The remains of a mountaineer who attempted to scale Mount Everest 100 years ago have been found by an expedition team led by National Geographic, raising the question of whether Edmund Hilary was indeed the first person to scale the world's highest peak.
British mountaineer Andrew 'Sandy' Irvine and George Mallory disappeared near the peak of Mount Everest on June 8, 2024. The National Geographic expedition team found a foot encased in a sock with 'AC Irvine' embroidered in it. A boot, possibly also belonging to Irvine, was also found. They believe it could be the remains of Andrew Irvine, who, along with Mallory, were seeking to become the first people to scale Everest.
It is not known if the duo scaled Everest before being spotted around 800 feet below the summit. However, with the sock and the boot being found, some believe the mystery surrounding whether Mallory and Irvine scaled Everest could be solved.
Key to this is, however, a Kodak Vest Pocket camera, which was lent to the duo by another climber during the 1924 expedition. While Mallory's body was found in 1999, there is no evidence to suggest that they scaled Everest. However, with Irvine's body possibly now being found, there is hope that the search for the Kodak Vest Pocket camera could be narrowed down further. There is a chance that it might contain photographic evidence of whether Irvine and Mallory scaled Everest in 1924.
If so, it would mean that New Zealand's Edmund Hilary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who successfully scaled the summit of Everest on May 29, 1953, would no longer be considered the first people to do so.
The remains were reported to the London-based Royal Geographical Society by Jimmy Chin, the mountaineer cum documentary filmmaker who led the expedition where the sock and boot were found. Photos of the same were released by the Royal Geographic Society. Meanwhile, the remains are currently in the possession of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association, the overseeing body for mountaineering in Everest's north side.