Police have discovered the well-preserved body of an American climber who was buried by an avalanche 22 years ago while trying to climb one of the highest peaks in the Andes.
Ancash regional police discovered the body of William Stampfl on Friday near the camp at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,060 feet). Stampfl, 58, had been trying to climb Mount Huascarán, which is 6,768 meters above sea level.
Police said Stampfer’s body was preserved by the ice and frigid temperatures, with his hiking boots, crampons and clothing still intact. They said the bodies were easy to identify because the climbers had their driving licenses and passports with them.
Hundreds of climbers visit the mountain every year with local guides, and it takes them about a week to reach the summit.
Stampfl, an Austrian-born self-employed civil engineer, attempted the climb in 2002 with friends Matthew Richardson and Steve Erskine.
Erskine’s body was found shortly after the avalanche, but Richardson’s body remains missing.
Over the weekend, Stumpf’s body was taken down the mountain by tour guides and police and placed in a morgue in the city of Huaraz.
As global warming causes glaciers around the world to melt and recede, authorities are recording a significant increase in the number of human remains as the bodies of hikers and climbers are released from the ice and snow.
Edson Ramirez, park ranger and risk assessor for Huascaran National Park, said the quality of the region’s glaciers has been declining over the past decade or so. “Things that were buried years ago are coming to the surface.”
Peru is estimated to be home to 68% of the world’s tropical glaciers, which are among the most vulnerable to global warming. A November government report from Peru showed that the country has lost 56% of its tropical glaciers over the past 60 years.
Many of these glaciers are located in Peru’s Sierra Blanca Mountains, where Mount Huascaran and other famous mountain ranges attract thousands of climbers each year.
In May, the body of an Israeli hiker was found nearly a month after he disappeared.
