National Geographic finds Irwin’s body remains on Everest, a hundred years after his disappearance

The National Geographic expedition has found the remains of the body of Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irwin near Everest in the Himalayas, as the magazine published this Friday. The 22-year-old British climber disappeared near the planet’s roof on June 8, 1924, while accompanying George Mallory on his first attempt to climb the planet’s highest peak (although it was only his third expedition). Both were seen (and photographed) by Noel Odell, a fellow expedition member, near the second stage, the last technical stage before the summit. A second later the fog swallowed them and they were not seen again.

Till date it is not known whether both the climbers had set foot on Everest or not. Had they succeeded, they would have been 30 years ahead of the first expedition, formed by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzig Norgay on May 29, 1953. Mallory’s body was found by climber Conrad Anker during an expedition in 1999. Many of the fractures were probably caused by a fall and moving further back from where they were seen by Odell, suggesting that he had already recovered, but it is unknown whether successfully.

Irvine is located on the central Rongbuk Glacier, below the northern face of Everest. The National Geographic expedition reported that there may have been a recent thaw in the area and this may have given them the opportunity to see a boot stuck to the ice. “I think it literally melted a week before we found it,” said Jimmy Chin, a photographer and one of the discoverers of the remains. When they got closer they discovered that the boot was ancient, “studded and laced with diamond-patterned steel spikes from a bygone era of climbing,” the article described. Inside were still the remains of the foot, preserved from the cold, and at the top was a red label that read AC Irwin. “We were literally running around in circles, cursing,” explains Chin, director of the National Geographic documentary team.

This discovery may help understand what is perhaps the greatest mystery in mountaineering: whether Mallory and Irwin managed to reach the summit of Everest. Expeditions suspect that Irwin’s body (or at least the boot) was swept down the mountain by an avalanche and crushed by the moving glacier. National Geographic also says that Irwin is believed to have carried a camera in his pocket, which if found, could ultimately solve the mystery of whether or not they ever reached the planet’s highest point.