Melting Trift glacier in Switzerland reveals bodies of two Belgian climbers missing since 1992

Discovery on the Trift glacier

On 26 July 2026, a hiker traversing the Trift glacier near Saas-Grund in southern Switzerland discovered two human bodies exposed on the ice. The location sits in the canton of Valais, close to the Swiss border with Italy. Cantonal authorities coordinated a retrieval operation immediately following the hiker's report, securing the remains from the high-altitude terrain. The bodies were subsequently transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Hospital of Valais in Sion to begin formal identification procedures. On Wednesday, 19 August 2026, cantonal police publicly confirmed that the remains belonged to two Belgian mountaineers who vanished 34 years earlier.

The 1992 ascent of Weissmies

The disappearance occurred during an expedition in early autumn 1992. On 4 September 1992, the two Belgian climbers departed from the Weissmies mountain hut with the objective of reaching another high alpine shelter on the Weissmies summit, which stands at an elevation of 4,017 metres. Deteriorating weather conditions overtook the two men during their ascent, preventing them from completing the route or descending to safety. Emergency rescue teams initiated multiple search operations across the region in the months following the incident, but they located only a single discarded backpack. The two men, aged 39 and 41 at the time of their accident, remained officially missing as ice and snow accumulated over the site.

Identification procedures in Sion

Forensic experts in Sion conducted direct DNA profile comparisons to establish the identities of the two individuals. The Valais cantonal police maintains an archive of missing persons reports dating back to 1925, cataloguing individuals who disappeared in high-mountain areas, rivers, and lakes. This registry allowed investigators to connect the recovered remains to the unresolved 1992 case file and compare genetic samples directly with relatives. The police confirmed the conclusive identification in an official statement released on 19 August 2026.

A direct comparison of DNA profiles has conclusively confirmed that these are the two climbers who disappeared in the Weissmies region in 1992.

Melting ice and Alpine recoveries

Rising temperatures continue to accelerate the retreat of glaciers throughout the European Alps. As ice sheets thin and recede during the summer months, long-frozen equipment and human remains are increasingly released from the ice. The Valais cantonal police noted that such findings have become more frequent across mountain ranges in southwestern Switzerland.

With the retreat of glaciers, the remains of people who disappeared in the mountains decades ago sometimes come to light.

Similar incidents have been documented across the canton of Valais in recent years. In 2025, search teams recovered the skeletal remains of a Swiss climber on an Ober Gabelhorn glacier near Zermatt, 31 years after the mountaineer went missing in 1994. The Valais cantonal police continues to maintain active missing persons files for unresolved disappearances recorded since 1925.