Nobody is exactly sure what happened to George Mallory and Andrew Irvine when they reached the summit of Mount Everest. Some 25 years after the pair went missing, a body has been discovered – and historians and investigators think they might have some answers about what happened.
Here’s what we know about their final days so far.
At a glance:
- The partial remains of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, the climber who disappeared with George Mallory in 1924 on Mount Everest, were reportedly discovered nearly 100 years after their ill-fated expedition.
- What is believed to be Irvine’s foot, still in a boot and sock with his name tag, was found on the Central Rongbuk Glacier, several hundred feet below where Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999.
- The discovery reignites the mystery of whether Mallory and Irvine were the first to reach Everest’s summit before they perished.
Nearly a century after their tragic disappearance, the remains of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, the 22-year-old climber who attempted to summit Mount Everest with renowned mountaineer George Mallory in 1924, have been reportedly discovered. A team sent by National Geographic found what is believed to be Irvine’s foot, still encased in a boot and sock bearing his name tag, on Everest’s Central Rongbuk Glacier, located several hundred feet below where Mallory’s body was found in 1999.
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The discovery sheds new light on one of mountaineering’s greatest mysteries: Did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit of Everest before they died? In the years since their disappearance, experts have pieced together much of what happened during their final climb, though questions remain.
Mallory, 38, and Irvine were part of the 1924 British expedition aiming to achieve the first ascent of Mount Everest. After two failed attempts by other members of the team, Mallory chose Irvine, a relatively inexperienced climber, for the third attempt due to his engineering knowledge of the group’s oxygen equipment.
The pair was last seen alive on June 8, 1924, by a fellow climber who spotted them ascending towards the summit, about 800 feet from the top. A fierce storm engulfed the mountain later that afternoon, and neither Mallory nor Irvine was seen again.
In 1999, Mallory’s body was discovered on Everest’s North Face, 900 feet from Camp VI. His remains suggested he survived an initial fall but succumbed to his injuries shortly afterward. The discovery of Irvine’s foot may provide further clues, though his body remains mostly undiscovered.
A camera Mallory was believed to be carrying, which could contain evidence of whether they reached the summit, has never been found. Experts believe the film inside the camera, if recovered, could answer the century-old question of whether Mallory and Irvine were the first to summit Everest, 29 years before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s successful ascent in 1953.
Irvine’s axe, discovered in 1933, and the discovery of his partial remains offer clues about the route they may have taken and their tragic final moments. However, the full story of what happened on that fateful climb may never be known.
Irvine’s remains have been reported to the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club, the organizations that originally supported Mallory and Irvine’s expedition. His family has volunteered to compare DNA results to confirm the identity of the remains.