Remains of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine found on Everest

In 2019, a NatGeo expedition attempted to locate Irvine’s body (lost for over 95 years) and hopefully retrieve the man’s camera, based on Holzel’s conclusions. They failed, although the expedition was filmed and became a gripping 2020 documentary, Lost on Everest. Chin’s expedition took up the mantle for the hunt for Irvine’s remains this year.

NatGeo Explorer and professional climber Jimmy Chin led the expedition that found Irvine’s likely remains.

Erich Roepke/National Geographic

NatGeo Explorer and professional climber Jimmy Chin led the expedition that found Irvine’s likely remains.

Erich Roepke/National Geographic

Closeup of a sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine” discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below Everest’s North Face.

Jimmy Chin

Closeup of a sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine” discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below Everest’s North Face.

Jimmy Chin

NatGeo Explorer and professional climber Jimmy Chin led the expedition that found Irvine’s likely remains.

Erich Roepke/National Geographic

Closeup of a sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine” discovered on the Central Rongbuk Glacier below Everest’s North Face.

Jimmy Chin

In September, Chin’s team found a 1933 oxygen canister as they were descending Central Rongbuk Glacier, most likely from the 1933 expedition that found Irvine’s ice axe on the northeast ridge. The canister had fallen off the mountain, and the team reasoned that it probably fell farther than a body would have, so Irvine’s remains could be just a few hundred yards up the glacier. So they targeted their search to that area.

Eventually, they spotted a boot emerging from the melting ice: old cracked leather with studded soles and steel hobnails consistent with 1920s climbing gear. Inside was the sock. “It was actually [expedition member] Erich [Roepke] who spotted something and was like, ‘Hey, what’s that?,’” Chin told National Geographic. “I think it literally melted out a week before we found it. I lifted up the sock and there’s a red label that has A.C. IRVINE stitched onto it. We were all literally running around in circles dropping F-bombs.”

The partial remains are now in the custody of the China Tibet Mountaineering Association. Official confirmation that this is, indeed, Irvine must await the DNA results. “But I mean, dude—there’s a label on it,” Chin said. “Any expedition to Everest follows in the shadow of Irvine and Mallory. We certainly did. And sometimes in life the greatest discoveries occur when you aren’t even looking. 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.”