Lima, Peru — Twenty two years in the past, an avalanche buried American climber William Stampfl as he made his method up one of many highest peaks within the Andes mountains.

His household knew there was little hope of discovering him alive, and even of retrieving his corpse from the thick fields of snow and the freezing ice sheets that cowl the 6,700-meter (22,000-foot) tall Huascaran peak.

But in June, Stampfl’s daughter obtained a name from a stranger, who mentioned he had come throughout the climber’s frozen, and largely intact physique, as he made his personal ascent up Huascaran.

“It’s been a shock” mentioned Jennifer Stampfl, 53. “When you get that phone call that he’s been found your heart just sinks. You don’t know how exactly to feel at first.”

On Tuesday, police in Peru mentioned that they had recovered Stampfl’s physique from the mountain the place he was buried by the avalanche in 2002, when the 58-year-old was climbing with two buddies who have been additionally killed.

A bunch of policemen and mountain guides put Stampfl’s physique on a stretcher, lined it in an orange tarp, and slowly took it down the icy mountain. The physique was discovered at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,060 toes), a few nine-hour hike from one of many camps the place climbers cease once they sort out Huascaran’s steep summit.

Jennifer Stampfl mentioned the household plans to maneuver the physique to a funeral house in Peru’s capital, Lima, the place it may be cremated and his ashes repatriated.

“For 22 years, we just kind of put in our mind: ’This is the way it is. Dad’s part of the mountain, and he’s never coming home,'” she said.

Police said Stampfl’s body and clothing were preserved by the ice and freezing temperatures. His driver’s license was found inside a hip pouch. It says he was a resident of Chino in California’s San Bernardino County.

The effort to retrieve Stampfl’s remains began last week, after an American climber came upon the frozen body while making his way to the Huascaran summit. The climber opened the pouch and read the name on the driver’s license. He called Stampfl’s relatives, who then got in touch with local mountain guides.

A team of 13 mountaineers participated in the recovery operation — five officers from an elite police unit and eight mountain guides who work for Grupo Alpamayo, a local tour operator that takes climbers to Huascaran and other peaks in the Andes.

Eric Raul Albino, director of Grupo Alpamayo, said he was hired by Stampfl’s family to retrieve the body.

Lenin Alvardo, one of the police officers who participated in the recovery operation, said Stampfl’s clothes were still mostly intact. The hip pouch with his driving license also contained a pair of sunglasses, a camera, a voice recorder and two decomposing $20 bills. A gold wedding ring was still on the left hand.

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

Huascaran is Peru’s highest peak. Hundreds of climbers visit the mountain each year with local guides, and it typically takes them about a week to reach the summit.

However, climate change has affected Huascaran and the surrounding peaks higher than 5,000 meters, known as the Cordillera Blanca. According to official figures, the Cordillera Blanca has lost 27% of its ice sheet over the past five decades.

Stampfl was with friends Matthew Richardson and Steve Erskine in trying to climb Huascaran in 2002. They had travelled the world to climb challenging mountains and had reached the peaks of Kilimanjaro, Rainier, Shasta and Denali, according to a Los Angeles Times report at the time.

Erskine’s body was found shortly after the avalanche, but Richardson’s corpse is still missing.

Jennifer Stampfl said a plaque in memory of the three friends was placed at the summit of Mount Baldy in Southern California, where the trio trained for their expeditions. She said they may return to the site with her father’s remains.

Stampfl was a civil engineer, who carefully planned his mountaineering expeditions, his daughter said. He was also very humble and did not like to draw attention to himself.

“The fact that he is in the news, it is so not my dad” Stampfl mentioned.

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Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California.