Why We Can't Find Sandy Irvine's Body on Everest  

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Another incredible video man. The progression from your expedition in 1999 to your return in 2019, then following on to this interview as well as the follow-up interview you did with Mark after 2019 is all pretty incredible. My personal opinion is that the mystery will never be solved, but that Mallory & Irvine did reach the summit. That, however, would mean that the north side first ascent by the Chinese is null and void; this could explain why the serious hush hush from CTMA folks as well as the liaison officers. That said, really THE ONLY thing that could have proven this is the film in the camera. To me, it makes sense, with all the sightings of bodies, that the Chinese did indeed find Irvine’s body along with the camera. The camera would have been taken, and the body “thrown” over the side (ie pushed down into the netherworld to where it would be invisible) both make absolute perfect sense, both logically and summarily. The most interesting fact to me is the museum piece. With the wealth of pieces they had on display (according to Jamie) it is highly possible the camera is indeed there. Items get lost in museum back rooms every day. The difference is, however, that to admit ownership of the camera would mean that new conversations would take place about the film. Whether or not the film produced pictures or not is almost irrelevant, as the Chinese simply don’t want those conversations opened. In reality, my opinion is that what they really don’t want opened is a discussion on the real first ascent from the north side. As it stands, the Chinese went down in history as holding this torch, and they simply don’t want the subject spoken about or questioned. They’re kinda funny like that if you believe the media- stories of coverups when coverups weren’t necessarily needed, etc. So, while in mind I have actually kind of formulated what happened, the reality is that there is still a little more we could learn. And as the video states, that involves finding the right people in China who will answer our questions openly. At the end of your interview with Mark, he comments about how he hopes he can be the person to do that. And while it doesn’t matter to me who gets the info, I see Jamie as a much more likely source to find the true answers. He has the relationships already, and sometimes it just takes persistence to reach the promised land - and maybe a “gift” or two to the right people.😉 At the end of the day, while none of this information will change anything we do in the real world, I DO think the history of the mountain deserves to be told in the most truthful way possible, and that means we are still have questions that must be answered. So yes…somebody book those flights to Lhasa, and maybe another expedition to the north side. This time, they need to skip the summit and use energy to thoroughly scour the north side again. There could still be clues there. Another great vid man. Mike

Its truly weird that I live fifty feet from Sandy's home, in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula. Ignorant of his efforts and fame till I researched his name from a plaque outside his house. His mother left a light burning to light his way home from Everest. A true adventurer...

I just found your site by accident, and I am glad I did. I was a climber for 52 years, mostly in the Pacific Northwest, but have always been interested by the Mallory-Irvine story. I'm happy to be able to support your channel.

Hello to Jamie from Canada. Jamie supplied basecamp support for myself and my climbing partner Caroline for Cho Oyu in 2002! I’m so glad to see you have done so well with your guiding career !

Thom. Interviews are your strong suit on your Everest Mystery channel. This is very well done and Jamie is an appealing and engaging personality.

Wait... what?? You were part of the expedition that found Mallory? I'll be damned. (Maybe this was common knowledge but I'm new to your channel). Anyway, bravo! A sad but historic find!

As someone who speaks fluent Chinese, my assumption of “thrown off the mountain” at around 12:55 would mean “disposed of/taken off of”(This is if the officer spoke Mandarin - most likely they did) as the term “扔了” or “丢掉” the first meaning “throw”, the second “thrown off” both could mean pretty much “get rid off” in general. They can be used for throwing out trash, throwing a ball, disposing unused items - most commonly clothes,tool, or like displacing anything to be quite frank (quite broad terms as is most Chinese words/phrases). So I’m guessing the officers directly translated the word into English because that is something a lot of chinese do while speaking English.

Thanks so much for doing these videos. Thanks so much for keeping it up. I regret that you have to put up with the type of unkind remark some of the commenters below have made. I hope the sincere appreciation of the rest of us helps to make up for it, and I also thank the more thoughtful commenters below for their additions. As for myself, I'm just an amateur onlooker, but I find it interesting.

Jaime, what a nice guy! Thanks for doing the interview, Thom!

Fascinating… why the big secret though? Why would they hide the fact that he had been found and removed?

