According to a statement on the National Geographic website, the documentary crew came across a boat while they were on the Rongbuk Glacier north of Mount Everest in September.
The team examined the boot that emerged from the melting ice and saw that it contained a foot and a wool sock. They thought that the remains might belong to Irvine, nicknamed “Sandy”, who disappeared while climbing to the summit of Everest with his friend George Mallory 100 years ago.
“I lifted the sock from inside the boot. It had a name tag on it that said ‘AC IRVINE,'” said Jimmy Chin, the National Geographic photographer and director who made the discovery.
It was reported that Irvine’s family provided a DNA sample to determine whether the foot found belonged to the climber.
The disappearance of British mountaineer Irvine and his friend Mallory while climbing to the top of Mount Everest is considered one of the greatest mysteries in mountaineering history. The duo, who were last seen on June 8, 1924, made history as the first people to attempt to reach the summit of Everest.
While Mallory’s remains were found in 1999, the camera the duo carried with them, which could have revealed whether they had reached the summit, has never been found.
