After a century, Everest returns the remains of pioneer mountaineer Irvine

A National Geographic documentary team believes they have discovered on Mount Everest the remains of British mountaineer Andrew Comyn Irvine who died with climbing partner George Mallory a century ago during an expedition to reach the world's highest peak.

The news was picked up by the UK media, which spoke of a 100-year-long mystery surrounding the tragic end of the two climbers in June 1924.

The find concerns a boot that has emerged from the mountain ice with the remains of a frozen foot, which, according to the initials on a sock, leaves no doubt as to its affiliation: 'A.C. Irvine'.

Descendants of the mountaineer have offered to share DNA samples to confirm the identity of the remains returned from Everest. The sensational discovery, which comes after Mallory's torso was found in 1999, could provide further clues as to the whereabouts of the expedition's belongings and, above all, help solve one of mountaineering's longest-running mysteries: whether the two Britons ever made it to the summit.

In the past, there has been talk of a camera used by Mallory and Irvine that could theoretically contain developable film inside it with the fateful documentation of their conquest of Everest 30 years ahead of the official record achieved in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay.