A shoe containing a foot and a labeled sock was found by a team financed by “National Geographic”, announced the American magazine this Friday, October 11. A DNA analysis must confirm that it really belongs to the British mountaineer who disappeared a hundred years ago while exploring the highest peak in the world.
It is a discovery which could further lift the veil which still covers one of the greatest mysteries in the history of modern mountaineering. Remains of British mountaineer Andrew Irvine have undoubtedly been found a century after his disappearance, announced this Friday October 11 National Geographic The explorer and his compatriot George Mallory were last seen on June 8, 1924, a few hundred meters from the summit of Everest, before they were lost.
The body of the second was found in 1999 at an altitude of more than 8,300 m by an American expedition. Last month, a new team financed by the American magazine National Geographicfound under the north face of Everest, taken from the central Rongbuk glacier, a shoe containing the remains of a human foot.
Inside, team members discovered a red sock with a label bearing the name of the British mountaineer born in 1902. “I lifted the socktells the American magazine the photographer and director Jimmy Chin, member of the expedition, and there was a red label with “AC IRVINE” sewn on it.» Chin says he and his companions all immediately realized the importance of the moment. “We were all literally running around in circles saying “damn”…” Members of Andrew Irvine’s family have offered to share DNA samples to confirm the identity of these remains.
The first man to conquer Everest?
Everest, the highest mountain in the world (8,848 m), was officially conquered for the first time on May 29, 1953 by the New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and the Nepalese sherpa Tensing Norkay. However, part of the mountain community remains convinced that they were beaten in 1924 by George Mallory, one of the most famous mountaineers of the inter-war period, and Andrew Irvine, who died on their way down from the summit.
According to them, the two men were equipped with one or more cameras which could contain evidence of their exploit. As early as 1933, an expedition found an oxygen mask and an ice pick belonging to Andrew Irvine. But the search for a camera that belonged to the rope party was never successful. Jimmy Chin hopes it will “reduce the search area”. And so, perhaps one day, to find the famous camera again.
Since the first expeditions launched in the 1920s, more than 300 climbers have died attempting to scale Everest. The global warming which affects the Himalayan chain reveals each year to the mountaineers who follow one another on the slopes of Everest their bodies hitherto trapped in the ice. Some are given nicknames such as “Green Shoes” or “Sleeping Beauty” and their colorful equipment now serves as landmarks on the ascent.
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