Hi Thom! Wow. This mystery continues to get more and more interesting, just joined the Channel. Jaime McGuinness it totally credible. So many questions and reactions. 1. Irvine was "not far off the main route", in 1999 your team scoured that part of the mountain and found Mallory, how could Irvine have been missed? 2. If we truly believe Irvine was "thrown off" the mountain in 2008 , forget the museum... I wanna see someone search the base of mountain below ( head of Rongbuk Glacier?). 3. If Irvine was disposed of by Chinese officials, it was to protect China's "first ascent" in 1960. China's FA summit claim should be in question until the "summit" rocks they brought back are analyzed by a Western University and confirmed that they are truly from the summit. 4. Totally agree with you that someone should attempt the traverse to the Norton Coloir and zig-zag route, looking for evidence of 1924 climb. Thanks for GREAT video, look forward more.

I think Mother Nature keeps many things to herself.

I've always felt they made the summit, they were so close when last seen.,also their determination for the summit was unflappable

This was fascinating! Someone MUST get to the private museum and report back - it would be SO good to know more.

Another fascinating insight into the fate of Irvines body. I find it incredibly sad that knowledge to solve this mystery might never be known.

Fascinating. Awaiting to hear more on this - museum and high-ranking official.

Why hasn’t all the drone footage from the 2019 expedition been released? If so much money was spent and nothing was found there would be no commercial reason to withhold it and it could at least be used to add to the public database of information.

I wonder if this most likely means disposal occurred via the Kangshung Face or if he was taken down to Base Camp and disposed of from there. One way of determining this would be to assess how and where the CTMA disposed of other bodies during clean up operations.

Very intriguing share Thom !! 🙏🏼

This is so informative! Great job, fantastic reporting!🌻🌼🐝 Keep it up 🙌

Fascinating stuff, love your dedication to the subject mate and would be fantastic for someone to get to the museum to find out more. Yes, you're right, I've met Jamie, a straight up Kiwi who tells it as it is. Great interview.

Good to see this channel doing so well! Thanks for all of the great content. - Long Time Subscriber

Very interesting video. I would like to know more about that museum.🤔

What!? Of course, i think we all sort of suspected this but how interesting. Thank you for another great video. 🙏🙏🙏👏👏👏

Fascinating interview.

Hi, from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👋 I wonder if, on the centenary of M&I going missing, 8th June 2024, the Chinese will publish a photo of them on the top. It'd be front page news around the globe! 🙏

Thank you very much! Since you guys found Mallory’s body back in 99 I’m very interested in this fascinating mistery.

Very interesting video. I think its very likely this is what happened. Most of the possible Irvine sightings seem to be from before 1999 so im guessing he is gone now but i won't give up hope of him being found in the future. I wonder if he was there when you guys found Mallory and if so how close you were without realising. Even the British 1933 team could have been close without knowing.

Thanks for another insightful and interesting presentation. ♾♾♾♾

thanks for the video.

Fascinating!! Thank you.

After listening to all the parties who have been to Everest and searched for his body, I earnestly believe that he is located in a place no one expects him to be. I believe erosion has had a hand in it, but I believe he is lower on the mountain then anyone expects him to be. That is my personal opinion.

Great video, I really enjoyed that

I have a few observations/ questions following listening to this interview relating to items in the museum. Mallory's body was found with one boot missing and a boot from possibly the 1920s is in the museum. I often wondered what other items, back packs etc were not found at the site where Mallory was found. I appreciate that Irvine may have been removed from the mountain but it would be fascinating to discover if any artifacts in Tibet could be linked to either Mallory or Irvine.

Great work Thom it is fun to look at your video of Everest. In the last 100 years lots of climber went to Everest North side and may have found the camera without telling anybody. Thom did you know if the member of the 1933 British expedition search for Mallory and Irvine after having found the ice axe?

Great intro brother . Super document ❤ from ireland

Would love to know more. I have always believed since the discovery of Mallory"s body, that they died on the way down.

Could it not just be that due to weather conditions or human intervention the body has just been covered up and is now no longer visible?

Really like the good, encouraging words to sign off.

According to what I read, Irvine and Mallory were tied together with a rope. So whoever fell first, must have dragged the other with him. Of course at some point the rope severed and each landed in their own spot. My question is, if the Chinese removed Irvine, why was Mallory's body not removed? Mallory would have been more "valuable" to remove him. I have always believed that the Chinese recovered Irvine but, just maybe, they did not have enough resources to recover two. Plus the camera was with Irvine making him more valuable. It is my firm belief the Chinese have the camera and they are not disclosing it. Maybe they are just waiting for the 100 year anniversary to announce something.

