Australian climber hopes to solve great Everest mystery

Sydney, May 18 (ANI): Aussie mountaineer Duncan Chessell will be scaling Mount Everest in the hope of finding the missing remains of Briton Andrew "Sandy" Irvine who alongwith countryman George Mallory had ascended the mountain in 1924 but had reportedly perished near the summit of the mountain, sparking off speculation about whether they had managed to conquer the peak or not.

Their mysterious death has for decades been a subject of intrigue for mountaineers. Chessell believes that the conditions are conducive for him to finally unravel the truth as he goes foraging for Irvine's body and hopefully the camera/reel that they had taken along but which had never been recovered.

"I was at North Col last week and the wind was 150 kilometres (90 miles) per hour and it was stripping snow off the mountain which has been there for many years," Chessell said in a message from base camp, according to AAP news agency.

If he manages to find conclusive evidence of the mountaineering duo having scaled the summit, they will posthumously supplant Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary who currently hold the distinction of being the first persons to conquer Mt Everest, Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"There is now bare rock exposed which has been deeply covered for decades in the most likely areas where Andrew Irvine's body may be. It is my intention to search those areas en route to the summit and take this rare opportunity to find him and, perhaps, the missing cameras," said Chessell

He will also be looking to become the first the first Australian to summit Everest three times. (ANI)