An American climber body discovered in the ice who was buried in Peru 22 years ago

An American climber body discovered in the ice who was buried in Peru 22 years ago

American climber Bill Stampfl was buried twenty-two years ago when he was climbing one of the highest peaks in the Andes mountains by an avalanche.

His relatives were aware that there was little chance of locating him alive or even of recovering his body from the 22,000-foot-tall Huascaran peak’s frozen ice sheets and deep snowfields.

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However, in June, Stampfl’s son received a call from an unknown person claiming to have discovered the climber’s frozen, largely undamaged body while on his own ascent of Huascaran.

It seemed completely unexpected. We constantly think about and discuss about my dad,” Joseph Stampfl remarked. “You simply never anticipate receiving that call.”

He then informed his family of the news.

The climber’s daughter, Jennifer Stampfl, said, “It’s been a shock.” “Your heart just falls when you receive the call informing you that he has been located.” At first, you’re not sure exactly how to feel.

The body of 58-year-old Stampfl, who was buried by an avalanche in 2002 while climbing with two other pals who perished, was found, according to Peruvian authorities on Tuesday.

Stampfl’s body was placed on a stretcher, covered with an orange tarp, and carefully carried down the freezing mountain by a group of police officers and mountain guides. The body was discovered about 5,200 meters (17,060 feet) above sea level, around nine hours’ journey from one of the camps that climbers use as a rest stop before tackling the challenging peak of Huascaran.

According to Jennifer Stampfl, the family intends to transfer the body to a funeral parlor in Lima, the capital of Peru, so that his ashes might be returned home after being incinerated.

“We simply kind of decided that this was the way things were for 22 years. “Dad is from the mountain, and he will never return home,” she uttered.

The ice and extremely low temperatures, according to the police, preserved Stampfl’s body and clothing. Inside a hip pouch was his driver’s license. It states that he lived in San Bernardino County, California, in the city of Chino.

After an American climber discovered Stampfl’s frozen body last week while traveling to the summit of Huascaran, efforts to recover his remains got underway. After opening the pouch, the climber looked at the driver’s license and saw his name. After he called Stampfl’s family, they contacted nearby mountain guides.

Joseph Stampfl stated that in order to recover his father’s remains, which lay between 915 and 1,200 meters (3,000 and 4,000 ft) below the place where he and his two companions were thought to have perished, they collaborated with a Peruvian mountain rescue club.

The son declared, “He was no longer wrapped in ice.” “He’s still wearing his boots,”

The 13-person mountain rescue squad consisted of eight mountain guides from Grupo Alpamayo, a local tour company that leads climbers to Huascaran and other Andean summits, and five cops from an elite police unit.

The director of Grupo Alpamayo, Eric Raul Albino, said that Stampfl’s family had hired him to recover the remains.

One of the police officers involved in the recovery operation, Lenin Alvardo, reported that Stampfl’s clothing was largely undamaged. Along with his driver’s license, the hip pouch had two crumbling $20 dollars, a voice recorder, a camera, and sunglasses. On the left hand was still a gold wedding ring.

Alvarado remarked, “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

The highest peak in Peru is Huascaran. Every year, hundreds of climbers with local guides visit the peak; it usually takes them a week to reach the summit.

But Huascaran and the nearby peaks of the Cordillera Blanca, which rise to an elevation of over 5,000 meters, have been impacted by climate change. Over the past 50 years, the Cordillera Blanca has lost 27 percent of its ice sheet, according to official statistics.

In 2002, Stampfl attempted to climb Huascaran with companions Matthew Richardson and Steve Erskine. At the time, the Los Angeles Times reported that they had traveled the world to climb difficult mountains, reaching the summits of Kilimanjaro, Rainier, Shasta, and Denali.

Shortly after the avalanche, Erskine’s body was discovered, but Richardson’s body has not been located.

According to Jennifer Stampfl, the three companions trained for their adventures atop Mount Baldy in Southern California, where a plaque honoring their memories has been installed. They might go back to the location with her father’s remains, she said.

The wife of Stampfl, Janet Stampfl-Raymer, stated that her husband enjoyed mountaineering in his own time in addition to his career as a civil engineer.

“He was a good man. He was modest. She remarked, “He loved the mountains and he loved God.

“We all genuinely loved my spouse.” He was unique, the woman remarked. “We are so appreciative that we can return his body home to rest.”

According to his daughter, Stampfl meticulously planned out his mountaineering adventures. She added that he was quite modest and disliked being the center of attention.

“It is definitely not my dad,” she remarked, “that he is in the news.”

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