So many trolls on your comments. I'm sorry people disagree in childish ways. People Speak your opinion but making personal attacks is so childish abd disgusting. Geeze! Thanks for sharing your information. It's a valid opinion. I respect that.❤

I had watched a video just last night that mentions this very story. It was claimed that the Chinese Expedition of 1966 wished to be named as the first to summit Everest but came across the body of Sandy Irvine just below the first Hilary Step. His oxygen bottles on the ground around him. It's been stated that certain evidence of the Chinese finding and removing Irvine's body had been leaked and then quickly hushed up. They had also claimed to have had his camera which would be the evidence that showed whether a summit was made. The other strange mention was that Mallory had also kept a photo of his wife close to him within his clothing and planned to place it on the summit. This photo has never been found on or near Mallory's body. Perhaps he had made it to the summit and the photo was taken away by the same Expedition that had removed Irvine's body from the mountain? Two members of the 1924 Expedition working with Mallory and Irvine, Noel Odell and John Noel, have stated that they had no doubt at all that they had summitted the mountain. They were the two whom Mallory had written notes to. Noel Odell was the last person to have seen Mallory and Irvine alive and moving at 12:50pm on the 8th of June on a prominent ridge near to the base of the final pyramid. I'd rather take their word as they had no reason to cover anything up. It's a trusted local whom you need to return to this private museum, not one of you who can be easily detected. Unfortunately, I don't have any confidence in the Chinese revealing any information about this story. It's a disgrace that they have taken Irvine's body and are storing it somewhere in China, wrong on so many levels. They should do the right thing and give him back to his family! Please follow up on this story whilst keeping safe in the meantime. When a secret such as this is want kept quiet, no-one is safe.🇦🇺

I wonder why all the secrecy surrounding by Mallory and Irvine? People can learn from what happened to them and they are the two people who made history by being the earliest people to traverse Everest that far... Thanks again for another interesting show.

Just came across you channel, and find it interesting. Only recommendation is get a 4K camera, as they are affordable enough now days (even a 1080p camera would be a HUGE improvement). Otherwise, keep up the good work and I'll keep an eye out for future posts

Another great thought provoking video. It’s sad to think that Sandy was “thrown” off the mountain, but it does make a strange kind of sense. I would love to see and learn more about that museum and its collections. Thanks as always.

Someone from CCP has scared the Sherpa guide into not talking.

Exciting!!!

Great video! I wish we could know for sure ans it wasn't a big secret.

INCREDLY FASCINATING

Fascinating!

Do we know that Irvine was carrying the camera and not Mallory? The camera was loaned to Mallory and if he carried it up to the summit, but it was not with his body, that suggests they made the summit and he gave the camera to Irvine to photograph Mallory on the summit. If Irvine carried the camera the whole time then we can't make that assumption.

Thanks!

Since the Chinese have that route of the mountain locked up they are obviously upset that they were not the first to summit. In my mind Irvine and mallory's equipment were confiscated early on in other Chinese attempts to summit and may have been in the museum archives all along. Irvine's ice pick was found but apparently nothing else. Equipment could have been moved but it is almost impossible to move bodies at that elevation. But the Chinese knew where Mallory was if not Irvine. ("English dead" referenced by a Chinese climber motioning in the direction of what became the discovery of Mallory). Since the Chinese were beaten to the summit by Hillary and Tenzing, the Chinese started a cover campaign and then figured out how to move the bodies but by then Mallory was discovered so Irvine had to be moved

thank you

My hat is off to you Sir. I've just followed a blog on just trekking to base camp being a very challenging endeavor with the sickness and what not. Anyways, you are Inspirational.

"...His exact wording was 'thrown off the mountain a lot earlier than that;' so the throwing was said in a way that he couldn't quite find the right words in English perhaps, so I'm not sure he exactly meant throwing but maybe removed maybe you cleaned up and disposed of much earlier than 2008..." It physically hurt me to hear this. I suppose we will never know what was meant by "throwing" but when one considers the physical conditions at that altitidue it is extremely difficult to imagine they had the will or means to carefully retrieve the body from its frozen state and properly remove it from the mountain. When I hear this account by Jamie McGuinness, every fiber of my being screams out that the Chinese climbers who found Irvine discarded his body in a way that can only be described as careless and disrespectful to his family and historical legacy.

Was just about to head out until I saw this had been posted dinner can wait!

Maybe the Chinese dont want people to know that Mallory and Irvine made it to the summit because if they did it would change history and that would take away the 1953 expedition and that would put them in second place and put the 1924 expedition in first place but they should someday come clean to Irvines family and tell them what happened to him.

