In 1992, as a young man, Hofstetter was on his way to the Oberaarjochhütte in the Bernese Alps, in the border area with the canton of Valais. Shortly before the finish, he fell through a snow bridge 18 meters deep into a crevasse. More than an hour later, his call was accidentally heard by two mountaineers, who were able to free him from the predicament thanks to ropes, pickaxes and snap hooks.
The backpack was left at the depths and embarked on a long journey through the glacier. In the summer of 2021, two mountaineers discovered the backpack in the melting glacier at around 2700 meters above sea level – together with Hofstetter’s former address and the AHV number.
The cantonal police in Bern found the owner; the story caused a stir last fall. The backpack and its contents are now the first find in the Alpine Museum’s new “Amuse-Bouche” display box, as the house announced on Friday.
As a contemporary witness of the 1990s, the backpack tells of the dangers of mountaineering and bears witness to the forces of nature and climate change, which is causing the glaciers to melt. The find also shows how material changes as a result of the mechanical processing of glaciers, sand and dirt.
(SDA)