Austria, August 29, 2026 — A melting glacier in Austria has unexpectedly returned a piece of a mountaineering story that had been forgotten for more than six decades.
A hiker recently discovered an old backpack at nearly 3,000 metres on the Sulztalferner glacier. Inside were climbing equipment, a camera and other personal belongings dating back to the 1950s and 1960s.
Police eventually identified the owner as an 86-year-old German mountaineer who had lost the backpack during a dangerous climb in 1963. He had fallen into a crevasse but survived after being rescued by his companions.
The glacier’s retreat brought the forgotten backpack back to the surface more than 60 years later. Because of his health, the elderly climber could not travel to collect it himself, so his son received the recovered belongings.
What began as an unusual discovery became a remarkable reunion with a chapter of mountain history that had been frozen in time.
A hiker recently discovered an old backpack at nearly 3,000 metres on the Sulztalferner glacier. Inside were climbing equipment, a camera and other personal belongings dating back to the 1950s and 1960s.
Police eventually identified the owner as an 86-year-old German mountaineer who had lost the backpack during a dangerous climb in 1963. He had fallen into a crevasse but survived after being rescued by his companions.
The glacier’s retreat brought the forgotten backpack back to the surface more than 60 years later. Because of his health, the elderly climber could not travel to collect it himself, so his son received the recovered belongings.
What began as an unusual discovery became a remarkable reunion with a chapter of mountain history that had been frozen in time.