Crashed in 1963
Backpack Returned to Owner After 63 Years
A Stubai mountain guide recently discovered a historic backpack, complete with its contents and other pieces of equipment, on the Sulztalferner Glacier in Längenfeld in the Ötztal Valley. It belongs to an 86-year-old German man who fought for his life in a crevasse in 1963 (!).
Kronen Zeitung als bevorzugte Google-Quelle hinzufügen Marco Stern, a mountain guide from Neustift, was hiking with guests on the Sulztal Glacier between Längenfeld and Neustift im Stubai on July 17. At an altitude of about 2,950 meters, he found the backpack and other historic pieces of gear scattered around it—including a camera and an ice axe. The glacier had exposed all of these items.
“He also checked to see if there might be a body nearby that had been exposed,” says mountain police officer Gregor Gatt of the Neustift Police Department. However, this was not the case. Stern then turned the found items in to the police station. For Gatt, this marked the beginning of meticulous work to identify and sort the items.
“I found many pieces of paper with handwritten notes in the backpack, including withdrawal slips from a Bavarian bank, but no ID,” explains Gatt. He dried the papers—which were in relatively good condition—and was finally able to identify a name: Alfred Rothfischer!
When I entered the name into the search engine, a landline number in Bavaria came up. I called that number.
Gregor Gatt, Alpinpolizist
Bild: Polizei
However, there was no missing person with that name in the local records; Google came to the rescue instead. “When I entered the name into the search engine, a landline number in Bavaria came up. I called it.”
On the other end of the line, a woman in Wörth an der Donau named Waltraud Rothfischer answered. When asked if her husband was missing a backpack, she replied immediately and in bewilderment, “Yes.” Alfred Rothfischer was sitting right next to her, and his mind immediately went back 63 years—to 1963. That was when he lost the backpack after falling into a crevasse on the Sulztalferner Glacier. The mystery was solved!
Alfred Rothfischer, whose health is now somewhat impaired, told the astonished Alpine police officer the incredible story behind the mysterious backpack. Together with two climbing companions, the then 23-year-old had been hiking in the Stubai Alps. After reaching the summit of the Schrankogel and spending the night at the Amberger Hut, the three-person rope team planned to ascend via the Sulztalferner Glacier to the Dresner Hut on August 3, 1963.
Rothfischer led the way and fell deep into a crevasse. He was suspended about eight meters above the abyss. However, he was well-versed in rescue techniques and tried to fight his way out of the crevasse using Prusik loops. But because the backpack was too heavy and was pulling him down, he threw it into the crevasse.
The Bavarian managed to rescue himself successfully, sustaining only minor injuries; afterward, the trio descended to Längenfeld. There, he filed a report with the police because his documents for the journey home were lying in the eternal ice. Until July 17, 2026, when they were found by mountain guide Marco Stern. He had never forgotten his gear since the accident. His family joked time and again that it would turn up one day, just like Ötzi did back then.
Now that the mystery has been solved, Alpine police officer Gregor Gatt also contacted Andreas Rothfischer, the 86-year-old’s son. He came to Neustift with his family on Tuesday of this week to pick up the gear and give it to his father, who, due to his advanced age, was unable to retrieve the backpack and other items himself.
Everyone involved was overjoyed—especially the man, now 86, whose life was likely saved when he dropped his backpack as a 23-year-old. He gratefully received it at his home in Bavaria.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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