Transcript of Boot found on Everest may solve 100-year-old climbing mystery | BBC News

Now, 100 years after a British mountaineer disappeared on an expedition to Mount Everest, climbers appear to have found his remains. Andrew Irvine, who went missing with the renowned explorer George Mallory, whose body was, of course, found in 1999. Now, a sock, embroidered with Mr Irvine's name, AC Irvine and a boot have been found on the north face of the mountain, as Victoria Gill reports.

Sandy Irvine, seen here on the left with his companion, the great mountaineer, George Mallory. Mallory was asked just before their 1924 expedition, why he wanted to climb Everest. His famous answer, because it's there.

But the two explorers disappeared together during their ill-fated attempt to summit the highest mountain on Earth. Irvine and Mallory were last seen less than 300 meters from the top, sparking a century of speculation as to whether they succeeded in their goal before they lost their lives. Now, National Geographic filmmaker Jimmy Chin has led a mission that has found what's believed to be Sandy Irvin his partial remains. The team discovered a foot inside a 1920s leather boot with a name tag, AC Irvin, stitched into the sock.

Hopefully, this leads us to have a greater understanding, a bit more clarity about the events of that fateful climb. That's the hope. I think in that lends the importance of the find.

A member of Irvine's family has volunteered to provide a DNA to allow the remains to be scientifically identified. For the family, this is a moment to remember a brave young man with an appetite for adventure.

The story of Uncle Sandy has affected all of us. Although he's an important historical figure, and his name is inextricably linked with George Mallory and Everest and the tragedy of 1924. He was a young man. He was 22. He was a great oresman. He was a good skier. He was very popular with the opposite sex. He had lots of women who adored him. But above all, he was a young man who just took life and lived it.

The discovery has not solved the mystery of whether Sandy Irvine and George Mallory made it to the summit of Everest, but it has revealed that the site of his great adventure became Irvine's final resting place.

Victoria Gill, BBC News.