{"id":16883,"date":"2026-08-30T13:13:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T13:13:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=16883"},"modified":"2026-08-30T13:13:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T13:13:50","slug":"63-years-later-a-glacier-returns-a-climbers-lost-backpack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=16883","title":{"rendered":"63 Years Later, a Glacier Returns a Climber&#8217;s Lost Backpack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"justify-start\">\n<nav class=\"align-left col-span-full mb-base\" data-pom-e2e-test-id=\"breadcrumbs\"\/>\n<p>After falling into an Austrian crevasse in 1963, 23-year-old Alfred Rothfischer had to drop his gear to survive. Accelerated glacial melt just brought it back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/p>\n<p class=\"fp-leadCaption py-tight text-left font-utility text-utility3-size leading-utility3-line-height text-secondary\">A photo taken during the 1963 summit attempt<!-- --> (Photo: Courtesy of Tyrol State Police)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-body\">\n<p>Published August 30, 2026 06:57AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In August 1963, German climber Alfred Rothfischer, then 23, was returning from summiting Schrankogel\u2014Austria\u2019s second-highest peak in the Stubai Alps\u2014when he fell into a crevasse. He was crossing a glacier, and it could have been a mountaineering disaster save for his quick thinking. He hucked his heavy backpack, lightening his load and steadying his feet.<\/p>\n<p>He was safe; only his backpack was lost. That is, until 63 years later.<\/p>\n<p>On July 16, 2026, a mountain guide leading a group across Sulztalferner Glacier discovered the backpack and its contents partially revealed in melting ice, Austrian officials with the Tyrol State Police said in a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.polizei.gv.at\/tirol\/startf10a.html\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The weathered bag sat at an elevation of roughly 9,695 feet. Inside were an ice axe, a camera, a whistle, and a damaged folder with papers dating to the 1950s and 1960s. Police said they initially investigated whether the pack could be tied to an unreported accident from decades ago, but a closer inspection of the papers in the sack showed Rothfischer\u2019s name faintly written, according to Austrian newspaper <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.krone.at\/4271414\"><em>Kronen Zeitung<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I entered the name into the search engine, a landline number in Bavaria appeared. I called it,\u201d investigating police officer Gregor Gatt from the Neustift police station told <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.krone.at\/4271414\"><em>Kronen Zeitung<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2753619\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"The recovered backpack contained hand-written papers with the climber's name faintly written \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1746\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2753619\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/papers-1.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/papers-1.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">The recovered backpack contained hand-written papers with the climber\u2019s name faintly written <\/span> (Photo: Courtesy of Tyrol State Police)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Now 86, Rothfischer recounted his harrowing tale over a phone call with Gatt. He was hiking with two climbing partners at the time of his accident, a three-man rope team, when he slipped and fell. He dangled about 24 feet above the crevasse before his friends helped him out. Rothfischer survived the fall with minimal injuries and reported the missing backpack with identification documents to local police, according to <em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.krone.at\/4271414\">Kronen Zeitung<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>On August 25, police returned the recovered equipment to Rothfischer\u2019s son.<\/p>\n<p>Sulztalferner, where Rothfischer dropped the pack, lost about 67 feet between 2024 and 2025 and has retreated 4,970 feet since 1923, the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.alpenverein.at\/gletschermonitor\/gletscher\/Sulztal-F\/\">Austrian Alpine Club<\/a> estimates. Those trends are consistent across Europe, too. A 2025 study published in the science journal <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-024-08545-z\"><em>Nature<\/em><\/a> found that glaciers in the continent\u2019s central part, including the Alps and the nearby Pyrenees, lost about 39 percent of their ice between 2000 and 2023.<\/p>\n<p>The backpack is among the latest slew of weird items recovered from melting glaciers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2753611\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"two black and white photos taken during the 1963 summit show men hiking along a trail\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1899\" height=\"981\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2753611\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-Design-9.jpg?width=1920&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x, https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-Design-9.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 2x\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Copy-of-Untitled-Design-9.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">Two side-by-side photos show the 1963 summit attempt (Photo: Courtesy of Tyrel State Police)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In July 2026, a hiker encountered human remains on Switzerland\u2019s Trift Glacier that DNA testing later identified as two Belgian alpinists who disappeared in 1992, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/glacier-switzerland-mountaineer-belgian-hiker-weissmeis-trift-8544b4baf6e2bd207a63d8f3af4beb8a?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"><em>The Associated Press<\/em><\/a> reported. In October 2025, hikers found a body that melted out of a glacier on Ober Gabelhorn, Switzerland. Authorities later determined it belonged to a climber who went missing in November 1994. And in July 2023, hikers came across the body of a climber uncovered in melting ice near the Matterhorn, also in Switzerland.<\/p>\n<p>Melting ice has revealed more than just bodies, too. In August 2026, the wreckage of a 1968 crash melted out of the Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland, and a retreating glacier in Italy\u2019s Stelvio National Park exposed a complete shelter built by WWI-era soldiers. Here, archaeologists <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/melting-glacier-italian-alps-reveals-world-war-i-artifacts-180977703\/\">later found beds, coins, clothing, and furnishings<\/a>. Since 2010, search teams in Alaska have also found the remains of <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"article-content-link text-brand-primary underline hover:text-brand-primary\/85 break-words overflow-wrap-anywhere underline-offset-[3px]\" rel=\"noopener\" data-afl-p=\"0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/environment\/article\/alaska-melting-glaciers-plane-crash-climate-change\">several plane crashes<\/a> in melting glaciers, including the remnants of an aircraft with 52 people on board.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2753612\" class=\"pom-image-wrap photo-alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"the backpack and its contents scattered over a snowy field\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1100\" height=\"619\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2753612\" style=\"color:transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/backpack-remains.jpg?width=1200&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 1x, https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/backpack-remains.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover 2x\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/backpack-remains.jpg?width=3840&amp;auto=webp&amp;quality=75&amp;fit=cover\"\/><figcaption class=\"pom-caption\"><span class=\"article__caption\">A glacier guide discovered the backpack in July 2026<\/span> (Photo: Courtesy of Tyrol State Police)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!-- --><span hidden=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/exploration-survival\/63-year-old-backpack-found-austrian-glacier-melt\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After falling into an Austrian crevasse in 1963, 23-year-old Alfred Rothfischer had to drop his gear to survive. Accelerated glacial melt just brought it back. A photo taken during the 1963 summit attempt (Photo: Courtesy of Tyrol State Police) Published August 30, 2026 06:57AM In August 1963, German climber Alfred Rothfischer, then 23, was returning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}