Nepal, Oct 11 (V7N): Human remains discovered on Mount Everest by a documentary team may belong to British climber Andrew Irvine, who went missing nearly a century ago while attempting to summit the world's highest peak. This find, reported today by National Geographic, could solve one of mountaineering’s most enduring mysteries.

Climate change has been accelerating the melting of snow and ice around the Himalayas, increasingly revealing the remains of climbers who perished while striving to conquer Everest. Irvine, along with his climbing partner George Mallory, disappeared in 1924 while attempting to become the first to scale the mountain’s 8,848-metre summit. While Mallory’s body was recovered in 1999, Irvine’s fate has long remained unknown.

Recently, the National Geographic team found a boot containing a human foot on the Central Rongbuk Glacier. Upon further inspection, they discovered a sock with a label stitched inside that read "A.C. IRVINE." This discovery could offer clues about the climbers' final moments and even whether Irvine and Mallory succeeded in their historic climb, possibly reaching the summit nearly 30 years before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s recognized ascent in 1953.

The Irvine family has expressed willingness to provide DNA samples to verify the identity of the remains. Irvine was 22 when he disappeared, last seen on June 8, 1924, as he and Mallory began their final push toward the summit. A camera that Irvine was believed to be carrying could potentially provide conclusive evidence about their ascent.

Photographer and director Jimmy Chin, part of the team involved in the discovery, noted that the find significantly narrows down the search area for this elusive camera, which could rewrite mountaineering history.

Since expeditions to Everest began in the 1920s, over 300 climbers have died, with many bodies buried in the snow or trapped in crevasses. Some, however, remain visible on the mountain, becoming well-known markers on the route to the summit.

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