KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A Swiss climber who found the long-lost bodies of a renowned mountaineer and his cameraman on one of the world's tallest mountains said it took days for him and his climbing partner to realize whom they had found. 
 
 Mountaineer Ueli Steck said he and David Goettler were attempting to climb China's Mount Shishapangma and saw the bodies on a glacier at a height of 5,900 meters (19,350 feet). 
 
 It was only when they got back to base camp after their failed attempt that they thought the bodies may have been of Alex Lowe and David Bridges, who were swept away by an avalanche in 1999 and had been attempting to climb the world's 14 highest mountains. 
 
 Lowe was regarded as the world's greatest mountain climber when he was swept to his death at age 40. Bridges, then 29, was an accomplished high-altitude climber and cinematographer. 
 
 "We didn't realize this could be Alex and David. But when we were back in base camp we were talking about this and were like — oh these two bodies could be," Steck said Monday in Kathmandu after returning from the mountain. 
 
 Steck said Goettler then called Cornad Anker, who was climbing with Lowe and Bridges at the time of avalanche, and gave him a description of the clothes, shoes and backpack on the bodies. 
 
 "Conrad made the conclusion that it was the two friends of his," Steck said. 
 
 Steck said he did not touch or move the bodies, which were found on the mountain's difficult "British route," which is not very popular. Steck and Goettler were the only climbers this season on the southern face of the 8,027-meter (26,330-foot) mountain. 
 
 Steck climbed the peak in 2011 but on a route slightly to the right and did not see the bodies then. 
 
 Lowe was known as "Lungs With Legs" for his incredible strength and stamina. He climbed Mount Everest twice, and is credited with rescuing several climbers in Alaska in 1995, a year when six climbers died on Mount McKinley. ||||| 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 April 10th, 2016 
 
 April is here and this is the time that many trekking and climbing expeditions come to Nepal and venture into the high valleys of the Himalaya. We are one year out from the devastating earthquakes that shook Nepal last April and recovery is ongoing. 
 
 
 
 On behalf of our ALCF Board, I would like to thank all of you who donated for earthquake relief in the last year. We responded to need immediately and were able to disburse over 100 thousand dollars in emergency and long term aid to six regions within three months of the quakes. Your donations purchased food, clothing, temporary and permanent shelter, first aid and porter wages to deliver aid. In addition, we helped to reestablish power and water to the community of Phortse where our work with the Khumbu Climbing Center is focused and ongoing. 
 
 
 
 Phortse village is home to a approximately 350 people, mostly Sherpa and of those living here, there are 80 living Everest summiters. This tiny community has more Everest summiters than anywhere on Earth with several generations of climbers in some families. Thus it is a fitting place for the Khumbu Climbing Center which has been educating indigenous climbers now for fourteen years. 
 
 
 
 With a crippled economy after the quakes and fuel embargoes to make things worse, the vocation of a climbing Sherpa is still a sought after position and one that bolsters the economy of many mountain communities in Nepal. 
 
 The technical education provided by the Khumbu Climbing Center is vital to the safety of high altitude workers. In fourteen years we have educated over 1000 students with technical climbing, mountain rescue and safety. 
 
 
 
 We are now in full construction mode to finish an earthquake safe, passive solar building to house the KCC and serve as a community center and library for the village of Phortse. With no overhead, our funds go directly into the economy of Nepal. Please help us to provide a permanent and enduring home for the high altitude Indigenous climbers. 
 
 
 
 Donate today! With gratitude, Jenni 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 June 4th, 2015 
 
 
 
 Dear friends of Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation, On behalf of our ALCF board, I want to take a moment to thank you for your generous donation for earthquake relief in Nepal. The situation there is dire since the second quake that devastated many remote villages, killing people and precious livestock and damaging roads and trails that are vital for food supply. There will be many ongoing negative impacts with the arrival of the monsoons this month. Since the first earthquake rocked Nepal on April 25th , ALCF was able to mobilize immediately with the infrastructure of our Khumbu Climbing School and Magic Yeti teams. We have sent forty thousand dollars in emergency aid to remote districts of Nepal that were hard hit by the quakes. The money was used to purchase food, shelter, medical supplies and to pay for porters to carry donated supplies to remote roadless areas. We have also delivered nine large duffels of tents, rain gear and warm clothes essential to survival during the monsoon. Our ALCF team has helped to organize donation transport and allocation for many more donated goods. With donations that they helped raise, Mike Auldridge and Parker Webb volunteered to travel to Nepal for ALCF on the 15th of May and were able to trek into the Khumbu and provide assistance to many people there including helping the village of Phortse to restore their water and electricity. Mike is now helping to rebuild a school and Parker is helping to rebuild homes in lower regions that were heavily damaged. This week we will send another twenty thousand dollars and eight more duffels of clothes and tents with board member Steve Mock and his wife Jan who have volunteered their time and resources to travel to Nepal. In the coming weeks, Pete Athans and Liesl Clark directors of the Magic Yeti Library will also travel to Nepal for documentary work and will assist in delivering much needed aid. Thanks once again for helping to bring hope and care to those in need in Nepal. With Gratitude, Jenni Lowe-Anker 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 April 13, 2015 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dear Friends of Nepal, 
 
