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| Swiss Identify Remains of Japanese Climbers Missing for 45 Years | Swiss Identify Remains of Japanese Climbers Missing for 45 Years |
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| Two Japanese mountain climbers caught in a snowstorm and buried under nearly a half-century of Alpine ice have been identified, police in Switzerland announced on Tuesday. | Two Japanese mountain climbers caught in a snowstorm and buried under nearly a half-century of Alpine ice have been identified, police in Switzerland announced on Tuesday. |
| The remains of Masayuki Kobayashi, 21, who disappeared in a blizzard in 1970 while climbing the north face of the Matterhorn, and his trekking partner, Michio Oikawa, 22, were identified with DNA tests after a mountaineer discovered their remains at the foot of the mountain last year. | |
| The two men had been members of the Club Alpin Français, a mountain sports organization, according the Swiss newspaper Le Nouvelliste. | |
| They left their hut at the base camp in Hörnli in the early afternoon on Aug. 18, 1970, to climb what is considered the most difficult path up the mountain. They ascended another 3,000 feet from base camp to an altitude of around 13,800 feet (or 4,200 meters) up the 14,692-foot peak before a snowstorm hit and observers lost contact with the climbers. Friends had hoped that they had made it to a nearby emergency refuge in time. But six days later, a friend reported that they were missing. | |
| “They were probably surprised by a snowstorm when they disappeared,” a Swiss police spokeswoman, Stephane Vouardoux, told Reuters on Friday. “The snowstorm lasted a few days which prevented the rescue teams from searching.” | “They were probably surprised by a snowstorm when they disappeared,” a Swiss police spokeswoman, Stephane Vouardoux, told Reuters on Friday. “The snowstorm lasted a few days which prevented the rescue teams from searching.” |
| Almost 45 years later, genetic material from bones found by a climber in melting glacial ice last September was matched by Swiss forensic examiners to DNA provided by the Japanese climbers’ relatives. | Almost 45 years later, genetic material from bones found by a climber in melting glacial ice last September was matched by Swiss forensic examiners to DNA provided by the Japanese climbers’ relatives. |
| Police attributed the discovery of the bones last year to shrinking glaciers, which, as they melt, reveal bodies and other artifacts that have long been buried. | Police attributed the discovery of the bones last year to shrinking glaciers, which, as they melt, reveal bodies and other artifacts that have long been buried. |
| Matterhorn has lured adventurous climbers since before the first successful summit of the peak 150 years ago. Last month, authorities closed the mountain to mark the anniversary of that first ascent by a team of seven men led by the Englishman Edward Whymper. | |
| After successfully reaching the summit on July 14, 1865, four members of Whymper’s team slipped and fell to their deaths on their way back down the mountain. Since then, the Matterhorn and its surrounding areas have become a major draw for ambitious climbers and tourists alike. As more and more climbers attempted to reach the mountain’s summit, the Matterhorn became known as one of the most dangerous mountains in the world, with nearly 600 people killed trying to reach the top since the mountain was first conquered. | |
| In the last decade, about a dozen people have died each year on the mountain, down from two dozen a year in the 1990s, Benedikt Perren, head of the Zermatt Mountain Guides Association, told The New York Times last month. |