Hi Thom Fascinating. Perhaps likely too. What route Jaime thinks they took ? Ajay

Noooooo! Although I think deep down we've known this for a while. The artifacts in that one Chinese museum was the nail in the coffin I think.

Love the blue watch cap and your channel.

Thanks for the fascinating interview and thoughtful replies to the comments below. Do you have any insights or knowledge of how bodies have been intentionally disposed of in the past for the purposes of cleaning up the mountain. Is it a case of pushing a body off into a steep section if feasible and if not then undertaking the difficult and dangerous work of dragging it down until its ''off the mountain'' (is there a definition of what that means to you or in climbing circles/CTMA circles) and lastly does your current best theory imply that most if not all the bodies are still on the mountain but just not necessarily where they were originally? Thanks again for your continued work in keeping this very greatest of mysteries alive.

Finding Sandy Irvine's body is not that important. What's important is finding the camera. Were Mallory and Irvine the first to Summit Everest?

i think if IF they found him. they are ashamed they tossed him without saying anything all those years ago

Just freaking WOW....!! I don't think Sandy was literally thrown off, but slid or was carried down. I hate the idea or rumour the the Chinese found the camera and promptly muffed up the film processing.

I think it's worth it to go to Lassa, and fine the museum.

wow!

Seems to me, that if one of the Chinese teams came across his body, they would grab the camera and any other important other items and "remove" the body by pushing it off into who knows where - toconceal any evidence the camera was taken. Lowering a dead body from that altitude would be enormously difficult.

There is a post here in the comments that mentions the museum vid on RU-vid. It's about an hour long and informative. It states it's a public museum with lots of artifacts and looks well done especially the 3D models of the route(s). I'd like to point out it addresse the artifacts with the "shoe" boots and let's not forget the British had 2 previous expeditions before 1924 and thus maybe that's how these "shoe" was obtained. Besides the comment made about the 'shoe' it shouldn't deter the narrative about how Irvine's body was taken off the mountain. There are many great videos with great commentary that warrants this suspicion. To wich you can draw your own conclusions. Sandy Irvine was young big and strong and very intelligent 'fixing' things and would have made a great partner. The camera WAS given to Mallory but not found on his body. My opinion based on accounts they were so close to summit , and did summit thus Mallory giving Irvine the camera to take his picture. And 'if' Mallory did suffer an injury before his fall it would make sense for Irvine to continue on with that camera as proof. All speculation on my part of course. Big thanks to Everest Mystery for great video. If your an Everest enthusiast ya gotta check out his other vids, they're awesome. For someone like me I'm so fortunate to check all this out from the comfort and safety of my living room and be easy to pass judgment on these great mountaineers. All the best. 👍😎🍺

The level of secrecy regarding Irvine is proof to me that they made the summit, there wouldn't be any other reason to hide facts and have witnesses afraid to talk.

February 10 th,2024:I think the reason for the Chinese removing Irvine’s body from Everest and having the camera with them is that Mallory and Irvine probably reached the summit with photos proving it and the Chinese wouldn’t be able to say they were there before,I think it’s sort of dumm from the Chinese not accepting the fact that they have the proof that Mallory and Irvine reached the summit many years before other’s did

I love your videos mate, the thought and effort you invest in them is always much appreciated. I have never understood the rationale behind the Chinese snatching Irvine's body away hypothesis. Taking the camera I understand, but the body, hmmm. Irvine, like Mallory would have been frozen into the rock and the Chinese would have had to rip, chop, and pull his body out of it. Why? The effort necessary to do this doesn't seem to make much sense with no certain chance of success to be had. And for what reason, to keep him on ice in some institute's locker or storage unit . . ? While I can make no pretense as to the thoroughness of the searches for Irvine's body there are I believe two possibilities - If Mallory was the first to fall would Irvine, remember, a novice, have decided to just sit down to await his fate, or would he have attempted to struggle on? If the latter, has every single possible fall line been investigated (recognizing of course the central conundrum: where did he fall from)? If memory serves did not Mallory's body come to rest some few hundred feet or so before he would have tumbled another couple thousand feet further down where he might never have been discovered? Has the search for Irvine been as intense lower down the mountain as it has higher up? With apologies for my crassness in suggesting it, after all, you've got nothing better to do, right, I hope that you will put together a lengthy video that attempts to answer all the questions that, to my ears anyway, continue to echo. Again, very well done. Cheers!

