The two climbers, who have been missing since Thursday, were discovered in a ravine at an altitude of 4,000m – less than 500m from the summit.
Advertisement
It appears they froze to death after being surprised by unseasonably bad weather.
Emergency service personnel attempted to locate the climbers but were hampered by high winds on Friday, only finding them on Saturday morning.
A member of the Italian mountain rescue suggested the pair had been poorly equipped and wearing light clothing when they got caught as the weather changed.
The two men had been missing since Thursday, but severe weather delayed search and rescue efforts and it is though likely they died that night.
Temperatures dropped to minus 10 degrees Celsius, and their bodies were found buried in snow. “On Thursday afternoon and overnight into Friday, we had a lot of storms with snows in the high altitudes, and rapid falls in temperature”.
The 4,478-metre mountain on the border between Switzerland and Italy is one of Europe’s most challenging climbs and is a known killer.
Advertisement
The Matterhorn is considered one of the most hard to climb in the world.
