A documentary team has discovered human bones on Mount Everest believed to be those of a man who disappeared while attempting to climb the mountain 100 years ago, National Geographic magazine reported Friday.
climate change Snow and ice around the Himalayas is becoming thinner and thinner exposing the remains of climbers People who died chasing their dream of climbing the world’s highest mountain.
Englishman Andrew Irvine went missing in 1924 along with his climbing partner george mallory They attempted to be the first to reach the summit of Everest, which is 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) above sea level.
Mallory’s body Discovered in 1999 But clues about Irvine’s fate remained elusive until a National Geographic team discovered a boot with the remains of his foot still encased in the mountain’s central Rongbuk Glacier.
Upon further inspection, the magazine reported, a pair of socks was found with “a red label with AC IRVINE sewn into it.”
/AP
The discovery could provide further clues about the whereabouts of the team’s belongings and may help solve one of mountaineering’s most enduring mysteries: whether Irvine and Mallory ever made the summit. do not have.
This could confirm Irvine and Mallory’s first successful ascent, nearly 30 years before climbers Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the currently recognized first ascent in 1953. be.
“This probably tells the whole story of what happened,” Julie Summers, Irvine’s great-niece, told National Geographic.
“I’ve lived with this story ever since my father told me about the mystery of Uncle Sandy on Everest when I was 7 years old,” she said. “When Jimmy told me he saw A.C. Irvin’s name on the sock label inside his boots, I was moved to tears by myself. It was and remains a special and emotional moment. I will continue.”
The first recorded ascent of Mount Everest was almost 30 years later, on May 29, 1953, by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. jim whitaker He became the first American to reach the summit.
Hundreds of climbers die on Everest
Members of the Irvine family reportedly offered to share DNA samples to confirm the identity of the remains.
Irvine was 22 years old when he went missing.
He and Mallory were last seen on the afternoon of June 8, 1924, by one of the expedition members after they had begun their final climb to the summit that morning.
At the beginning of this year, Mallory’s last letter His letters to his wife have been digitized for the first time and published online by the University of Cambridge. In the letter, he wrote that the odds of climbing the world’s highest mountain were “50 to 1 against us.”
Irvine is believed to have been carrying a vest camera, and his discovery could rewrite mountaineering history.
“This was a monumental and emotional moment for us and the entire team on the ground,” said climbing team member and National Geographic Explorer Jimmy Chin. I just hope it brings peace of mind to everyone.” .
Chin declined to say exactly where the body was found because he wants to deter trophy hunters. However, he is sure that other items, and perhaps even a camera, are nearby.
“It does reduce the search area,” he told National Geographic.
Everest Foundation/Royal Geographical Society (Getty Images)
More than 300 people have died on the mountain since expeditions began in the 1920s.
Some are hidden in the snow or swallowed up by deep crevasses.
Some climbers are still wearing colorful mountaineering gear, and it has become a landmark on the way to the summit, giving Gallows humorous nicknames such as “Green Boots” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
In June, Five frozen bodies were recovered. The bones, including skeletal remains, were discovered on Mount Everest in Nepal as part of a mountain cleanup on Mount Everest and its neighboring mountains Lhotse and Nuptse.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.