A Nevada man has shared the shocking details of a discovery he made while climbing one of the world’s tallest mountains in Peru, ending a 22-year mystery.
Ryan Cooper and his team were descending from Huascarán Peak in the Andes Mountains after a failed summit attempt in June when they noticed an anomaly in the glacial landscape.
Melting ice has revealed the mummified remains of missing climber William Stampfl, who was reported missing in June 2002, aged 59, when an avalanche buried his climbing party.
Stampfl’s body was frozen in a fetal position and his clothing, harness and boots had been well preserved by the ice and frigid temperatures.
“As we got closer, that object started to take shape and we could see it was a climber,” Cooper said. KVVU“As we got closer, we realized the climber had been there for quite some time.”
Ryan Cooper (pictured) was descending Huascarán Peak in the Andes Mountains in June when his team discovered the mummified remains of a missing climber.
William Stampfl (pictured) was reported missing in June 2002, aged 59, when an avalanche buried his climbing party.
Cooper posted photos of himself dry tooling a wall the day Stampfl’s body was found.
Stampfl’s California ID was found among his belongings, allowing Cooper to identify him and contact his loved ones.
In the fanny pack that contained his driver’s license were also a pair of sunglasses, a camera, a voice recorder and two decomposing $20 bills.
“I noticed right away that this climber had a wedding ring on, you could see his ring, I realized, this guy had a family, at least a wife and they were waiting for him at home and he never came back,” Cooper said.
“We saw that he was from Chino, California, he was an American. Then my brother and I realized that we were responsible for finding his family.”
Cooper contacted Stampfl’s family to let them know he had found his father and sprang into action to help bring him home.
“Twenty-two years later, you get a phone call. They had already accepted the fact that I was going to be part of the mountain. Getting that phone call is a big shock,” Cooper said.
Stampfl’s California ID was found among his belongings, allowing Cooper to identify him and contact his loved ones.
Stampfl’s body was frozen in a fetal position and his clothing, harness and boots had been well preserved by the ice and frigid temperatures.
Cooper worker with Stampfl’s family to help recover his body from the mountain and bring his remains back to the United States.
Home to snow-capped peaks such as Huascarán and Cashán, the mountains of northeastern Peru are a favourite with mountaineers from around the world.
Stampfl’s son, Joseph, was shocked to learn that his father’s body had finally been found.
“Getting that call first thing on a Saturday was pretty surreal. It took me a while to process it. At first I thought it wasn’t real,” she told DailyMail.com.
She immediately contacted her sister Jennifer before everyone else started calling her stepmother, uncle, and Cooper.
Then everyone worked on the logistics of retrieving Stampfl’s body from the mountain and bringing it back to the U.S.
The family hired the services of a rescue company called the Peruvian Mountain Rescue Association to bring their father’s remains down the mountain.
A group of police officers and mountain guides placed his body on a stretcher, covered it with an orange tarp and slowly lowered it down the icy mountain.
He will be cremated before his ashes are sent back to the U.S. and his family is planning a special hike to scatter his ashes at one of his favorite spots, the top of Mount Baldy.
Stampfl (pictured with his wife Janet Stampfl-Raymer) will be cremated and his family plans to scatter his ashes at one of his favorite spots, the summit of Mount Baldy.
Stampfl (left) died with friends Matthew Richardson and Steve Erskine (right) when they attempted to ascend the 22,000-foot-high mountain in 2002. Erskine’s body was found shortly after the avalanche, but Richardson’s remains missing.
Stampfl died with his friends Matthew Richardson and Steve Erskine when they attempted to climb the 22,000-foot-high mountain in 2002.
Erskine’s body was found shortly after the avalanche, but Richardson’s remains missing.
Home to snow-capped peaks such as Huascarán and Cashán, the mountains of northeastern Peru are a favourite with mountaineers from around the world.
Hundreds of climbers visit the mountain each year with local guides and it takes about a week to reach the summit.
There has been a surge in discoveries of the remains of missing hikers, skiers and climbers as glaciers around the world increasingly melt.