A grim discovery near the summit of mount Everest could hold answers to one of the exploring world’s most enduring mysteries.
History states the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit, doing so in 1953, were the Nepalese-Indian Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, and Kiwi mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary.
But a British expedition 29 years earlier got tantalisingly close before the disappearance of two of its members near the top.
While there was no evidence they conquered the peak, other explorers widely agreed they could have made it before dying on the way back to camp.
Now, more than a hundred years later, a team of climbers and filmmakers found what is believed to be a foot belonging to one of the missing climbers, Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine.
Irvine, who was only 22 years old, set off with 37-year-old mountaineer George Mallory and eight assistant ‘porters’ on June 8, 1924.
They porters left the party in two stages, as planned, returning to camp with a note stating ‘There is no wind here, and things look hopeful’.
There was no sign of their fate until the discovery in 1933 of Irvine’s ice axe by another British expedition.
Expedition leader Hugh Ruttledge said afterwards: ‘Firstly it seems probable that the axe marked the scene of a fatal accident.
‘For reasons already given, neither climber would be likely to abandon it deliberately on the slabs … its presence there would seem to indicate that it was accidentally dropped when a slip occurred or that its owner put it down in order to have both hands free to hold the rope.’
In 1999, a German team found Mallory’s body at a height of 8,159 metres, only a few hundred metres down from Everest’s peak (8,849 metres).
He had injuries consistent with a nasty and instantly fatal fall: his right foot was nearly broken off and there was a puncture wound in his forehead the width of a golf ball.
There was nothing conclusive to show whether he was on his way up or down, although one clue hinted at success.
Mallory had been carrying a picture of his wife Ruth throughout the whole expedition and vowed to place it on the summit if he reached it – but it was not in his vest when he was found.
The only proof of a successful climb to the summit would have been on his Kodak pocked camera, but it was nowhere to be found.
Irvine’s foot was found by a National Geographic documentary team which included director Jimmy Chin on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below the North Face of Everest.
‘I lifted up the sock,’ Chin said, describing the moment he inspected the find, ‘and there’s a red label that has A.C. IRVINE stitched into it.’
Chin says he and his team instantly recognised the importance of their find: ‘We were all literally running in circles dropping F-bombs.’
‘It’s the first real evidence of where Sandy ended up,’ he added.
Samples from Irvine’s foot will be compared to DNA from relatives who are alive today to confirm his identity.
The foot could lead researchers to other parts of Irvine’s body, which might hold further clues. If not, Chin said, it could still bring closure to his relatives.
He added: ‘When someone disappears and there’s no evidence of what happened to them, it can be really challenging for families.
‘And just having some definitive information of where Sandy might’ve ended up is certainly [helpful], and also a big clue for the climbing community as to what happened.’
History paints Irvine’s picture as an inexperienced young man who was called up for duty after the misfortune of older members of the expedition.
The first attempt saw Mallory and expedition leader Charles G Bruce, supported by nine porters, make it a few hundred metres below the peak before harsh, icy winds forced them to abort.
The second, by another pair of climbers, made it a bit higher but was also abandoned.
All four except Mallory were left with serious health problems, forcing him to select another member of the team for the third attempt.
Irvine was still an undergraduate when he was invited, after excelling at an Arctic expedition with fellow Oxford University students.
He was called up by Mallory instead of an older, more experienced teammate due to his skills with the oxygen equipment and his close friendship to Mallory, who considered the 22-year-old ‘strong as an ox’.
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