1963 Backpack Found on Melting Austrian
A German climber's backpack lost in 1963 was found on a melting Austrian glacier, showing how retreating ice reveals old mountaineering artifacts.
A backpack lost during a 1963 climbing accident on Austria's Schrankogel has been recovered from a melting glacier. Austrian officials with the Tyrol State Police announced the discovery on July 16, 2026, after a mountain guide found the bag on the Sulztalferner Glacier at an elevation of roughly 9,695 feet.
Inside the weathered pack were an ice axe, a camera, a whistle, and a damaged folder with papers from the 1950s and 1960s. Police initially investigated a potential link to an unreported accident. According to Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung, a closer inspection revealed the faintly written name of German climber Alfred Rothfischer.
The 1963 Incident
Alfred Rothfischer was 23 years old in August 1963. He was returning from summiting Schrankogel, Austria's second-highest peak in the Stubai Alps, with two climbing partners. He fell into a crevasse while crossing the Sulztalferner Glacier.
Rothfischer told police he was part of a three-man rope team. He dangled about 24 feet above the crevasse before his friends helped him out. To lighten his load and steady himself during the fall, he discarded his heavy backpack. He survived with minimal injuries and reported the missing pack, which contained identification documents, to local police at the time. The Tyrol State Police returned the recovered equipment to Rothfischer's son on August 25, 2026.
Glacial Retreat Reveals History
The Sulztalferner Glacier, where the pack was lost, is retreating rapidly. The Austrian Alpine Club estimates it lost about 67 feet of ice between 2024 and 2025. Since 1923, the glacier has retreated 4,970 feet.
This trend is widespread. A 2025 study published in Nature found that glaciers in central Europe, including the Alps and Pyrenees, lost about 39 percent of their ice between 2000 and 2023. The melting ice is uncovering a growing collection of historical items and remains from past mountaineering eras.
Other Recent Discoveries
The backpack is one of many objects emerging from ice. The following table lists several recent finds reported in the source.
| Item Found | Location | Date Found | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human remains | Trift Glacier, Switzerland | July 2026 | Two Belgian alpinists missing since 1992 |
| A body | Ober Gabelhorn, Switzerland | October 2025 | A climber missing since November 1994 |
| A body | Near the Matterhorn, Switzerland | July 2023 | A climber |
| Aircraft wreckage | Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland | August 2026 | A 1968 crash |
| A complete shelter | Stelvio National Park, Italy | Not specified | Built by WWI-era soldiers |
| Remains of plane crashes | Alaska glaciers | Since 2010 | Includes an aircraft with 52 people on board |
Archaeologists at the Italian WWI shelter found beds, coins, clothing, and furnishings. The discoveries underscore how glacial melt is acting as an archive, revealing stories long preserved in ice.
