Today in History—May 1: The Discovery of Remains on Everest Raises More Questions
It is 1999, and Everest is experiencing its driest season in years. For nine climbers, this means a rare opportunity.
It’s not what you’re thinking.
This is no ordinary ascent of the world’s highest mountain. It’s a methodical grid search, based on years of research. And it’s unfolding at 27,000 feet to answer a question that’s gripped mountaineering for decades: Did British climbers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine reach the summit in 1924? Did they fall going up or coming down?
If they summited, they would have beaten Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the top by nearly three decades.
The ill-fated trek was Mallory’s third attempt at Everest. In June 1924, 38-year-old Mallory and his climbing partner, 22-year-old Irvine, set out from their camp at 26,800 feet. A teammate spotted them in the distance at about 2 pm.
They never returned. A monsoon made search and rescue impossible.
Mallory wasn’t just a climber, he was the one charting routes up Everest, before routes had names. The disappearance haunted the adventure world.
Clues surfaced over the decades—Irvine’s ice axe had been found in 1933. And on this day in 1999, the five strongest climbers from the research expedition set out, tracing Mallory and Irvine’s route up the North Col, chasing reports from Chinese climbers about seeing “an old English dead.”
They located Mallory’s body on a ledge at about 27,000 feet, several hundred feet below where the axe had been found, his injuries consistent with a fall.
To avoid causing commotion when they found George Mallory’s body, the expedition used a code: “I’ve got a thermos of Tang juice and some Snickers bars.”
The team was actually looking for Irvine—and they thought they’d found him, until they read the name on the clothing. You see, Mallory was the more famous climber, but Irvine was believed to have been carrying a camera, and—as Mallory was the hero of the story—Irvine would surely have photographed the other man atop the summit, if they made it. The film could answer that question.
After collecting material for DNA confirmation and searching for personal effects— especially that camera—the team covered the body with rocks, the most respectful burial on that frozen ground.
No camera was found.
In 2024 a boot emerged from the ice, the sock engraved with Irvine’s name. No other remains were found.
But now they know where to look. And somewhere, almost certainly, someone is already mapping the next search.
- 29,032 feet: Height of Everest
- 33 pounds: Weight of the oxygen tanks Mallory and Irvine carried (today these weigh about 8 pounds)
- 7,000+: People who’ve successfully summited Everest
- 1707: The Act of Union enters into force, officially creating the kingdom of Great Britain
- 1851: The Great Exhibition opens at the Crystal Palace, in London
- 1931: The Empire State Building in New York City officially opens
