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Mystery reopens as remains of Everest victim Andrew Irvine 'found'
From timesonline.co.uk:
"MOUNTAINEERING experts believe they have identified the final resting place of the most famous climber to go missing on Everest. After close scrutiny of aerial photographs, they believe they have spotted the frozen remains of of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, who disappeared with his climbing partner George Mallory close to the summit in 1924.
Tom Holzel, the American making the claim, hopes that tucked inside the remaining clothing on Irvine’s blackened body will be a camera. If its film is intact and shows Irvine or Mallory on the summit, it would be worth a fortune. It would sensationally overturn the claim of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a sherpa, to be the first conquerers of the mountain in 1953.
Holzel, 69, has spent three decades trying to solve the mystery of whether Mallory and Irvine died on the way up to the summit - or on the way down. Too old to attempt another climb himself, he wants to recruit a benefactor to lead an expedition to reach the “oblong blob” that he identifies as Irvine’s remains.
He said: “From all the treasure hunting clues we have followed, this new site fits the bill. We know exactly where we want to go using GPS co-ordinates.”
Mallory, 37, an Everest veteran credited with the remark that he wanted to climb Everest “because it’s there”, and Irvine, 22, are believed to have died when they fell, roped together.Mallory’s body was found in 1999 and buried on the slopes; Irvine’s has never been recovered, although a Chinese climber reported seeing it before dying in an avalanche himself.
This week appeals will be published in explorers’ newsletters and on mountaineering websites, seeking funds for an expedition to the spot identified by Holzel. He said: “We are looking for someone like [Sir] Richard Branson or a rich prince to lead the expedition. It will take crampons in the snow to get the final answer to this long quest.
“We will take our candidate to within 250 yards of the body, point out where it lays and film him finding Irvine, who appears to be lying on his back with his feet pointing towards the summit. All he has to do is fumble in the pocket, find the camera and bring it back. We will leave the body where it is.”
Irvine was known to be carrying a Kodak camera lent to him by another mountaineer. Holzel added: “Modern film would be ruined by cosmic rays but old fashioned celluloid that has been permanently frozen should be fine.
“A photograph of Mallory and Irvine at the summit would cause a sensation. Every newspaper in the world will want to carry it. It must be worth £1m.”
Audrey Salkeld, the British author of more than a dozen books on mountaineeringincluding Climbing Everest: Tales of Triumph and Tragedy on the World’s Highest Mountain and Mystery of Everest, said: “I am a little sceptical whether you can tell if it is a body from a blown-up aerial photograph.
“Tom is obsessed with this and anxious it should be solved but he is pinning his hopes on a camera. We don’t know how much it has been knocked about or even broken open.” "
From timesonline.co.uk:
"MOUNTAINEERING experts believe they have identified the final resting place of the most famous climber to go missing on Everest. After close scrutiny of aerial photographs, they believe they have spotted the frozen remains of of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine, who disappeared with his climbing partner George Mallory close to the summit in 1924.
Tom Holzel, the American making the claim, hopes that tucked inside the remaining clothing on Irvine’s blackened body will be a camera. If its film is intact and shows Irvine or Mallory on the summit, it would be worth a fortune. It would sensationally overturn the claim of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a sherpa, to be the first conquerers of the mountain in 1953.
Holzel, 69, has spent three decades trying to solve the mystery of whether Mallory and Irvine died on the way up to the summit - or on the way down. Too old to attempt another climb himself, he wants to recruit a benefactor to lead an expedition to reach the “oblong blob” that he identifies as Irvine’s remains.
He said: “From all the treasure hunting clues we have followed, this new site fits the bill. We know exactly where we want to go using GPS co-ordinates.”
Mallory, 37, an Everest veteran credited with the remark that he wanted to climb Everest “because it’s there”, and Irvine, 22, are believed to have died when they fell, roped together.Mallory’s body was found in 1999 and buried on the slopes; Irvine’s has never been recovered, although a Chinese climber reported seeing it before dying in an avalanche himself.
This week appeals will be published in explorers’ newsletters and on mountaineering websites, seeking funds for an expedition to the spot identified by Holzel. He said: “We are looking for someone like [Sir] Richard Branson or a rich prince to lead the expedition. It will take crampons in the snow to get the final answer to this long quest.
“We will take our candidate to within 250 yards of the body, point out where it lays and film him finding Irvine, who appears to be lying on his back with his feet pointing towards the summit. All he has to do is fumble in the pocket, find the camera and bring it back. We will leave the body where it is.”
Irvine was known to be carrying a Kodak camera lent to him by another mountaineer. Holzel added: “Modern film would be ruined by cosmic rays but old fashioned celluloid that has been permanently frozen should be fine.
“A photograph of Mallory and Irvine at the summit would cause a sensation. Every newspaper in the world will want to carry it. It must be worth £1m.”
Audrey Salkeld, the British author of more than a dozen books on mountaineeringincluding Climbing Everest: Tales of Triumph and Tragedy on the World’s Highest Mountain and Mystery of Everest, said: “I am a little sceptical whether you can tell if it is a body from a blown-up aerial photograph.
“Tom is obsessed with this and anxious it should be solved but he is pinning his hopes on a camera. We don’t know how much it has been knocked about or even broken open.” "
