Mummified American climber found 22 years later in Peru as glaciers retreat
The Hindu
Peruvian police and mountain rescue workers recovered the body of an American climber who went missing in 2002 as glaciers in Peru’s highest mountain and surrounding area continue to retreat
Peruvian police and mountain rescue workers recovered the body of an American climber who went missing in 2002 as glaciers in Peru's highest mountain and surrounding area continue to retreat.
The mummified, skeletal corpse still had well-preserved climbing boots, crampons and clothing, as well as a driver's license and passport belonging to William Stampfl. Stampfl is suspected to have died in an avalanche more than 20 years ago.
In a statement, police say they recovered his body on July 5 at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,060.37 ft), well below Huascaran's 6,768-meter summit.
Glacial mass in the region has been retreating for about the last 10 years, said Edson Ramirez, a park ranger and risk assessor for the Huascaran National Park. "What was buried years ago is coming to the surface."
Peru has an estimated 68% of the world's tropical glaciers, which are among the most vulnerable ice packs in a warming planet. A November report by Peru's government shows the country has lost 56% of its tropical glaciers in the last six decades.
Many of those glaciers lie in Peru's Cordillera Blanca, where the Huascaran and other iconic mountains draw thousands of climbers a year.
What began as a routine one-week mission for astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule quickly escalated into an unexpected eight-month stay in space. After a successful launch in June 2024, their mission faced multiple technical failures, including thruster malfunctions and helium leaks, making it too risky to return using the Starliner. NASA’s solution? Delay their return until early 2025 aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. Despite the extended mission, Williams and Wilmore remained resilient, continuing their work on the ISS as NASA worked to resolve the situation.
The story of the first-of-its-kind collaboration between award-winning Indian couturier Rahul Mishra and Italy’s multimillion-dollar fashion house Tod’s goes back to 2017 when their paths crossed in Paris. The latter reached out to Rahul — who had created waves in the industry with his couture edits at platforms like Paris Fashion Week — for a limited-edition handcrafted capsule of bags and shoes, which provoked his fiercely creative mind to take up the challenge. Made with absolute luxury of time and embroidered with intricate details, the Rahul Mishra X Tod’s has been launched today, during London Fashion Week, at Tod’s Bond Street Boutique.