Mount Everest has a way of holding onto its secrets. For over a century, the mystery of George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine has been the holy grail of mountaineering lore. Did they make it to the top in 1924, nearly thirty years before Hillary and Tenzing? Honestly, nobody knows for sure, but the mountain just gave up a massive piece of the puzzle.
In September 2024, a team led by Jimmy Chin—the guy who directed Free Solo—stumbled upon something sticking out of the ice on the Central Rongbuk Glacier. It was a boot. A leather, hobnailed boot that looked like it belonged in a museum, not on a modern glacier. Inside was a foot, still encased in a sock. When they looked closer, they saw a name stitched into the fabric: A.C. IRVINE.
The 100-Year Wait for Sandy Irvine
Finding Irvine is a huge deal. Basically, since Conrad Anker found Mallory's body in 1999, the world has been obsessed with finding Sandy. Why? Because Sandy was the one carrying the camera.
The Kodak Vest Pocket camera.
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If that camera is ever found and the film is somehow salvageable, it could literally rewrite history. We’ve always known Mallory was found at about 26,760 feet (8,156 meters). He was face down, his fingers dug into the scree as if he were trying to arrest a slide. He had a broken leg and a rope-jerk injury around his waist, suggesting a violent fall while still tied to Irvine. But Irvine was nowhere to be found. Until now.
The fact that Chin found the boot at a much lower altitude on the glacier suggests that the mountain’s slow-moving river of ice has been carrying Irvine’s remains downward for a century. It's a bit grim, but it's also a relief for his family. His great-niece, Julie Summers, has spent her life living with this legend. You've got to imagine the phone call from Jimmy Chin was pretty heavy.
Why Does This Mystery Still Matter?
People get weirdly defensive about the Mallory and Irvine debate. There are two main camps.
The "Summiters" point to a few key things. First, Mallory didn't have the photo of his wife, Ruth, on him when his body was found. He had promised to leave it on the summit. Second, his snow goggles were in his pocket. This suggests he was descending at night, which might mean they were coming down late after a successful summit bid.
Then you have the skeptics. They look at the Second Step—a 100-foot-high vertical rock wall that is the technical crux of the North Ridge. In 1924, Mallory and Irvine were using primitive oxygen sets that leaked and wool clothing that basically turned into frozen armor. Conrad Anker, one of the best climbers in the world, struggled to free-climb that step in 1999. Could a guy in tweed and leather boots do it in 1924? It's a stretch.
The Sighting by Noel Odell
You can't talk about Mallory and Irvine without mentioning Noel Odell. He was the last person to see them alive. On June 8, 1924, he was at about 26,000 feet when the clouds parted for just a second. He saw two small black dots on a ridge, "moving expeditiously" toward the top.
He thought they were surmounting the Second Step. Later, he doubted himself, wondering if it was actually the First Step, which is much easier and further from the summit. If it was the Second Step, they were almost there. If it was the First, they were way behind schedule and likely never stood a chance.
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What We Actually Know Now
With the 2024 discovery of Irvine's boot, the search area for the rest of his remains—and that elusive camera—has shrunk significantly. Jimmy Chin hasn't revealed the exact coordinates because, let's be real, he doesn't want trophy hunters swarmimg the glacier.
Here is what the evidence currently looks like:
- George Mallory: Found in 1999. Died from a fall. Likely descending in the dark.
- Andrew Irvine: Boot and partial remains found in 2024 on the Central Rongbuk Glacier.
- The Rope: A severed, braided cotton rope was found on Mallory, confirming they were tied together when the accident happened.
- The Camera: Still missing. This is the only thing that will ever provide "proof."
Actionable Insights for the History Obsessed
If you're following this story, don't expect a resolution tomorrow. DNA testing on the remains found by Chin's team is the next formal step to 100% confirm it’s Irvine, though the name tag on the sock is pretty much a smoking gun.
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For those who want to dive deeper into the nuances of the climb, check out The Lost Explorer by Conrad Anker or The Third Pole by Mark Synnott. They offer the best technical breakdown of why the North Face of Everest is such a nightmare, even for the most prepared athletes.
Keep an eye on the Central Rongbuk Glacier reports over the next few climbing seasons. As the climate warms and the ice thins, more artifacts are likely to "melt out." The camera might be sitting in a meltwater pool right now, waiting for someone to look in the right direction.
If you want to understand the scale of what they were trying to do, look at the equipment. Go to a mountaineering museum and look at the 1920s gear. No GPS, no Gore-Tex, no lightweight carbon fiber. Just grit and a lot of hope. Whether they made it or not, standing at 28,000 feet in 1924 is one of the most insane physical feats in human history.
To stay updated on the latest findings, follow the official National Geographic dispatches and the Royal Geographical Society’s archives, which hold the original 1924 expedition logs. The mystery isn't closed yet; it's just entered a new chapter.