Remains of a climber who disappeared 100 years ago found on Everest (5 photos)

For years, many have been searching for Irvine's body, partly because the 22-year-old was said to have carried a camera with undeveloped film inside, possibly a photograph of friends on the summit.





The remains of a climber who disappeared on Everest in 1924 have been found. His family breathed a sigh of relief when they found out, having been unaware of his fate for all these years, the BBC reports.



A team of climbers filming a National Geographic documentary stumbled upon a boot during a melting glacier. Experts have suggested that the boot belonged to Andrew Comyn "Sandy" Irvine, who disappeared while attempting to climb Everest in June 1924 with his climbing partner George Mallory.

For Irvine's great-niece Julie Summers, the discovery was extraordinary.

"I just froze... We had all given up any hope that any trace of him would ever be found," she told the BBC.



Summers grew up hearing stories about her grandmother's adventurous, Oxford-educated younger brother, whom they knew as "Uncle Sandy."

"My grandmother had a picture of him by her bed until the day she died," she recalled. "She said he was a better man than anyone had ever been."



For years, many have been searching for Irvine's body, partly because the 22-year-old was said to have been carrying a camera with undeveloped film inside, possibly with a photo of his friends on the summit.

Irvine's family has now submitted a DNA sample to confirm that the leg and boot are indeed his, but the film crew is almost certain that they belong to the climber. A sock found inside the boot has a name tag with the words "AC Irvine."



Irvine and Mallory were last seen alive on June 8, 1924, when they set out for the summit. Mallory's body was found by an American climber only in 1999.