A century after British climber Andrew "Sandy" Irvine and Great Uncle to Old Viking Henry Summers (79S), disappeared on Everest in 1924, his family received a call they never expected. A team filming a National Geographic documentary led by adventurer Jimmy Chin discovered a boot—with a foot inside—believed to belong to Irvine. The boot, revealed by melting ice on a glacier, could be the key to solving one of mountaineering’s greatest mysteries: whether Irvine and George Mallory were the first to summit Everest, 29 years before Hillary and Norgay.

Irvine’s great-niece, Julie Summers, called the discovery “extraordinary,” as the family had long given up hope of finding any trace of him. The family provided a DNA sample to confirm the identity, though the sock found in the boot was embroidered with "A.C. Irvine," a clear sign.

Irvine, 22 at the time, was last seen climbing toward the summit with Mallory in June 1924. Mallory's body was found in 1999, but Irvine remained elusive. Many hope that finding Irvine’s body - and the camera he was believed to be carrying - and the could finally answer whether the pair were the first to make it to the top.

For the family, though, the discovery brings closure. Julie Summers describes her Uncle Sandy as adventurous and recalled how her grandmother had a photo of him by her bed until the day she died and would recount how Irvine "was a better man than anyone would ever be." 

Although for Summers, it is a chance to remind the world about a young man "who took life and lived it", embracing every opportunity, she and her cousins are grateful the older generation were not here for this discovery. "For them, Everest is his grave," she explained.