In September, a documentary team from National Geographic stumbled upon a boot protruding from a melting glacier. The shoe and accompanying sock turned out to contain a human foot. The matching sock bears the name AC Irvine. Andrew “Sandy” Irvine has been missing since June 1924. Back then, he and George Mallory attempted to become the first to climb the world’s highest mountain. Whether they reached the top is still unknown. The name tag is still clearly visible on the potentially 100-year-old sock. Photo: Jimmy Chin / AP – It is the first real evidence of where Sandy ended up, says director and photographer Jimmy Chin, who was on the expedition, to National Geographic. The discovery was made on the central Rongbuk Glacier on the north face of Everest. A few days earlier, the team had found an oxygen tank from 1933. Satellite image from 2011 shows the northern route to Mount Everest, where climbers follow the eastern Rognbuk glacier (bottom left). Photo: AFP That year, an expedition team had found an ice ax that belonged to Irvine. Chin says that made them speculate whether his body could be nearby, and thus start searching the area. A deadly mountain It is not unique that the remains of dead climbers turn up on Everest. A total of 332 people have lost their lives in the attempt over the last hundred years, according to The Himalaya Database. However, the high altitude and weather conditions make it difficult to find the dead – and life-threatening to bring them down. Several hundred have thus been left in the wilderness for years. Andrew Irvine was only 22 years old when he joined the expedition. He and the more experienced climber George Mallory were last seen alive on June 8, 1924, when they were on their way to the top. Mallory had a simple explanation when he was asked in the 1920s why he wanted to climb Everest: – Because it is there . The last known photo of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine. The picture was taken at the camp, as they were getting ready to climb the summit. Photo: AP While Mallory’s body was found in 1999 at an altitude of 8,165 metres, Irvine and the camera he was carrying have disappeared without a trace for 100 years. His shoe was found at a much lower elevation. Several have speculated whether the bodies have been moved sometime in the 2000s by the Chinese authorities, according to The Guardian. Did they reach the top? Many have been searching for Irvine and the potential images from his camera roll. The new discovery may now provide answers to what happened to Irvine – and whether the duo actually reached the top before they died. If so, they would have accomplished the feat 29 years before Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, who climbed the summit in 1953. Chin says that he and his colleagues quickly understood the significance of what they had found. He refers to it as an emotional moment. – We all literally ran around shouting the F-word. Jimmy Chin poses with the mountain boot that was found in September. Photo: AP The remains have now been sent for DNA testing to confirm whether they actually belong to Irvine. Chin says he hopes the discovery can provide answers for the family’s survivors and for the mountaineering community in general. To the BBC, Julie Summers, Irvine’s great-niece, says that the find is fantastic. – We had all given up any hope that traces of him would be found, she says. However, Summers says she is glad that the relative’s next of kin are not alive today. – For them, Everest is his grave. Mount Everest Mount Everest is the world’s highest mountain, 8849 meters above sea level. Mount Everest is located in the Mahalangur Himal mountain range in the Himalayas, on the border between Tibet and Nepal. The mountain is named after Sir George Everest, who led the mapping of India and the Himalayas in the first half of the 19th century. The first documented ascent was made on 29 May 1953 by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. The first Norwegians on the summit were Bjørn Myrer-Lund and Odd Eliassen on 21 April 1985. In the 2nd pool of the same expedition, Ralph Høibakk, Håvard Næsheim, Arne Næss jr reached the summit. and Stein P. Aasheim, as well as several Sherpas, the top. The first Norwegian woman at the top was Randi Skaug in May 2004, followed by Cecilie Skog three days later. Since then, at least 6,600 others have reached the top, while over 330 have died trying to climb the mountain. READ ALSO: Published 12.10.2024, at 11.46 Updated 12.10.2024, at 13.03
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Andrew Irvine’s shoes found on Everest after 100 years – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
