The preserved body of an American mountaineer, William Stampfl, who disappeared 22 years ago while scaling a snowy peak in Peru, has been found after being exposed by climate change-induced ice melt, police said Monday. Stampfl was reported missing in June 2002 at the age of 59 when an avalanche buried his climbing party on the mountain Huascaran, which stands more than 22,000 feet high. Stampfl was with friends Matthew Richardson and Steve Erskine when they attempted the ascent. Erskine’s body was found shortly after the avalanche, but Richardson’s remains are still missing.
Peruvian police said Stampfl’s remains were finally exposed by ice melt on the Cordillera Blanca range of the Andes. His body, as well as his clothes, harness, and boots, had been well-preserved by the cold, according to images distributed by the police. His passport was found among his possessions, allowing police to identify the body. Stampfl’s driver’s license was also found with his remains, indicating he was a resident of California’s San Bernardino County. The body was brought down the mountain over the weekend by guides and police officers and placed in a morgue in the city of Huaraz.
The mountains of northeastern Peru, home to snowy peaks such as Huascaran and Cashan, are a favorite with mountaineers from around the world. In May, the body of an Israeli hiker was found there nearly a month after he disappeared. Last month, an experienced Italian mountaineer was found dead after he fell while trying to scale another Andean peak.
As glaciers increasingly melt and recede around the world, which many scientists attribute to global warming, there has been an increase in discoveries of the remains of hikers, skiers, and other climbers who went missing decades ago. In June, five frozen bodies were retrieved from Mount Everest, including one that was just skeletal remains, as part of Nepal’s mountain clean-up campaign on Everest and adjoining peaks Lhotse and Nuptse. Last year, the remains of a German climber who went missing in 1986 were recovered on a glacier in the Swiss Alps.
In 2017, Italian mountain rescue crews recovered the remains of hikers on a glacier on Mont Blanc’s southern face likely dating from the 1980s or 1990s. Just a few weeks later, the remains of a climber discovered in the Swiss Alps were identified as a British mountaineer who went missing in 1971. That same year, a shrinking glacier in Switzerland revealed the bodies of a frozen couple who went missing 75 years ago. Marcelin Dumoulin and his wife, Francine, were 40 and 37 years old when they disappeared on August 15, 1942. Regional police told local media that their bodies were discovered near a ski lift on the glacier by a worker for an adventure resort company.
In 2016, the bodies of a renowned mountain climber and expedition cameraman who were buried in a Himalayan avalanche in 1999 were found partially melting out of a glacier. In 2015, the remains of two Japanese climbers who went missing in 1970 on Switzerland’s famous Matterhorn were found and their identities were confirmed through DNA testing.
The mummified remains of an American climber have been found 22 years after he went missing while scaling a snowy peak in Peru. William Stampfl, then 59, went missing in June 2002 after an avalanche on the 22,000ft-high Huascaran mountain in the Yungay Province buried his climbing party. Stampfl’s body, clothes, climbing gear, and passport were all found preserved by the cold. The mummified documents allowed police to identify his body. Peruvian police told the AFP that the body emerged after ice on the Cordillera Blanca range of the Andes melted.
Peru has lost more than half of its glacier surface in the last six decades, and 175 glaciers have disappeared entirely due to the climate crisis between 2016 and 2020, scientists from a state agency studying glaciers found. The World Meteorological Organization said last year that the previous decade was the hottest on record, leading to polar and mountain ice melting and sea levels rising faster than in the 20th century. Glaciers have thinned by an “unprecedented” one meter a year while the Antarctic continental ice sheet lost nearly 75 percent more ice between 2011 and 2020 than it did between 2001 and 2010, it said. The increase in average global temperatures has accelerated the retreat of glaciers, especially in the tropics, Jesus Gomez, director of glacier research at Inaigem, told the Associated Press.
Stampfl’s is the second mummified body to be found in the Andes. The remains of a woman mountaineer who disappeared in the mighty mountain range 41 years ago were found last year. Marta Emilia Altamirano, better known as Patty, died during an expedition in March 1981. The 20-year-old slipped on ice at an altitude of about 5,000 meters and fell hundreds of meters to her death, according to her sister who accompanied her. Her body was found attached to a glacier, and authorities had to break the ice to extract it.
