University Explorer Everests in Peace
On June 8 1924, 22-year old Oxford student Andrew Irvine headed for the summit of Everest with George Mallory. They were never to return from this fateful mission. This month an American expedition will be searching for any remaining evidence of Irvine's body.
It is unknown whether the explorers ever reached the summit. Mallory's body was found on the north face of Everest, but the expedition failed to find Irvine's body and Mallory's vintage Kodak camera which may hold important clues to their fate.
Kodak claims it may be possible to develop film in the camera which could have been saved by the cold temperatures of high altitude. If the film has been preserved then it opens up the possibility of obtaining the first photograph ever taken at the summit.
The climbing team will spend the next few weeks searching the area for Irvine's body and the rest of the explorers' possessions. However, it is possible that Irvine's body has been discovered before now. In 1975, a Chinese climber claimed that he had found two "English dead" on the mountain. One body had been found high up the mountain, close to where an ice axe belonging to Irvine was found in 1933. Since then, historians have speculated that the body was Irvine's, as proof for the theory that Mallory had gone alone for the summit after sending Irvine down. Irvine had then slipped and fallen to his death and Mallory had disappeared near the summit.
This month's expedition should unlock further clues as to whether either one of them was the first person to reach the summit of Everest.
3rd May 2001