After 30 Years, Climbers Bodies Found in Himalayas

In 1988, Kristinn Rúnarsson and Þorsteinn Guðjónsson were on an expedition to Pumori on the Nepal-Tibet when they disapeared.

Their friend, Steve Aisthorpe, was the last one to see them alive when he turned around on the climb due to illness.

The bodies of Rúnarsson and Guðjónsson were recently found, giving Aisthorpe some closure. Their location suggests they fell into a crevasse 30 years ago.

“The discovery of the remains of Þorsteinn and Kristinn after so many years have inevitably brought many emotions to the surface for all who knew and loved these wonderful guys,” Aisthorpe told The Guardian.

The bodies were found by an American climber and were brought to Kathmandu for a cremation service. Rúnarsson’s fiancee was pregnant when he disappeared; his now-30-year-old son was at the service.

“I’ve never felt as alone as the day I arrived back at our high camp,” said Aisthorpe. “As I worked my way upwards, I desperately hoped that Kristinn and Þorsteinn had descended safely and were now lying in their sleeping bags in the tiny red tent camp.

“As it came into view, I called out at the top of my voice – my calls echoed from the rocks and ice before fading. But the silence was palpable.”

Aisthorpe said that the discovery of their bodies has brought closure and brought everyone together. “I recorded in my diary the sense of loving presence and how prayer and what I was reading in the scriptures on particular days really seemed to speak to the situation,” he said.