Hikers find clue to 100-year-old mystery of mountaineer who vanished on Mount Everest

A film crew hiking Mount Everest noticed an old-looking boot melting out of the ice — and found another clue to a 100-year-old mystery of a vanished mountaineer.

Jimmy Chin, Erich Roepke and Mark Fisher ventured up the North Face of Mount Everest to film a documentary, National Geographic said in an Oct. 11 news release via Business Wire. During the expedition, they noticed what looked like part of a foot with a sock and boot.

Embroidered on the sock was “A.C. Irvine” — the initials of Andrew Comyn “Sandy” Irvine, a British explorer who vanished while attempting to summit Mount Everest in 1924.

Ivine, 22, and his climbing partner, George Mallory, went missing on June 8, 1924, while trying to be the first to summit Everest. Their disappearance sparked years of speculation over whether or not they succeeded.

Mallory’s remains were found in 1999, but no trace of Irvine had been found — until now.

“This was a monumental and emotional moment for us and our entire team on the ground,” Chin said in the release. “We just hope this can finally bring peace of mind to his relatives and the climbing world at large.”

A DNA analysis has not yet confirmed the identity of the partial remains, but the Irvine family said they are willing to contribute. The remains were given to the China Tibet Mountaineering Association, the entity responsible for managing climbs on the northern side of Mount Everest.

“I have lived with this story since I was a 7-year-old when my father told us about the mystery of Uncle Sandy on Everest,” Julie Summers, Irvine’s great niece and biographer, said in the release.

“When Jimmy told me that he saw the name A.C. Irvine on the label on the sock inside the boot, I found myself moved to tears,” Summers said. “It was and will remain an extraordinary and poignant moment.”

The Irvine family said they were “deeply moved to hear of the discovery of partial remains of Sandy Irvine,” per the release. “We are grateful to the mountaineering and film team, led by Jimmy Chin, who made the discovery and who have treated it with respect and professionalism.”

Irvine’s remains were found “at a lower altitude than Mallory’s remains,” National Geographic said in the release.

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