GENEVA —

A 61-year-old Japanese man has gone missing while climbing in the Alps in southern Switzerland, the Japanese Embassy in Switzerland said Friday.

He left his hotel last Sunday to climb the Jungfrau, one of the mountain range’s main summits, but the hotel on Wednesday asked police to search for him and the police are looking for him by helicopter, embassy officials said.

© 2010 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.

› Login to comment

4 Comments

• 

  Tokyoapple at 04:24 PM JST - 31st July

  Damn, that train accident really had some Japanese seeking alternate routes.

• 

  The758 at 05:41 PM JST - 31st July

  Was this man a proper mountain climber or just a tourist? Climbing the Jungfrau is not a walk in the park. Many Japanese tourists do not properly acclimatize themselves to the altitude and wind up with nosebleeds.

• 

  Kureijioranda at 01:10 AM JST - 18th August

  To Tokyoapple: not funny.

• 

  Kureijioranda at 01:36 AM JST - 18th August

  To The758:

  I was in the area and have heard more about this.

  He was a soloist. I have encountered someone like him before, on the Mönch, which is nearby the Jungfrau. Also solo, also elderly. He did not seem very experienced. Is this something Japanese?

  The missing man wanted to climb the Jungfrau. The normal route I assume. He would have had to cross the Jungfraufirn (glacier) and have some other difficulties like an infamous traverse near the Rottalsattel (col). These are some likely places where it can have gone wrong.

  The problems with being a soloist are that (if there is also nobody else around) there is no one to belay to, no one to rescue, no one even to see anything go wrong.

  At the time I was there he was already missing for a week, and no one knew anything more precise than 'Jungfrau'. He was presumed dead. He could be in any crevasse along the route, or along any variation to that route. He could well add to a list of dozens which went missing in the area, and still not have been found.

Register or Login to leave a comment