A boot frozen in time could unravel Everest's greatest climbing mystery

A National Geographic team has uncovered a vital clue that could solve one of mountaineering's greatest mysteries: the fate of Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, who disappeared on Mount Everest 100 years ago.

The young British climber vanished with George Mallory in 1924 while attempting to climb the world's highest peak.

The find, which includes a boot with Irvine’s name stitched inside, offers new hope of uncovering the truth about whether the pair was the first to reach Everest.

Mallory’s remains were discovered in 1999 by another expedition, but Irvine’s body and the Kodak camera he was carrying—potential evidence of whether they completed their mission—remain missing.

If Irvine and Mallory had reached the summit, it would have predated the successful 1953 summit by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary by 29 years.

Over the years, several theories have emerged to explain why Irvine was never found. In his book The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death, writer Mark Synnott proposed that Chinese climbers may have secretly discovered Irvine's body and hidden it.

But the discovery of the boot refutes that idea. Irvine's great-niece, Julie Summers, who has also written a book about the missing climber, believes the find resolves that question. “I think Jimmy's find has absolutely answered that question,” she says.

Jimmy Chin, who led search team, poses with discoveryNational Geographic

Time capsule

Jimmy Chin, who led the search team for the missing climbers, reported finding a boot emerging from the ice. A few days later, he saw ravens circling it.

He suspected there was a foot inside the shoe. Chin asked the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA), the governmental authority that oversees the north side of Everest, whether the team could move the remains off the mountain.

They carried the boot and foot in a cooler and handed them over to the authority. His team also took DNA samples and is working with the British Consulate on identification.

“But I mean, dude, there's a label on it,” he says, referring to the name tag on the boot.

Andrew “Sandy” Irvine was 22 years old when he disappearedMount Everest Foundation / National Geographic

Who Was Irvine?

In her book about her great-uncle, Summers describes him as “a beautiful young man who died in the flush of youth.”

At 22, Irvine was the youngest member of the 1924 expedition.

He came from an upper-middle-class family in Cheshire and was a star rower at Oxford.

Some accounts state that he suffered from a learning disability like dyslexia but was gifted in math and engineering.

He was responsible for improving the designs of the team's oxygen cylinders, a task he performed well.