In 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappeared high on Mount Everest, leaving behind one of mountaineering’s most enduring mysteries. A century later, new discoveries have added clues but still no definitive answer. Did they reachthe summit nearly 30 years before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay? In this episode, we trace the 1924 Everest expedition, Mallory and Irvine’s final climb, the evidence found in the decades since, and the 2024 discovery believed to be linked to Irvine.

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Source Materials

Wade Davis, Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest

E. F. Norton et al., The Fight for Everest: 1924

Noel E. Odell, “The Last Climb of Mallory and Irvine,” The Geographical Journal (1924)

Royal Geographical Society, “The Mount Everest Expedition of 1924,” The Geographical Journal (1924)

Grayson Schaffer, “Exclusive: Remains of Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine Believed to Have Been Found on Everest,” National Geographic (2024)

Tessa Wong and Flora Drury, “Family Tells of ‘Relief’ After 1924 Climber’s Foot Found on Everest,” BBC News (2024)

Mark Synnott, “The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine,” Artful Living (2024)

Aberdeen Press and Journal, “More Light on Everest Disaster: Mr Odell’s Last View of Lost Climbers” (1924)