--- description: The remains of a pair of mountain climbers who went missing 45 years ago have finally been found title: Remains of Mountain Climbers Found After 4 Decades image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9de021d13d4490ce/69885e54e53aba1fcc4defb3/climbing-shoe-matterhorn.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Remains of Mountain Climbers Found After 4 Decades by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 2:42 PM CUT  A mountain shoe found next to the remains of two Japanese climbers who disappeared in the Swiss Alps in 1970 on Aug. 6, 2015. A mountain shoe found next to the remains of two Japanese climbers who disappeared in the Swiss Alps in 1970 on Aug. 6, 2015.Police Cantonale Valaisanne/AFP/Getty Images by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 7, 2015 2:42 PM CUT The remains of a pair of mountain climbers who went missing 45 years ago [have finally been found](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33802458 "undefined"). On Thursday Swiss authorities announced that they had identified remains found at Matterhorn mountain as Michio Oikawa and Masayuki Kobayashi, two Japanese climbers who attempted to scale the peak in 1970, BBC reports. Someone had seen skeletal remains and old climbing equipment at the foot of the mountain last September, which helped officials to find the rest of the evidence. DNA tests confirmed that the remains were the two Japanese climbers. Searchers had sought out the climbers in 1970 but heavy snowfall prevented them from being found. The discovery of remains is now becoming more common as the Alpine glaciers continue to melt. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3988843/matterhorn-mountain-climbers-remains/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3988843/matterhorn-mountain-climbers-remains/"},"headline":"Remains of Mountain Climbers Found After 4 Decades","datePublished":"2015-08-07T14:42:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:00:07.204Z","description":"The two Japanese climbers disappeared in 1970","url":"https://time.com/3988843/matterhorn-mountain-climbers-remains/","keywords":["Japan","Switzerland"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9de021d13d4490ce/69885e54e53aba1fcc4defb3/climbing-shoe-matterhorn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9de021d13d4490ce/69885e54e53aba1fcc4defb3/climbing-shoe-matterhorn.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A mountain shoe found next to the remains of two Japanese climbers who disappeared in the Swiss Alps in 1970 on Aug. 6, 2015.","caption":"A mountain shoe found next to the remains of two Japanese climbers who disappeared in the Swiss Alps in 1970 on Aug. 6, 2015.","creditText":"Police Cantonale Valaisanne/AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3988843/matterhorn-mountain-climbers-remains/","name":"Remains of Mountain Climbers Found After 4 Decades"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: World-Renowned Free Diver Presumed Dead","description":"Natalia Molchanova disappeared during a recreational dive off the Spanish island of Formentera on August 2nd","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/XtObTdrg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-08-05T18:08:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XtObTdrg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3988843/matterhorn-mountain-climbers-remains/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3988843/matterhorn-mountain-climbers-remains/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```