This really would not surprise me

So you were told in 2010 that Irvine was thrown off the mountain but then return in 2019 to do a big search mission and now you won‘t release the drone footage, where nothing could be possibly found in it…yeah that makes sense…

Brilliant video. Jamie comes across as very credible and likeable. I hope it is possible to drill down further. It would be great to known where the body was found and what happened to the chap from Birkenhead. I was always fascinated that both Mallery and Irvine were born within spitting distance of Lancashire.

❤❤❤

My 5th watching pf this xx❤❤

Is it possible to search the rainbow valley for sandy or no? That’s where thrown off would end up correct?

I want someone to climb the never climbed before mysterious Zig Zag route that we are told could be the route M and may have took.

thanks for the interesting Video. i could not figure out of it how can you / Jamie be sure that it was most probably Sandy's body that been removed? as i understand Jamie did not receive any info on the body's look, namely did it had blond hair? old clothes? was it laying with legs to the summit & hole in the chick, as described by the Chinese climber?

Mallory with oxygen, any oxygen, could have made it to the moon. I think some geniuses decided they better not rewrite history.

If the locations of both bodies are known by GPS, and the route they took is known, then an approximate fall location could be estimated. Knowing both climbers were seen going strong for the summit. Then is the estimated fall location below the last time they were seen?

Am I the only one that thinks this is complete BS? With this much interest in this particular story, keeping it on the down low sounds extremely fishy to me. I also have serious doubts about the Chinese version of anything concerning Mt Everest.

Truly fantastic documentary. I feel this is a very logical explanation for the disappearance of Sandy's equipment and body. China is not the place to be right now as an American, unfortunately. Hopefully, that changes but not likely.

Common language problem here, "thrown" is probably not an accurate description of what was done. In Tibet, sky burial is traditional. If, and that is an IF, Irvine was given a traditional Tibetan disposal, his body would have been cut up into pieces and fed to the birds and animals. Large bones would have been crushed so the animals could eat the marrow. Bone fragments are chewed by rodents to sharpen their teeth. From dust to dust. His remains would be scattered all over the countryside.

It’s incredible hard to trust the Chinese about anything at the same time it’s not hard to believe they would do something like this so idk

Does anyone here know the name and/or address of this museum?

Wasn't there an expedition before Mallory and Irvine's that people made a summit attempt and didn't come back? If so what are the chances that the artifacts, the boot and the ice ax in the collection, along with the body that was removed belongs to one of them?

As @Lorenzo622 said, why keep it a secret?

Can you explain what would be gained by the bodies taken off the mountain. Are they then disposed of, and if so how? Throwing them down makes little sense, unless it’s down a ravine, so they’d never be seen again

Did you take a photo of Mallory's watch when it still had the hands/hand on it?

I'd mark it down as an unverified rumor until other evidence is found. I wouldn't go assuming it's true based just on these conversations.

I believe you guys made a deal with the Chinese and this is the story you want people.to believe. Edit: wheres the drone footage? Where did mark synott go on his descent? There's one story for the public and another that's being hidden it seems

That was really fascinating. "Cui bono" as we say in law. What would be the benefit to the Chinese of removing the body? I see the comments about wanting the 60's 'ascent' to be the first. But that doesn't make sense to me. It's not like the '53 ascent was a secret. Or is the idea this was just part of a general clean up?

The use of the word "throw" is a curious and unlikely choice for someone with limited English. Throw is not nearly as common as "carry" "take" "move" (or probably some others) and people learn the most common words first. Perhaps he really did mean "throw" . as McGuinness says was done to the Olympic climbers who died. But I would not assume language limitations make "throw" the word likely to be used if the speaker meant "carried", "taken" or "moved" off the mountain. However if the CTMA was attempting to move the body and it "fell" or was "dropped" by accident, throw would be a more natural word substitute with someone with limited vocabulary. If the body was lost in an accident, it is also likely that the CTMA would not want to admit this failure, any more than they wanted to admit that Olympic torch climbers died.

100% they took the body off the mountain, wether it was thrown or lowering down, they know what happened… why else would they act so secretive and not want to talk about it? Somethings definitely fishy

I’ve said since I first heard about them that he probably fell down the other side.

Irvine was sighted by telescope from an adjacent mountain in an early British expedition. He was in plain sight.

I think at this point that anything and everything needs to be done to get Irvine's body back to his family. We may never know if Mallory and Irvine were the first to summit because the Chinese know they did and want to keep it secret or they inadvertently destroyed the old camera film. But whatever happened, his body need to he returned so he can be buried in England. I think that both the museum in Lohse needs to be visited and the Chinese official be contacted because answers need to be given.