The preserved body of an American mountaineer who disappeared 22 years ago while scaling a snowy peak in Peru has been found after being exposed by climate change-induced ice melt, police said Monday. William Stampfl was reported missing in June 2002, aged 59, when an avalanche buried his climbing party on the mountain Huascaran, which stands more than 6,700 meters (22,000 feet) high. Search and rescue efforts were fruitless. Peruvian police said his remains were finally exposed by ice melt on the Cordillera Blanca range of the Andes.
Stampfl’s body, as well as his clothes, harness, and boots, had been well-preserved by the cold, according to images distributed by the police. His passport was found among his possessions in good condition, allowing police to identify the body. The mountains of northeastern Peru, home to snowy peaks such as Huascaran and Cashan, are a favorite with mountaineers from around the world. In May, the body of an Israeli hiker was found there nearly a month after he disappeared. Last month, an experienced Italian mountaineer was found dead after he fell while trying to scale another Andean peak.
The mummified remains of an American man have been found 22 years after he went missing while climbing a mountain in Peru. William Stampfl, 59, was reported missing in June 2002 after an avalanche buried his climbing party while scaling Mount Huascarán, Peru’s highest peak. Peruvian police said ice melt had exposed Stampfl’s mummified and clothed body. He was identified by the passport found among his belongings. Police said Stampfl’s body was well-preserved by the Peruvian ice, with his clothes in good condition, the AFP reported. He was still wearing his boots and harness.
Mount Huascarán, which is situated about 270 miles (435km) north of the capital Lima, stands at more than 22,000ft (6,706m). With its snowy peaks and stunning climbs, the Cordillera Blanca mountain range in northeastern Peru is a magnet for mountaineers worldwide. Stampfl embarked with two others – Steve Erskine and Matthew Richardson – on a 19-day round trip from California to Peru’s tallest summit. But an avalanche upended their climb on June 24, 2002. Only Erskine’s body had previously been found. Stampfl is at least the third person this year found dead in the region. The body of an Italian climber who fell while scaling another peak was recovered last month, while an Israeli man was found dead in May nearly a month after his disappearance. Last month, five bodies were found frozen in ice on the world’s tallest peak, Mount Everest. Glaciers are melting and receding around the world, which most scientists attribute to accelerating climate change.
Police confirmed William Stampfl’s clothes were still in good condition more than two decades after he went missing. An American climber’s mummified remains have been found 22 years after he vanished in Peru. On Monday, July 8, the Peruvian National Police released a handout picture showing officers evacuating 59-year-old William Stampfl’s body from a mountain in the Ancash region, around 270 miles north of the capital Lima. Police confirmed the climber’s clothes were in good condition. Per the AFP, police said the hiker’s “remains were finally exposed by ice melt on the Cordillera Blanca range of the Andes” more than two decades after he was reported missing in June 2002.
The news agency stated that Stampfl vanished after an avalanche hit his group on Mount Huascarán, which stands at over 22,000 feet high and is the highest peak in Peru. According to CBS News, the climber’s body, including his harness and boots, were all well-preserved when he was discovered. Peruvian police identified Stampfl by his passport, which was found at the scene, per AFP. The Peruvian authorities didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.
In November 2023, Peruvian scientists told the Associated Press that the country had lost over half its glacier surface in the past 60 years as average temperatures around the world increased. “In 58 years, 56.22% of the glacial coverage recorded in 1962 has been lost,” glaciology expert Mayra Mejía, who is an official with Peru’s National Institute of Research of Mountain Glaciers and Ecosystems (Inaigem), said, per the outlet. Mejía told the news agency that glaciers had almost disappeared within some of the country’s mountain ranges.
The discovery of Stampfl’s remains comes after a climber named Marta Emilia Altamirano’s body was found attached to a glacier in February 2023, nearly 42 years after she suffered an accident while on an expedition in the Andes. Altamirano, also known as Patty, died at age 20 in March 1981 after she slipped at around 16,000 feet high before she fell to her death. The outlet stated her sister Corina, who was also on the climb, confirmed the news at the time, but authorities struggled to find Altamirano’s remains over the years.
Source: CBS, AFP, BBC News, Associated Press
