Boot of George Mallory’s partner Andrew Irvine offers new clue in the riddle of who climbed Everest first

Traces of a British adventurer have been found on Everest – a century after his disappearance sparked a still unsolved riddle.

At 22, Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine was the youngest member of the ill-fated 1924 bid to conquer the world’s highest mountain.

He was famously lost on the upper slopes alongside George Mallory, when the two vanished on June 8 that year.

They were last seen from afar just a few hundred feet from the 29,032ft summit, “going strongly for the top” – and the tantalising possibility the daring but doomed duo reached the summit before their presumed deaths has been debated by climbers and historians ever since.

If they did succeed, it would have been decades before New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal claimed the glory of first stepping on to the ‘roof of the world’ on the eve of Queen Elizabeth’s 1953 coronation.

Speculation over who was first will be reopened by the latest development – with a sock embroidered with “AC Irvine”, along with a boot, now finally discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below Everest’s north face.

A foot believed to be Irvine’s remained within the discovered boot.

DNA tests are to be conducted with the Irvine family’s agreement.

Irvine took a Kodak camera with him, which has yet to be found.

The discovery is the first tangible evidence of his death since he and Mallory, 37, made their bid to become first to scale the Himalayan mountain, on the border of Nepal and Tibet.

It raises the possibility that Irvine’s body could yet be found, frozen in the high altitude ice and snow – perhaps even with evidence the summit was indeed reached, if the Kodak camera could be found.

Mallory’s remains were finally found in 1999 by climber Conrad Anker, and are now in the possession of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association, which is responsible for climbing permits on Everest’s northern side.

Irvine’s clothing was at a lower altitude, suggesting he may have fallen further than his comrade.

The new find was made by a team funded by National Geographic for a documentary.

They believe the ice around the boot had melted to reveal it only a week before they were in the area.

They were searching the glacier after discovering an oxygen tank nearby dated 1933 – the year an expedition found an item belonging to Irvine and a sign that his remains could be nearby.

Jimmy Chin, leader of the new expedition, said: “This was a monumental and emotional moment for us and our entire team on the ground, and we just hope this can finally bring peace of mind to his relatives and the climbing world at large.”

Irvine’s great-niece and biographer, Julie Summers, said: “I have lived with this story since I was a seven-year-old when my father told us about the mystery of Uncle Sandy on Everest.

“The story became more real when climbers found the body of George Mallory in 1999, and I wondered if Sandy’s body would be discovered next.

“A quarter of a century after that discovery, it seemed extremely unlikely that anything new would be found. When Jimmy told me he saw the name AC Irvine on the label on the sock inside the boot, I found myself moved to tears. It was and will remain an extraordinary and poignant moment.”

Irvine was educated at Shrewsbury public school and Merton College, Oxford, where he became a member of the university’s mountaineering club.

Thanks to his experience he was invited to join Mallory on Everest, using his engineering skill to improve their oxygen apparatus for use at high altitude.

Professor Joe Smith, director of the Royal Geographical Society, which organised the 1924 expedition with the Alpine Club, said: “The society deeply appreciates the respect Jimmy Chin’s team has shown Sandy Irvine’s remains and their sensitivity toward Sandy’s family members and others connected to that expedition.”