Andrew "Sandy" Irvine

Sandy Irvine, (member of the Oxford University winning Boat Race crew) 1923 © The Sandy Irvine Trust, UK.  Not to be reproduced without permission.

Perhaps none of the many stories and legends of Everest so captures its dramatic and tragic spirit than that of George Leigh Mallory and Andrew “Sandy” Irvine. The two men were lost in an attempt at Everest’s summit in 1924 nearly, 3 decades before the first recognized summit by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. The mystery of whether the two men reached the summit and died on the way down is still debated to this day.

What is known is that by 1924 George Mallory, a handsome and intellectual member of Victorian society was one of Britain best climbers. He had been to Everest on several previous expeditions and had studied the mountain, concluding that the path to the summit was long but climbable. Andrew “Sandy” Irvine was a ‘fixit’ man. He had a reputation for being able to fix anything and his expertise was greatly needed in dealing with the expedition’s comparatively primitive and balky oxygen equipment.

The two men left their camp on at the top of the North Col together; making their way over the next two days to camp V and then to camp VI. On the morning of June 8^th they left their high camp headed for the summit. Geologist Noel Odell spotted them briefly just 800 feet below the summit before a veil of mist and blowing snow hid them from view forever. The two men were “'going strong for the top“ according to Odell but were never seen alive again and were presumed lost on Everest’s North Face.

A Chinese climber reportedly found a body that was presumed to be Irvine’s in 1975. He described it as a an "English dead" whose clothes were so fragile from age that they blew away in the wind when touched. As the body was found 750 directly below where Irvine’s ice axe was found it was believed to be he. Yet in 1999 a body found at 26,800-ft turned out to be George Mallory.

Since no camera was found with George, it is now theorized that, Mallory, who was known to be forgetful, would have been handed off the camera to the more dependable Irvine before the two men died. And though Mallory died from a fall, Irvine’s remains and possibly the camera and the exact reason for his death have never been found. If in the coming years an expedition discovers the spot on Everest’s vast North Face where Irvine still lays it may finally put the mystery of Mallory & Irvine’s fate to rest.

 

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