Can the history of the world’s highest peak be rewritten?
Were the two British climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine on Everest as early as 1924 – a full 29 years before the first documented ascent of the highest peak by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tensing Norgay? This question has excited many for decades, many books have been written on the subject.
Now, alpinist and documentary filmmaker Jimmy Chin from the US and his team have discovered on the central glacier below the north face of Everest a very old mountaineering shoe, the remains of a foot and a sock with the monogram “ACIrvine”. “I think the glacier only exposed the find a week before we found it,” Chin tells National Geographic. Can it then be considered that, 100 years later, the mystery surrounding Mallory and Irvine has finally been solved?
In 1924, 37-year-old Mallory and 22-year-old Irvine were part of a British expedition that set out to make the first ascent of Everest. They start on the Tibetan north side of the peak, as Nepal is still closed to foreigners at that time.
Mallory and Irwin set off for the summit on June 6 from an altitude of about 7,000m, accompanied by several Tibetan Sherpas. The next day they reach their final camp at an altitude of about 8,200 meters. From there, the last Tibetans return, carrying a note written by Mallory to fellow expedition member Noel Odell. It says: “We will probably leave early tomorrow so that the weather is clear.” From then on, the traces of the two are lost – they are considered missing.
He goes even higher, but bad weather forces him to return. The approaching strong storm makes further search impossible. The leader of the expedition, Edward Norton, sent the following telegram to the Times newspaper: “Mallery and Irwin perished in their last attempt to reach the summit.”
As part of the expedition, Norton reached a height of 8,570 meters – without using oxygen bottles, unlike Mallory and Irwin. This is a record in the conquest of Everest, surpassed only in 1978, when Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler reached the highest point in the world at 8849 meters for the first time without oxygen bottles.
But is there any doubt that the exposed shoe is Ervin’s? The answer is no. The shoe is spiked with steel nails, such as were used by climbers in those years. The condition of the leather is also consistent with a 100-year-old boot that has been in the ice for a long time.
The most important indicator, however, is the “ACIrvine” monogram. And final clarity is expected to bring DNA research. Irwin’s heirs have agreed to provide genetic material so it can be compared to the remains of the leg.
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