Boot found on Everest may solve peak's great mystery

A film crew's chance discovery on a high slope may provide clues to the ill-fated 1924 expedition of Mallory and Irvine

- ALEX CROFT

The enduring mystery of Mallory and Irvine, the tweed-clad heroes of Everest last seen vanishing into a cloud as mist swept over the Himalayan summit, may finally have been solved 100 years on from the tragedy that so nearly ended in triumph.

Andrew "Sandy" Irvine, the youngest member of the 1924 Mount Everest expedition, disappeared on the upper slopes alongside George Mallory on 8 June that year while attempting to become the first people to climb the world's highest peak.

With efforts on the coveted summit taking place in the few short years following the First World War, and with Britain having lost the race to the North and South Poles in desperate circumstances, the assault on Everest represented efforts to restore the reputation of British exploration - and indeed preserve the prestige of a declining empire.

The mystery of whether the duo reached the top before their death has been debated by climbers and historians for many decades. If they succeeded, they would have accomplished the feat 29 years before Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, who made the summit in 1953.

Now, what appears to be the partial remains of Irvine have finally been uncovered in the biggest breakthrough in the great Everest mystery since Mallory's frozen corpse was found 25 years ago.

In the latest development, a sock embroidered with "A.C. Irvine" and a boot were discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier, below the north face of Everest, by a team of mountaineers filming a documentary.

The finding offers the first meaningful insight into the young man's death since the ill-fated expedition to the 8,849m peak with the Irvine family having volunteered to compare DNA test results with the remains to confirm his identity.