In the annals of the exploration, few stories catch the imagination as the tragic story of George Mallory and Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, the tweed dressed climbers who disappeared among the mugs of Mount Everest in 1924. For a century, his disappearance has fed one of the greatest mysteries of mountaineering: did they conquered the highest peak of the world before their death of the Summit confirmed in Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary? 1953? Now, an impressive discovery, an embroidered sock with “A.C. Irvine” and a worn, unearthed in the Rongbuk central glacier, has revived the search for answers, taking off the layers of the story to reveal a long -buried truth on ice.

In the shadow of World War I, the imperial pride of Britain was mistreated. Having lost the races towards the poles of the north and southern United States and Norway, the United Kingdom turned his gaze into Everest, the “third pole”, as a final bastion to claim his exploratory glory. The 1924 Everest expedition, backed by the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club, was more than a rise; It was an attempt to restore the prestige of an empire that vanishes.

In the heart of this mission were George Mallory, a charismatic school teacher and experienced mountaineer, and Sandy Irvine, a 22 -year -old oxford row and engineer whose quiet strength earned him a place in the team. Mallory, a veteran of Everest’s attempts in 1921 and 1922 of Great Britain, was the axis of the expedition, his strange ability to read the mountain that distinguishes it. The recognition of 1921 only mapped 12,000 square miles of the unknown Himalayas land, a feat that remains a cornerstone of modern cartography. Irvine, although with less experience, brought youth and technical ability, described by Mallory in a letter to his wife as someone who “could trust anything, except perhaps conversation.”

On June 8, 1924, Mallory and Irvine embarked on their fateful offer of the summit. The expedition had been full of bad planning and disease, but its determination burned. In his last letter to his wife, Ruth, Mallory wrote: “He is 50 to 1 against us, but we will still have a whick and we will feel proud.” While they went up, the colleague member of the Noel Odell expedition glimpsed them thousands of feet underneath, two black points that moved constantly through a crest before disappearing in a rotating cloud. They never saw each other alive.

Days later, a gloomy cablegram from Colonel Norton arrived at the Mount Everest committee: “Mallory and Irvine killed in the last attempt. The rest of the game arrived well at the base camp.” Great Britain cried his fallen heroes, with King Jorge V attending his commemorative service in the Cathedral of San Pablo, a rare honor for the mountaineers, as the historian Wade Davis points out inIn silence. For 75 years, the fate of Mallory remained a mystery, and the enigma of a century of Irvine.

In 1999, the Conrad Anker climber stumbled on the frozen remains of Mallory at 26,800 feet, just 2,200 feet from the 8,849 meters of Everest. The discovery, now in the possession of the Tibet Montañism Association of China, revived the debate: Mallory and Irvine reached the top? The Mallory Chamber was missing, which could have held a photographic test, and a photo of Ruth that promised to leave at the summit. His absence fed the speculation that the duo could have been successful, only to perish in the descent.

Now, a century after its disappearance, a new chapter has been developed. A documentary team led by the director of National Geographic Jimmy Chin discovered a marked sock “A.C. Irvine” and a boot in the Rongbuk central glacier, under the north face of Everest. The finding, at an altitude lower than Mallory’s body, sent the team to a frenzy. “We were running in circles, shouting expletives,” Chin recalled. “It is the first real evidence where Sandy ended.”

The discovery, made days after the team found an oxygen cylinder of 1933 of a subsequent failed expedition, offers a tempting track. That previous finding, along with a 1933 discovery of the Ice Ax of Irvine on the top of the Northeast Crest, had already hinted at his possible career. Chin speculated that Irvine’s remains could be “a few hundred yards for the glacier,” confirmed a heart when the filmmaker Erich Roepke saw the boot that emerged from the ice. “He literally melted a week before we found him,” said Chin.

For Julie Summers, Irvine’s niece and biographer, the discovery was deeply personal. “I have lived with this story since I was seven years old,” he said, remembering how his father introduced him to the mystery of “Uncle Sandy.” When Chin shared news from the initials embroidered from the sock, Summers was “transferred to tears.” The Irvine family has offered voluntary DNA to confirm the identity of the remains, a step that could achieve a closure after a century of uncertainty.

Chin, a veteran climber, includes the weight of the finding. “Any expedition to Everest continues in the shadow of Irvine and Mallory,” he said. “Sometimes the biggest discoveries occur when you are not even looking.” He defended the precise place to protect the trophy hunter site, emphasizing the need to honor the legacy of the climbers.

The discovery of the remains of Irvine sharpens the central question: did they comply with? The Escalada community remains divided. The absence of the Mallory Chamber and Ruth’s photo suggest that they could have reached the beak, but the technical challenges of the second step, a face of almost vertical rock, make it unlikely without modern equipment. However, the ability of Mallory and the tenacity of Irvine keep the possibility alive.

For now, the truth is locked in the ice cream hug of Everest, shared only by the mountain and the two men who dared to challenge her. The remains of Irvine, emerging after a century, offer hope that discoveries, perhaps the elusive camera, one day solve the debate. Until then, the story of Mallory and Irvine endures as a testimony of human ambition, sacrifice and the relentless attraction of the unknown.

“This was a monumental and emotional moment,” Chin said. “We hope this can finally bring peace to your relatives and the world of climbing in general.” As the world reflects on this advance, the 1924 legend grows, reminding us that some mysteries, such as Everest, refuse to be conquered.