Last week’s announcement that a boot and partial remains believed to belong to the British explorer Sandy Irvine had been found on Mount Everest by a National Geographic documentary crew supercharged interest in a mystery that has endured since he vanished with George Mallory on the mountain 100 years ago.

The find comes 25 years after Irvine's climbing partner George Mallory’s frozen body was also discovered on the Himalayan peak.

When Sandy Irvine went on a pioneering expedition to Mount Everest’s summit in 1924, he and his partner vanished. The recent discovery may shed light on the ill-fated adventure.