A foot, inside a sock and a boot, was lying in the lap of the Himalayas. Interestingly, the sock was embroidered with ‘A. C. Irvine’. This foot might have reached the summit of Mount Everest 29 years before Sir Edmund Percival Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay. Perhaps, history does not know the truth.

Andrew Comyn ‘Sandy’ Irvine (April 8, 1902 – June 8/9, 1924) took his last breath in June 1924 at the age of 22. Although his body has never been found, the foot was still there in the Himalayas as a witness of one of the world’s most discussed mysteries.

Irvine was a British mountaineer who took part in the 1924 British Mount Everest expedition, the third British expedition to the world’s highest mountain. He and his climbing partner George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (June 18, 1886 – June 8/9, 1924) disappeared somewhere high on the mountain’s Northeast Ridge. They were last seen alive on June 8, 1924 as they set off for the peak. While Mallory’s body was found in 1999, Irvine’s partial remains were discovered in 2024, the centenary year of his disappearance. Legend has it that the two were the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest a century ago! However, they did not get recognition simply due to lack of evidence.

Mallory, a Cambridge University graduate and a school teacher by profession, was in France during the First World War. He fell in love with the mountains after returning home at the end of the war. Once, he was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest. Mallory purportedly replied: “Because it’s there.“

An expedition team from the US found Mallory’s body at 26,760 feet, along with personal effects, in 1999. His body had been laying in the Himalayas for 75 years. Reports suggest that the body was partially frozen into the scree and well preserved because of the cold, dry air and constant freezing temperatures. Tied to the corpse’s waist were the remnants of a braided cotton climbing rope, tangled around the body, from which its broken, frayed end trailed. However, members of the team did not find the picture of Mallory’s wife. He was supposed to leave the picture of his beloved wife at the summit of Mount Everest. Perhaps, he managed to reach the summit and left the picture there. The discovery certainly provided clues, but no definitive proof about whether Irvine and Mallory reached the summit. Some mysteries may remain unsolved or may never have definitive answers. And that’s why the world is so beautiful.

Meanwhile, a National Geographic team led by adventurer Jimmy Chin found Irvine’s partial remains on Everest in 2024. The team found the remains, which emerged from a melting glacier, at an undisclosed location on the Central Rongbuk Glacier at an altitude at least 7,000 feet lower than where Mallory’s body was discovered 25 years ago. According to Chin, they found a detached foot inside a boot and sock, with ‘A. C. Irvine‘ on a name tape, emerging from the ice. However, his Kodak camera remains missing. Had they discovered the camera, history might have been written in a different manner.

Julie Summers, the great niece of Irvine, shed tears after receiving the news that the National Geographic team discovered his foot. She expressed her feeling of relief after receiving a call from Chin who reportedly said to her: “He was still there on the mountain.” When asked what if it could now be proved that Irvine and Mallory reached the summit (becoming the first to do so), Summers replied: “It would be nice – we would all feel very proud. But the family has always maintained the mystery and the story of how far they got and how brave they were, was really what it was about.” She stressed: “The only way we will ever know is if we find a picture in the camera he was believed to be carrying.“

Maybe in another 25 years, someone would find the picture of a woman on the summit of Mount Everest. Perhaps, the image still remains stuck to the glacier, in spite of the heavy snowstorm. She is Christiana Ruth Turner Mallory, the wife of George Mallory.

Irvine had no idea that his foot would lie in the snow-covered Himalayas for a century. A foot in a shoe and a sock has witnessed a number of events in the Himalayas for 100 years. Someone may pen down another story about one hundred years of solitude in the future. However, the Himalayas would remain, along with the memories of Irvine and Mallory.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das