 The disheartening news of yesterday's quake left us reeling with the magnitude of this disaster. We heard from some of our ALCF team in Nepal as they continue to respond to the crisis in the capacity that we can, helping to fund emergency aid to remote regions. It is of utmost importance that you spread the word to colleagues and friends to dig deep with compassion and donate to the ORG or your choice to support Nepal. The quake yesterday added magnitudes of damage to high mountain villages so the relief effort and rebuilding process will take years. Our immediate response has been to allocate emergency funds to four badly affected regions, including Manang, Langtang, Ghorka and Solukhumbu and we are organizing a large building crew including skilled carpenters and masons to visit the Solukhumbu region in the autumn and help rebuild. Our volunteers will donate their time, travel expenses and efforts and funds will go to aid, supplies and salaries for indigenous people. In the months to come, plan a trip to Nepal and spread the wealth of our own lives to those who are less fortunate. It is still a beautiful country with magnificent mountains, valleys with extraordinary people and rich culture. Your heart will fill if you can travel and see first hand that your dollars are reviving the economy. Thanks to all who have already given! 
 
 With Kind Regards, Jenni 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 April 11, 2015 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dear Friends, 
 
 
 
 
 
 It has been two weeks since the earthquake shook Nepal exactly one week and a year after last years Everest disaster, dwarfing the magnitude of tragedy that we felt then. The aftershocks continued to frighten people for nearly a week causing many to sleep outside for fear of returning to their homes. This was dangerous at altitude for the elderly and very young who may have been injured. Although the Khumbu fared pretty well aside from some damaged structures, Thame is mostly flattened with 90 percent of houses there destroyed but only 2 casualties. 
 
 
 
 
 
 18 died at basecamp which included 12 Nepali. 
 
 
 
 
 
 I have had a bit of communication with Dr. Luanne Freer of Everest ER who worked three seasons as the KCC medical instructor. She returned to Nepal as soon as she heard the news and has worked the front lines of rescue teams, tending to injured. Her HRA team at basecamp tended to some seventy injuries immediately after the avalanche. The news from Langtang and Manaslu was grim as rescue workers and aid finally reached those areas. Tsering, our KCC building project manager, sent us a dispatch from Langtang where he was on a rescue team and Ang - a seasoned KCC instructor, spearheaded rescue efforts as well. I was pleased to realize that the KCC students who have gone through our ranks were using their mountain rescue and first aid skills as well as their leadership skills to help their own and other communities. 
 
 
 
 
 
 We have also been in communication with Dave Morton of Juniper Fund who was in Thame during the quake. ALCF will continue our relationship with Juniper Fund to support those who lost family members on Everest. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Board member and KCC Director Pete Athans and Liesl Clark, Magic Yeti Libraries Director, jumped in with communicating and helping to assess loss and organize aid. Our Magic Yeti libraries suffered some damage and the Thame one was destroyed. Pete and Liesl are heading over to do a documentary within the next month or so and will be able to help organize the repairs and rebuilds. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Conrad and I spoke to Willy Benegas, Everest guide and longtime supporter of KCC, who was there during the quake. He left Nepal briefly to organize some aid for those remote areas which were being overlooked. He is returning this week to organize and pay surviving villagers in Manaslu to carry loads of food and aid supplies that were left at the end of the road or far down valley from where they are needed. This is a good way to infuse money into the economy. ALCF has committed to support this project and will also support aid to Langtang. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mike Auldridge, a professional builder who has worked on the earthquake safe KCC building, is headed over to Nepal for us on May 15th. Parker Webb, who interned at KCC two years ago and lived for a year in Nepal will join him. They will take stock of the KCC building project in Phortse and assess other damage to structures there. They will also transport emergency supplies. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Board member and KCC Director Steve Mock and his wife Jan are headed over to Phortse on June 5th and will also carry emergency supplies for those areas most in need. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thanks for your continued support. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 May 1st, 2015 
 
 
 
 
 
 The April 25th, 2015 mega earthquake in Nepal has affected every one of the villages where we have children’s libraries. Our hearts are with our friends and colleagues all over Nepal. One of our libraries has been flattened, while the others have suffered much damage. The buildings will need to be rebuilt and repaired. In the immediate term, we’ve put together a team of Nepali and foreign volunteers from all over the world to address the needs of the people in the most hardest hit communities in Nepal. This team is working with Kathmandu Living Labs to get the most reliable local information about the remote communities that need basic shelter for their people. We are moving tarps, tents and blankets from India, Hong Kong and the USA to Nepal through the help of aid organizations and volunteers around the world willing to bring these supplies into the country as part of the checked baggage. We’ve created a person-to-person giving network to get these urgently-needed supplies to Nepal and out to the remote villages that are currently blank spots on the aid map. 
 
