They were caught in a snowstorm while heading to climb Matterhorn by the north face, Japan’s Kyodo News service said, citing police records.
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The remains of two young climbers who went missing on the Matterhorn mountain in 1970 have finally been identified.
The remains were first spotted last September on a glacier 2,800 (9,200 ft) meters up. The two men disappeared on August. 18, 1970, but rescue teams at the time were not able to find them because of a snow storm.
“They had invested in the previous night within the stand as they desired to rise northern facial features of the Matterhorn”.
Solar powered lights are pictured along the Hoernli ridge on the Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland, …
“DNA comparisons proved that they were the remains of the two missing Japanese climbers”. Last year, the remains were found – and through DNA testing – were identified, according to the Huffington Post.
The consulate assisted police to track down family members to help compare their DNA profiles.
Remains of long-missing mountaineers have increasingly surfaced as a result of receding glaciers, police said.
The Japanese consulate in Geneva confirmed the men were Michio Oikawa, 22, and Masayuki Kobayashi.
Japanese authorities said they were making the necessary arrangements to have the remains repatriated.
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He noted an accident on Mount Rainier in Washington State in June of last year in which five people disappeared, with their bodies still not found, as rock and ice fall have made the area inaccessible to would-be rescuers.
