Andrew "Sandy" Irvine was one of the mountaineers (the other being George Mallory) who attempted to make the first ascent of Mount Everest. He was born in Birkenhead on 8 April 1902, he was educated at Birkenhead School, Shrewsbury School and Merton College, Oxford. He was a keen sportsman and excelled at rowing and was a member of the crew that won the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race in 1923. George Herbert Leigh Mallory (June 18, 1886 - June 8, 1924) was a British mountaineer. ... In climbing, a first ascent (FA) is the first climb to reach the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route. ... Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth above mean sea level. ... Map sources for Birkenhead at grid reference SJ3088 Birkenhead is a town on The Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, on the left bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... 1902 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Birkenhead School is an independent school located on the Wirral, in the Northwest of England. ... Shrewsbury Schools Coat of Arms Shrewsbury School is a leading British boys public school (UK), located in Shrewsbury in the county of Shropshire. ... Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. ... A coxless pair, sweep-oar rowing to the left of the photo; the bowside rower (or the starboard one, although the British term applied on this occasion) is further towards the bow of the boat. ... Boat Race Logo Exhausted crews at the finish of the 2002 Boat Race The Boat Race is a rowing race between the rowing clubs of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1923 he was chosen for a universty expedition to Spitzbergen, where he excelled on every front; and, recommended by the Spitzbergen expedition leader, Noel Odell, he was selected for the forthcoming 1924 Everest expedition when he was still a 21 year old undergraduate. 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Irvine was extremely shy but possessed a natural engineering genius to fix or improvise almost anything mechanical. His companion and friend George Mallory) later wrote home, having set sail for the Himalayas, that Irvine "could be relied on for anything except perhaps conversation". He was later to make major, crucial, innovations to the team's professionally designed oxygen sets that radically improved their functionality, lightness, and strength, and was universally popular and respected by his elder colleagues for his ingenuity, companionability and unstinting hard work. George Herbert Leigh Mallory (June 18, 1886 - June 8, 1924) was a British mountaineer. ...

The ascent itself took place in early June, and the last day that the climbers were seen was 8 June 1924. Unfortunately the two never returned to camp that day, and it is still uncertain if they ever reached the summit. Irvine's body has never been recovered. June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1999, Mallory's body was found at around 28,000 ft (8,530 m) on the North Face of Everest by an American expedition. Two details noted when Mallory's body was discovered further fueled the speculation as to whether the pair did in fact reach the summit that day in 1924: 1999 is a common year starting on Friday Anno Domini (or the Current Era), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

• Firstly, Mallory's daughter has always said that Mallory carried a photograph of his wife on his person with the intention of leaving it on the summit when he reached it. This photo was not found on the body when it was discovered. Given the excellent preservation of the body and its garments, this lack points to the fact that he may have reached the summit and deposited the photo there.
• Secondly, Mallory's snow goggles were in his pocket when the body was found, indicating that he was killed at night. This implies that he and Irvine had made a push for the summit and were descending very late in the day. Given their known departure time and movements, had they not made the summit, it is unlikely that they would have still been out by nightfall.

While indeed tantalising, neither of these details are conclusive in themselves. What may possibly provide concrete evidence would be the recovery of images contained in the cameras that the men were carrying. Unfortunately, neither of the two cameras that the expedition carried have been found. Many have speculated that Irvine may have been carrying one of the cameras when they were killed. Experts from Kodak have stated that if one of the cameras is found with film, there is a good chance that the film could be developed to produce "printable images" due to the nature of the black and white film that was used. Eastman Kodak Company NYSE: EK is a large multinational public company producing photographic materials and equipment. ...

References

• Peter Firstbrook Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory and Irvine, BBC Books (1999) ISBN 0563487127
• Holzel and Salkend The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine, Pimlico (1999) ISBN 0712664882

External links

• BBC History page on Everest
• Everest News on Sandy Irvine
• [1] - a tribute site to Sandy Irvine, and a general overview of the 1924 Everest Expedition expedition and the summit attempt.