In September, a National Geographic team led by celebrated filmmaker and explorer Jimmy Chin made a monumental discovery on Mount Everest's Central Rongbuk Glacier: a boot with a foot inside, and a sock bearing the name "A.C. Irvine." This finding is believed to be the partial remains of Andrew "Sandy" Comyn Irvine, the 22-year-old British mountaineer who vanished along with his climbing partner George Mallory during their 1924 attempt to reach the summit of Everest.
Jimmy Chin told The Independent, "I lifted up the sock, and there's a red label that has A.C. IRVINE stitched into it." The team, which included filmmakers and climbers Erich Roepke and Mark Fisher, was initially exploring the glacier while filming a documentary for National Geographic. "When that happened," Mark Fisher recounted to NBC News, "it was just full freak-out, you know, F bombs and people were like, 'Oh my god.'"
The discovery has reignited one of mountaineering's greatest mysteries: whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit of Everest nearly three decades before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's successful ascent in 1953. For decades, climbers and historians have speculated that if the Kodak Vest Pocket camera carried by Irvine were found and the film inside could be developed, it could provide definitive proof about their climb. As the team continues to search the area, Chin expressed optimism, telling Deutsche Welle, "This certainly narrows the search area."
Julie Summers, Irvine's great-niece and author of his biography, was deeply moved by the news. She told The Independent, "When Jimmy told me that he saw the name A.C. Irvine on the label on the sock inside the boot, I found myself moved to tears. It was and will remain an extraordinary and poignant moment." Summers has lived with the mystery of her great-uncle's fate since childhood and sees this discovery as "something close to closure."
Andrew "Sandy" Irvine and George Mallory disappeared on the upper slopes of Mount Everest on June 8, 1924, during their attempt to become the first people to summit the mountain. They were last seen by their teammate Noel Odell, who reported seeing them as "two small black dots" near the second step of the mountain, suggesting they were close to the summit. The question of whether they reached the peak has captivated the mountaineering world for nearly a century.
In 1999, Mallory's body was discovered by a team that included renowned climber Conrad Anker. His remains were found at an altitude of approximately 8,165 meters, less than 2,000 feet from the summit. However, the camera that could hold evidence of their ascent was not found, and Irvine's whereabouts remained a mystery—until now.
The discovery of the boot and remains may provide new clues regarding the location of Irvine's belongings, including the elusive camera. Jimmy Chin is hopeful that more artifacts are nearby, telling Deutsche Welle, "This certainly narrows the search area." The team hopes that locating the camera and developing any surviving film could finally solve the mystery of whether Mallory and Irvine were the first to reach Everest's summit.
Family members of Andrew Irvine, including Julie Summers, have volunteered to provide DNA samples to confirm the identity of the remains found. "It's an object that belongs to him, and it has something of him in it. It tells the story of what probably happened," Summers reflected to Deutsche Welle. The remains have been handed over to the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association, which oversees climbing on Everest's northern slopes.
The climbing community has reacted with cautious optimism. German mountaineer and historian Jochen Hemmleb, who played a significant role in the 1999 discovery of Mallory's body, described the recent finding to Deutsche Welle as "a seminal find" but cautioned against drawing hasty conclusions. "For now, this discovery, though sad, does not give much clue about whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit or what really happened to them," he said.
The possibility of finally solving one of mountaineering's greatest enigmas has generated significant excitement. As Jimmy Chin expressed to The Independent, "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."
As the team continues its work, the world watches with anticipation, hoping that the discovery of Irvine's boot is just the beginning of unearthing answers that have been buried under Everest's ice for nearly a century.
Sources: BBC, The Independent, NBC News, CNN Español, Diario de Sevilla, Deutsche Welle, Última Hora, 20 minutos, RPP noticias, The National Geographic Society, NRC, Financial Times News, El Correo.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq