Mallory-Irvine Everest Expedition Update: In late May this expedition reported finding a body in leather boots above 8000 meters on the North Face of Everest. They suspected it wasn’t the body of Sandy Irvine–George Mallory’s climbing partner on the day he died–but the climber was so ripped up by the fall that killed him that they needed to study the evidence carefully (they then gave the corpse a decent burial on the mountain). Well, now the results are in and the team has concluded that the body is that of Chinese climber Wu Tseng-Yue. Here’s the thinking:

It would be hard to imagine finding a body in worse shape. They [the climbing team] described the body as “headless”, with severely broken bones. The chest area of the body was heavily damaged. The body was not covered with stones when they found it (i.e., it had not been buried by earlier climbers). The body with broad shoulders was found with shoulders pointing downhill. Only one “leather boot” was found; its size was estimated around 9-10. Nothing was on the wrists (no wristwatch, bracelet, etc.). The climber wore handmade socks and had no gloves on. The hands were black and bone. No harness of any kind was found on or near the body, nor any rope.

History, of course, tells us that only 2 climbers (besides George Mallory) died above 8000 meters on Everest’s North Side: Sandy Irvine and Wu Tseng-Yue before 1985. [And] after looking at the evidence, the letters on the lining of the leather boot is WU, as you can see in the picture [below]. All other markings you might see in that picture is just dirt. Studying the picture and the film of the body, you see, lying on his back, head facing downhill on the North Face a climber with one leg touching the Yellow band, the body was essentially demolished by his fall. His head is completely missing and his waist ripped open. Like Mallory, the skin of his thorax was marble white and undamaged by the elements.

The expedition has chosen not to publish (so far) the film and picture of the body they allude to, remembering the outrage which accompanied the commercial exploitation of the grisly pictures of Mallory after he was found. But they will at some point publish a full account of their 2004 hunt for Irvine. It’s a grisly yet fascinating business…



Dead Man’s Boot: Wu Are You? Not Irvine…

(Photo: EverestNews.Com)