Exclusive: ‘Sandy’ Irwin could have been found on Everest

Irwin was from an upper-middle-class family in Cheshire, England; He was handsome and athletic, a star rower at Oxford. Nevertheless, Irwin was often criticized for his lack of technical mountaineering experience before reaching the mountain in 1924. He reportedly suffered from a learning disability such as dyslexia, which hindered him as a reader, but he was a talented mechanic and excelled in mathematics and engineering. When he joined the expedition, he was immediately appointed as the oxygen officer, and he helped improve the design of the team’s oxygen cylinder. He earned his place in the top team through sheer force of will and athletic prowess. “Irwin,” expedition leader E.F. Norton wrote battle for everest“He was big and strong, had good shoulders and comparatively light legs.” Summers says that Mallory probably appreciated Irwin’s respect for the older mountaineer. Irwin was completely loyal to Mallory, he says.

On the morning of June 8, 1924, the two men set out for the summit in conditions that Mallory described as “perfect working weather.” That afternoon, he was last seen by teammate Noel O’Dell, who reported seeing two small figures near Second Pass during a brief cloud break. Then they left.

Over the years, several theories have emerged to explain why Irwin was never found. Author, mountaineer and National Geographic contributor Mark Sinnott proposed an idea in his book The Third Pole: Mystery, Passion and Death on Everest It turns out that Chinese climbers may have found the body and the camera long ago and kept it quiet. Summers believes the discovery of the boot refutes that idea. “I think Jimmy’s discovery absolutely answers that question,” he says.

An earlier theory suggested that in 1975 a Chinese climber found a corpse dressed in ancient clothing just below the northeastern ranges. That view became the basis for the target area of ​​the 1999 Mallory Irwin research expedition. Members of that team, including Anchor, hoped that if they found a body, it would be Irwin’s, which could lead them to Mallory (expedition leader Eric Simonson collected a DNA sample from a relative of Irwin’s to aid in identification. Did.) After Anchor discovered Mallory’s remains (buried by the team on the hill), he spoke to Summers. “Conrad Anker told me he was looking for the treasure map and finally found the treasure,” Summers recalls.

Several days after Chin and his team found the boot, they noticed that crows were harassing it. At that time, he says, he asked the China-Tibetan Mountaineering Association (CTMA), the government authority that oversees the northern face of Everest, if the team could remove the remains from the mountain. Chin loaded Everest’s boots and legs into a cooler and drove them to CTMA. His team also took a DNA sample which they are working with the British Consulate for further identification. “But I mean, man…it’s got a label on it,” Chin says.

Chin declined to reveal where exactly the remains were found, saying he wanted to discourage trophy hunters. But he is confident there are more artifacts and perhaps even a camera nearby: “It definitely narrows the search area.”