October 11, 2024 – A documentary team has uncovered human remains on Mount Everest, which are believed to belong to Andrew Irvine, a British climber who went missing 100 years ago during an expedition to summit the world’s highest peak, National Geographic reported on Friday.
The find sheds new light on one of mountaineering’s greatest mysteries—whether Irvine and his partner, George Mallory, were the first to reach Everest’s summit in 1924, almost three decades before the first officially recognized ascent in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
Discovery Amid Climate Change
Climate change, which is rapidly melting snow and ice in the Himalayas, is increasingly revealing the bodies of climbers who perished in the dangerous pursuit of scaling Everest’s 8,848-meter (29,029-foot) summit.
Irvine and Mallory disappeared while trying to become the first to summit the peak. While Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999, Irvine’s fate remained unknown—until now. The documentary team located a boot still containing part of a human foot on the Central Rongbuk Glacier, along with a sock featuring a red label stitched with the name “A.C. Irvine.”
Potential Historic Impact
The discovery of Irvine’s remains might provide additional clues that could help solve one of the world’s most enduring mountaineering mysteries: whether Mallory and Irvine successfully reached the summit before their untimely deaths. If evidence confirms this, the duo could be recognized as the first climbers to have scaled Mount Everest, decades before Hillary and Norgay’s historic ascent.
“This tells the whole story about what probably happened,” said Irvine’s great-niece, Julie Summers, in a statement to National Geographic.
A Historic Legacy
Although Hillary and Norgay are officially credited with the first successful ascent of Everest on May 29, 1953, the discovery of Irvine’s remains could challenge that timeline. In 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to reach the summit of Everest, further cementing the mountain’s place in mountaineering history.
The recent find brings renewed attention to the dangers and allure of Everest, as well as the growing effects of climate change on high-altitude environments.