Remembered with pride: Shrewsbury headmaster reveals Old Salopian habit that identified him on Everest

And the headmaster of Shrewsbury School says 1920s climber Sandy Irvine learned a “sensible habit” at school which helped identify him 100 years after he disappeared.

Mr Irvine’s boot was found near the top with a sock inside which revealed the owner’s identity.

Leo Winkley, the independent school’s headteacher, said: “Touchingly, the boot found near the summit of Everest contained his sock with a ribbon with the school’s name neatly stitched on it – AC Irvine.

“A sensible habit learned at Shrewsbury has helped him identify it a century later.”

Winkley said the school is “very proud” of Mr. Irvine.

He said: “The discovery of Sandy Irvine’s remains on Everest exactly 100 years after she disappeared near the summit is a very significant moment.

“Not only does it bring closure to his family and relatives, but the find could unlock one of mountaineering’s greatest mysteries.

“We are proud of Old Salopian Sandy Irvine as a model of adventure, courage and service that lives on in the life of Shrewsbury School today a century later.”

Irvine was a pupil at Shrewsbury before moving on to study at Oxford University and then found his way onto the Everest team led by George Mallory.

“Mallory is said to have chosen Irvine as her partner for the summit attempt because he was extremely fit, very loyal, and the most skilled at operating the oxygen tanks.”

The discovery may also help answer the question of whether they reached the summit decades earlier before Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing officially conquered the world’s highest peak.

The school held a special event earlier this year that asked these questions.

Mallory and Irvine disappeared somewhere high on the northeast ridge of the mountain, having been spotted only a few hundred meters from the summit. In the 100 years since their ill-fated 1924 expedition, there has been speculation as to whether they could have.

Proof that they did would sensationally rewrite history. Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999, but Irvine, who was carrying a camera that could provide photographic evidence that the pair conquered Everest, remained missing.

Then, in September, a National Geographic team below Everest’s North Face found an old-style climbing boot, with the foot inside, melting from the ice.

One of the team, Jimmy Chin, examined the sock. There was a sewn-on label that read “AC Irvine.”

The team immediately recognized the importance.

“We were all literally running around in circles dropping F-bombs,” he said.

The discovery may point to Irvine’s body, and perhaps the camera, nearby.

“It certainly narrows the search area.”

It was Irvine who carried the Kodak Vest pocket camera, thought to be on a lanyard around his neck. Photography experts believe the dry and icy conditions may have preserved the film, meaning it could be successfully developed, revealing the answer to one of the mountain’s most enduring secrets.

Born in Birkenhead, Irvine was a pupil at Shrewsbury School from 1916 to 1921, where he was head of house at Severn Hill.

The school has several archives associated with this illustrious Old Salopian and his story remains an inspiration for pupils to push themselves. It is commemorated in a number of ways, including a plaque in the chapel.

A keen sportsman throughout, Irvine particularly excelled in rowing and athletics. His prodigious skill as a rower made him a star of the 1919 “Race for Peace” at Henley.

It wasn’t until May 29, 1953 that Everest was officially conquered.

Whether or not Old Salopian Irvine reached the summit 100 years ago, Shrewsbury School has a long history of alumni climbing Everest.

Sir Robert Charles Evans, an old Salopian, was the deputy leader of the 1953 expedition and came within 300m of the summit. Dr. Adam Booth was the most recent alumnus to conquer Mount Everest, on May 12, 2013.