The boat found by a National Geographic documentary team on Mount Everest is believed to belong to Andrew Comyn Irvine, a British mountaineer who disappeared while climbing to the summit 100 years ago.

According to a statement on the National Geographic website, the documentary team came across a boat on the Rongbuk Glacier north of Mount Everest in September. After examining the boot, which was exposed by melting ice, and finding a foot and wool socks inside, the team thought the remains might belong to Irvine, nicknamed 'Sandy', who disappeared 100 years ago while climbing to the summit of Everest with his friend George Mallory.

“I lifted up the sock inside the boot and there was a name tag that said 'A.C. IRVINE,'” said Jimmy Chin, the National Geographic photographer and director who made the discovery. Calling this finding “the first real evidence” about the missing mountaineer Irvine, Chin said this was important for Irvine's relatives who wondered what happened to him. It was reported that Irvine's family gave a DNA sample to see if the foot belonged to the climber.

The disappearance of British mountaineer Andrew Comyn Irvine and his friend George Mallory while climbing to the summit of Mount Everest is considered one of the greatest mysteries in mountaineering history. Last seen on June 8, 1924, the duo made history as the first people to attempt to reach the summit of Everest. While Mallory's remains were found in 1999, the camera the duo carried with them, which could have revealed whether they had reached the summit, was never found.