A documentary team has discovered human remains on Mount Everest, believed to be those of a climber who went missing while attempting to climb the summit 100 years ago, according to a report. National GeographicDue to climate change, melting snow and ice in the Himalayas are increasingly exposing the bodies of climbers who lost their lives attempting to climb the world’s highest mountain.
British climber Andrew Irwin disappeared with his climbing partner, George Mallory, in 1924 as they attempted to become the first people to reach the summit of Everest, which stands at 8,848 meters (29,029 ft). Mallory’s body was recovered in 1999, but Irwin’s fate remained a mystery until its recent discovery by a National Geographic team on Everest’s Central Rongbuk Glacier. They found a boot containing a human foot, and a sock with a label reading “AC Irwin”.
The discovery could provide important clues about the location of the climbers’ personal effects and potentially solve one of mountaineering’s most enduring mysteries: whether Irwin and Mallory reached the summit before they died. If accomplished, he would have successfully climbed the summit, nearly three decades before the ascent was first confirmed by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
“It tells the whole story of what possibly happened,” said Julie Summers, Irwin’s niece, in an interview with National Geographic. She added, “I’ve been living with this story since I was 7 years old when my dad told us about Uncle Sandy’s secret on Everest. When Jimmy told me he saw AC on the label of the socks. When I saw the name Irwin inside the boot, tears came to my eyes. It was and remains an extraordinary and touching moment.”
The first documented ascent of Everest occurred on May 29, 1953, when New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay successfully reached the summit. Ten years later, in 1963, Jim Whitaker became the first American to accomplish this feat.
Members of the Irwin family have reportedly offered to provide DNA samples to confirm the identity of the remains.
Irwin, who was only 22 at the time of his disappearance, was last seen with Mallory on the afternoon of June 8, 1924, as they made their final attempt toward the summit.
Earlier this year, Malory’s last letter to his wife was digitized and published online by the University of Cambridge. In it he wrote that their chances of reaching the summit were “50 versus 1 against ours”.
It is believed that Irwin was carrying a small camera at the time, and finding it could potentially rewrite mountaineering history.
Jimmy Chin, mountaineering team member and national, said, “This was a memorable and emotional moment for us and our entire team on the ground, and we hope it ultimately provides peace of mind to their relatives and the mountaineering world.” Geographical explorer. Chin decided not to reveal the exact location of the remains to deter potential trophy hunters, but he hopes other artifacts, including a camera, may be nearby. “It definitely narrows down the search area,” he said.
More than 300 climbers have lost their lives on Mount Everest since the 1920s.
