The harsh reality of Mount Everest is that, due to the scarcity of oxygen and freezing temperatures, those who perish on its slopes often have their bodies frozen in place, remaining as they were at the moment of death for years afterwards.

While several corpses have gained notoriety in their own right, such as the infamous ‘green boots’ man whose body served as a landmark on the mountain for many years, few have sparked as much intrigue as that of Peter Boardman.

His body was discovered nearly a decade after his disappearance, sitting upright, leaning against a rock and seemingly gazing out across the Himalayas.

Boardman vanished high on the world’s tallest peak alongside his close friend and climbing partner Joe Tasker in May 1982. The pair were attempting to conquer Everest’s formidable North-East Ridge from the Tibetan side, a route then considered the mountain’s last great unclimbed line.

Boardman and Tasker were last spotted late on 17 May at around 27,000ft, deep within Everest’s notorious “death zone”, an area where oxygen levels are so low that the human body begins to shut down.

They had been climbing for over 14 hours when radio contact was lost as night fell, reports the Mirror.

The path ahead, known among climbing enthusiasts as the infamous Three Pinnacles, is a narrow, exposed ridge of rock and ice where even a minor slip can be deadly. The duo were climbing without bottled oxygen, relying solely on speed, experience and judgement.

Expedition leader Sir Chris Bonington, watching from a lower vantage point through binoculars, recounted the final sighting of the pair as they vanished behind the Second Pinnacle at nightfall.

“It seemed unimaginable that they could have remained out of sight for so long unless some calamity had occurred,” Bonington wrote in his report. “At that altitude the human body deteriorates extremely fast, especially without oxygen.”

Rescue attempts were hampered by exhaustion, extreme altitude and deteriorating weather conditions. After several days yielded no trace, the expedition was compelled to withdraw, preparing for the worst outcome.

Almost ten years later, in 1992, a joint Japanese-Kazakh expedition finally revealed what had happened. Beyond the Second Pinnacle, at approximately 8,200 metres, climbers discovered a solitary body.

Photographs subsequently confirmed his identity. What stunned climbers most was his position – seated, resting against a rock, gazing outward across the expansive mountain ranges below.

He had not plummeted, nor had he been engulfed by snow. It is thought he simply exhausted his reserves and could advance no further.

Tasker’s body has never been located, though some of his gear was subsequently discovered higher along the ridge, indicating he may have continued onwards alone.

Boardman was 31. Tasker was 33.

Both ranked among Britain’s most accomplished climbers, renowned for daring, minimalist ascents that eschewed safety margins.

Bonington later said: “Their loss was enormous to the climbing world.”