World · South & Central Asia · 13 hrs ago
Glacier melt reveals remains of Austrian climber who died in Pakistan in 1985
Austrian climber Gerald Fellner died in Pakistan’s Karakorum in 1985, aged 26, while descending after reaching Rakaposhi’s east summit.
His companions buried him in a glacier crevasse at about 5,000 metres.
Melting ice exposed his remains decades later, and local people found and buried them in the valley.
Fellner’s brothers travelled to Pakistan last summer to remember him at the grave with local residents.
The family now has a specific place to visit, and a nearby bridge was named after Fellner as a gesture of connection.
The Karakorum is a high mountain region where climbers face serious dangers; former German biathlete Laura Dahlmeier also died there in 2025.
His brothers plan to start a mountaineering school in northern Pakistan in his name.
Austrian climber Gerald Fellner’s remains were found after melting ice exposed them in Pakistan’s Karakorum mountains.
Fellner died in 1985 while descending from the Rakaposhi East Peak, which his expedition had climbed.
His body had been buried in a glacier crevasse at about 5,000 metres and was later reburied in the valley.
His brothers travelled to Pakistan to attend a memorial and visit his grave.
Local residents named a bridge after Fellner.
- Who
- Gerald Fellner, an Austrian climber from Lambach in Upper Austria.
- What
- His remains were exposed by glacier melt and later buried in the valley.
- When
- Fellner died in 1985; the remains were found about two years before the 2026 reports.
- Where
- The Karakorum mountains in Pakistan, near the Rakaposhi East Peak.
- Why
- He died in a fall while descending after an expedition climbed the Rakaposhi East Peak.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Fellner died in a fall while descending from the Rakaposhi East Peak, and his body was buried in a glacier crevasse.
Local residents found his remains after glacier melt exposed them and later buried them in the valley.
Fellner’s brothers travelled to Pakistan for a memorial and to visit his grave.
News reports described the discovery and the family’s visit to Pakistan.
- Climber
- Gerald Fellner
- Death
- 1985
- Age at death
- 26
- Mountain
- Rakaposhi East Peak, 7,010 metres
- Original burial site
- Glacier crevasse at about 5,000 metres
- New memorial
- A bridge in Pakistan was named after Fellner
3 sources
What people are saying
The crevasse was somewhere. Now we have a concrete place with the grave in Pakistan.
They made us feel that Gerald, too, had good energy. Now everyone who sets out from this community into the mountains has to cross this bridge.
I peeled it away layer by layer. And then the core remained, the love and the bond that remain.