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A boot coming up from the ice captivated the photographer and filmmaker Jimmy Chin. Upon closer survey, he and his team discovered a foot, believed to belong to Andrew Comyn Irvine, lovingly known as Sandy, who vanished a century ago alongside pre-eminent climber George Mallory.
“I lifted the sock and saw a red label stitched with A.C. IRVINE,” Chin recounted, as reported by National Geographic in an exclusive article.
In September, the National Geographic documentary team, including Chin, filmmakers Erich Roepke and Mark Fisher, scrutinizingly studied the boot on the Central Rongbuk Glacier, situated below Everest's north face.
On June 8, 1924, Andrew Comyn Irvine, 22, and George Mallory started their ascent to the peak. Mallory's remains were discovered in 1999, but Irvine's destiny remained a puzzle—until now.
The boot discovery may finally illuminate on what emerged on the top a century ago. If they climbed the top, they would've beaten Edmund Hillary and Tibetan mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, who are known as the first to reach the peak on May 29, 1953.
“This is the first substantial evidence of Sandy's destiny. Many hypothesis have went around,” Chin remarked about their finding.
In 1999, George Mallory's body was discovered by mountaineer Conrad Anker during the Mallory and Irvine Research operation, offering hints putting forward that the pair may have summited before falling during their pitch.
“His dark snow goggles were in his pocket, assuming the fall happened in the dusk as they descended. The picture of his wife, which Mallory decided to leave at the summit, was missing,” Anker wrote in The Lost Explorer, co-writered with David Roberts, as cited by National Geographic.
Chin shared the aha moment with Irvine's great-niece, Julie Summers, 64, who authored a 2001 biography which was given the title 'Fearless on Everest: The Quest for Sandy Irvine.' “I see this as a step towards closure,” she further said.
His Family have offered to provide DNA specimen to help confirm the character of the remains, according to National Geographic's report.