Mallory disappeared on the peak in 1924

May 2, 1999
Web posted at: 10:12 p.m. EDT (0212 GMT)

MOUNT EVEREST (CNN) -- Mountain climbers ascending Mount Everest's north ridge said Sunday they found the frozen body of legendary mountain climber George Mallory, who disappeared on the peak in 1924.

The body was discovered at an altitude of 27,000 feet on the Chinese Tibet side of the mountain. Name tags and notes with Mallory's name were on the clothing of the body, according to one of the expedition sponsors, Peter Potterfield of Mountainzone.com.

The upper part of Mallory's torso was said to be intact.

The climbers who made the find are part of the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition, a 15-member climbing team that set off in March to learn the fate of Mallory and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine.

Some mountain climbing historians speculate that the duo were the first humans to reach Everest's summit, nearly 30 years before the successful ascent of Sir Edmund Hillary and his Nepalese partner Tenzing Norgay in 1953.

Hillary and Norgay were officially credited as the first to reach the world's highest point.

The Mallory-Irvine team was last seen 900 feet below the 29,028-foot (8,848-meter) summit in June of 1924.

The leader of the current expedition, Eric Simonson, called in the news of the find Sunday morning.

Potterfield said the discovery of Mallory's body will shed light on what happened to the ill-fated expedition.

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