A team of filmmaking climbers discovered human remains on the Central Rongbuk Glacier, below Mount Everest, while filming for a National Geographic documentary.
Due to climate change, the snow and ice in the region had thinned, exposing the remains of mountaineers who died scaling the highest mountain in the world.
While scaling the mountain, the group came across an old leather boot that was sticking out from under the melting ice. Upon closer examination, they noticed the foot in the boot still had a sock around it – one with an embroidered label that read ‘A.C. Irvine.’

Andrew Comyn Irvine was a British mountaineer who disappeared in 1924 while trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest. His climbing partner, George Mallory, also vanished during the expedition.
While Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999, Irvine’s remains were never found. An expedition of climbers did, however, locate an ice axe in 1933 – one that belonged to Irvine.
Now, many decades later, they have located the Irvine’s remains. However, the group will not be disclosing the exact location to deter others from ‘searching for trophies’.
The discovery could help answer one of the greatest mysteries in mountaineering – whether the pair had successfully managed to reach the summit in 1924.
Julie Summers, the great-niece of Irvine, said she had known about her uncle ever since her father told her about his story when she was seven years old. When Jimmy Chin, the director who led the National Geographic team told her about the recent discovery, she was moved to tears.
Chin speculated that the boot only became visible a week or so before being found.
As it was exposed, however, ravens began to disturb the remains. So he and his team asked the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association for permission to carry the boot down the mountain.

While the team cannot say for sure that the boot and foot belongs to the famed mountaineer, Chin is confident as ‘there’s a label on it’.
The boot and foot will also be sent to a lab, where it will be DNA-tested.
The National Geographic team, however, did not find the Kodak vest camera that Irvine brought with him during the expedition. If it were to be found, it could rewrite mountaineering history by providing insight as to what happened that fateful day and whether or not the pair had reached the summit.
While they weren’t able to locate it, Chin and his team are confident that they are nearby.
Evidence That The Pair Reached the Summit
While no one knows whether or not the pair ever reached the summit, there are several clues that suggest they did.

According to Mallory’s daughter, he had always carried a picture of his wife with him and had planned on leaving it at the summit. When his body was discovered in 1999, however, the photo was not on his person.
The mountaineers who discovered his body also noticed that he had his snow goggles in his pocket, meaning he had likely died at night, which suggests the pair descended late in the day after pushing for the summit.