missing climbers, preserved in glacier, ‘brings closure and relief’ 16 years after deadly avalanche

https://www.washingtonpost.com ^ | 5/2/16 | Ben Guarino

[BBell]

Discovery of missing climbers, preserved in glacier, ‘brings closure and relief’ 16 years after deadly avalanche

On the slopes of Tibet’s Shishapangma — the world’s 14th-tallest peak, a glacial mountain that rises some 26,000 feet above sea level — a pair of European climbers stumbled upon the remains of a disaster that struck 16 years earlier. Locked under a layer of blue ice for more than a decade, but exposed in an early melt brought about by hotter than average weather, was another pair of climbers.

Hikers David Goettler and Ueli Steck have, in all likelihood, found the resting place of David Bridges and Alex Lowe. The latter pair vanished in a massive avalanche that left the mountaineering community reeling — as USA Today reported at the time of the catastrophe in October 1999, Bridges and Lowe were “two of the best.”

Goettler and Steck, who found the bodies Wednesday, reported seeing the remains of what are believed to be Bridges and Lowe wearing yellow mountaineering boots and North Face backpacks. To Conrad Anker — a climber who survived the snow that claimed Lowe, his closest friend — such a description leaves little room for question. After a phone call with Goettler, Anker “concluded that the two were undoubtedly David Bridges and Alex Lowe,” according to the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Jennifer Lowe-Anker, who was married to Lowe at the time of the avalanche.

“After sixteen-and-a-half years, this brings closure and relief for me and Jenni and for our family,” Anker, who later married Lowe-Anker, said in a news release on the foundation’s website.

Both Bridges, 29, and Lowe, 40, were master climbers: Bridges, a champion paraglider and a mountaineer, had led a successful expedition to the top of K2 at age 23 and was acting as the

[BBell]

Sorry but this used to be a good site for gallows humor and sarcasm.

So in other words I don't care what you think.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Thanks for putting things in perspective.

[MarchonDC09122009]

Your harm’s been arrested.
The disgraceful graphic dead body image you posted mocking the climber’s death has been removed - that’s what counts.

Now you can think why you did such a cruel thing, and resolve to work on becoming a more respectful person in our FR community.
Send me private mail if you need further counsel.
Best FRegards to you and your loved ones.

RE:”Sorry but this used to be a good site for gallows humor and sarcasm.
So in other words I don’t care what you think.”

[blueunicorn6]

Andy and Alex were both Boy Scouts.

When Alex got into mountaineering, they called him “The Mutant Boy Scout” because he could do so many pull-ups.

[BBell]

I told you I don’t care what you think so shut up will you.