As climate change continues to increase the temperatures of the world’s air and water, giant glaciers around the planet are quickly melting. While it’s certainly a problem for the planet, there has been one positive side effect.
A mummified body was found in the Andes mountains of Peru after a glacier melted, and he has since been identified. The US mountaineer had been missing for more than two decades, but now, his family can finally lay his body to rest.
Mountaineer Reported Missing on Mount Huascaran in 2002
In June 2002, avid mountaineer William Stampfl, then 59, was reported missing by his party while climbing the great Mount Huascaran along the Cordillera Blanca range in Peru.
Although Stampfl was an experienced hiker, an unexpected avalanche buried him and the majority of his climbing party. Search and rescue teams looked for the climbers for days. They discovered the body of Steve Erkine, but they never found Stampfl.
Finding William Stampfl 22 Years Later
On July 5, 2024, 22 years after the search was completed, and Stampfl was declared deceased, his body was found near a camp that sits about 17,060 feet above sea level.
Peruvian police and mountain rescue workers announced that Stampfl’s body had been completely mummified within the protective layers of snow and ice that covered him during the avalanche.
Identifying Stampfl’s Body
Stampfl was certainly not the only mountaineer to be lost and never found on Mount Huascaran, and even though his body was mummified, his face was still disfigured from the more than two decades in the snow.
But the authorities were able to immediately identify him, as his passport was tucked away in his backpack.
Finding an Entire Life in the Snow
In addition to his passport, the search and rescue team also found Stampfl’s digital camera, identification card, glasses, credit card, and everything else he brought with him to summit the giant mountain.
Essentially, Stampfl’s entire life, which he brought with him that day, was still on his person, which made identification quite simple but also devastatingly sad.
Stampfl’s Family Can Finally Find Peace
After the rescue team brought Stampfl’s body down from the peak, they immediately brought his body to the morgue for an autopsy. When that is complete, it will be sent to Lima, where they will cremate the mummy and send the ashes to the Stampfl family in the United States.
Finally, after 22 long years, this mountaineer’s family has had quite the shock and is certainly feeling a wide variety of emotions. While they will find some peace having him home with them, Stampfl’s daughter explained, “For 22 years, we just kind of put in our mind: ‘This is the way it is. Dad’s part of the mountain, and he’s never coming home.’”
How Did They Find the American Mountaineer in the Andes?
Peruvian search and rescue explained that the reason why they were able to find Stampfl’s mummified body was because the glacier covering Mount Huascaran had begun melting over the recent years.
Park Ranger and risk assessor at the Huascaran National Park Edson Ramirez told the press, “What was buried years ago is coming to the surface.”
Glaciers in the Andes Are Melting at an Alarming Rate
The Andes mountains in Peru are home to 68% of the world’s tropical glaciers, which are some of the fastest-disappearing glaciers in the world.
In fact, a report published in November 2023 by Peru’s National Institute of Research of Mountain Glaciers and Ecosystems explained that the nation has lost more than half of its vast glacier coverage over the past 60 years.
The Negative Side Effects of Climate Change Are Growing
Of course, this extreme melting is a side effect of the changing climate, and more specifically, the actions humans have taken over the past century.
Most people understand at this point that melting glaciers have extreme consequences not only for the region around them, but for the entire planet. This melting is and will continue to increase global temperatures, raise sea levels, decrease biodiversity, and damage natural ecosystems.
Several Other Lost Mountaineers Have Been Found Since Glaciers in the Andes Started Melting
Realistically, the only so-called “good” result from the melting glaciers is that it has allowed search and rescue teams in Peru and around the world to locate the bodies of lost mountaineers.
In April 2018, the body of a lost 23-year-old mountaineer in the Italian Alps was found more than six months after he went missing on the mountain after a small glacier melted, revealing his frozen body.
Peru’s Rescue Team Found a Deceased Israeli Hiker in May
Additionally, in May 2024, Peru’s rescue team found the body of another lost hiker in the Andes mountains, not far from where Stampfl was found, just a few weeks later.
After a month-long search, they were finally able to locate Israeli Oren Zamir near one of the mountain’s lakes. While they believe he fell from a great height, no one really knows what happened to the young hiker.
Mountaineers Need to Be Exceptionally Careful as Glaciers Continue to Melt
While hiking across the world’s mountains has always been dangerous, it’s especially important that mountaineers exercise extreme caution now, maybe more than ever before.
As the glaciers melt, these mountains will become far more susceptible to avalanches. Therefore, even if conditions seem ideal, setting your team up to protect yourselves from melting glaciers is absolutely essential.
