irvine, aged 22, disappeared along with the mountaineer George Mallory in June 1924. The pair were attempting to become the first people to scale the world's highest peak.

It's still a mystery whether they succeeded in their goal before they died. Mallory's remains were discovered in 1999, which were missing a photograph of his wife that the climber had planned to leave on the summit. Irving, who had been carrying a Kodak camera that may have recorded a possible historic summit, was never recovered. The summit was officially first reached 29 years later, when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay scaled Everest from its south side in 1953.

Now, a National Geographic documentary team, including the Oscar-winning director Jimmy Chin and the climbers and filmmakers Erich Roepke and Mark Fisher, have found what they believe is Irvine's foot. Encased in a boot and wearing a sock stitched with his name, the foot was discovered on Everest's Central Rongbuk Glacier, further down the mountain from Mallory's remains. "I lifted up the sock," Chin told National Geographic, "and there's a red label that has A.C. IRVINE stitched into it." Irvine and Mallory were last seen on June 8, 1924, as they set off to scale the summit. One of their expedition teammates, Noel Odell, reported spotting the two near the second of the mountain's three steps as two tiny black dots. One of the dots broke past the skyline during a brief parting of the clouds, then they disappeared.

Mallory's body was found less than 2,000 feet (600 meters) from the summit by the U.S. rock climber Conrad Anker. Mallory's remains were tied by a rope around the waist and had injuries suggesting that the pair had fallen while connected together. By searching near these remains and scouring the glacier for clues, Chin and his team located the boot melting out of the ice. "This was a monumental and emotional moment for us and our entire team on the ground, and we just hope this can finally bring peace of mind to his relatives and the climbing world at large," Chin said.


Mallory (left) and Irvine leave for their climb in the last photo taken of the pair. (Image credit: Noel E. Odell/Royal Geographical Society via Getty Images)


https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/british-explorer-sandy-irvines-foot-discovered-100-years-after-he-vanished-on-everest