 
 
 
 
 We’re also raising money for our longer-term mission of helping to rebuild the community centers and schools where our Magic Yeti Children’s libraries are housed. As soon as our immediate mission of getting tarps and tents out to the tens of thousands of homeless people left to sleep out in the open in the oncoming monsoon, we will turn our attention back to the villages where we are committed to help bring increased literacy to families and loved-ones. Any help you can provide will be appreciated and we thank you for all of your support during these heartbreaking times. 
 
 Liesl Clark 
 
 Director, Magic Yeti Children’s Libraries 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Visit the Magic Yeti Children’s Libraries section to learn more. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 April 26, 2015 
 
 
 
 
 
 It is with a heavy heart that I write on behalf of The Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation today. We are deeply saddened to hear the news of a devastating earthquake in Nepal that has destroyed structures and taken many lives throughout the country. The quake caused a catastrophic avalanche from Pumori to sweep into Everest base camp resulting in many injured and dead. We send our prayers and condolences to Nepal and especially to those who have lost family members and homes. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The news from Mount Everest is grim as the earthquake triggered an enormous avalanche that swept down into camp. The aftershocks continue to send smaller avalanches into and near base camp and the icefall. Right now, it appears that at least 18 have died in or near base camp. That toll may very well rise as many are still unaccounted for. Also, there were many climbers and guides at camps 1 and 2 above the ice fall when the avalanche occurred. Earthquake-induced movement within the ice fall has damaged or destroyed much of this already tenuous route through the treacherous terrain, the site of last year's major disaster. Everest Base Camp is frightening as every aftershock or loud sound leads to fear of another avalanche. 
 
 
 
 
 
 We also have some very sparse reports that Phortse, the home to Khumbu Climbing Center, as well as some other nearby villages were badly damaged.We have no direct reports, though, as the quake apparently destroyed many cellular towers, and presently phone communication throughout much of the Khumbu region is impossible. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation (ALCF) is accepting relief donations that will be disbursed to the indigenous climbing communities of Nepal to help mitigate loss of life, livelihood or homes. Our infrastructure is in place. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Use the Donate button on the lower right side of the website and please share with social media. Or you can send a check made out to the ALCF to 
 
 P.O. Box 6666, Bozeman, MT 59771. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Namaste, 
 
 Jennifer Lowe-Anker, President 
 
 Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ||||| KATHMANDU (Reuters) - The bodies of two renowned U.S. climbers, found in Tibet 16 years after they died on one of the world’s tallest mountains, have been left untouched out of respect, one of the mountaineers who found the remains said on Monday. 
 
 Ueli Steck, a mountaineer from Switzerland, speaks to the media during an interview at a hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal May 30, 2016. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar 
 
 Alex Lowe and David Bridges were swept away in 1999 by an avalanche during their attempt to scale the world’s 14th highest peak, Shishapangma. 
 
 Ueli Steck of Switzerland and David Goettler of Germany, who were attempting the same South Face route to the 26,291-foot (8,013 m) peak, stumbled upon the bodies of the pair, encased in ice, at an altitude of 19,356 feet (5,900 m). 
 
 “The bodies were two meters (six feet) apart,” Steck told Reuters after returning to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu from neighboring Tibet. 
 
 A charity run by Lowe’s widow, Jenni Lowe-Anker, announced the find on May 2. 
 
 Steck and Goettler, who had heard about the disappearance of the legendary climbers on the same route 16 years ago, descended to their advanced base camp, set up at 18,700 feet (5,700 m). 
 
 Goettler called Conrad Anker, who was part of the 1999 expedition and survived the avalanche, describing their findings. 
 
 “We did not know them and we could not recognize them,” Steck said, outside his hotel in Kathmandu. 
 
 Based on the description, Anker had little doubt of the identities of the two bodies, as their clothing, boots and backpacks matched the gear Lowe and Bridges had when they disappeared. 
 
 “We did not touch them out of respect and left the bodies on the mountain in the same position as we had discovered (them),” said the 40-year-old mountaineer from Interlaken, Switzerland. 
 
 Bodies of climbers who perish in the Himalayas remain buried under the snow and emerge as the ice melts or glaciers move. 
 
 Lowe, who was 40 at the time of his death, was regarded as the best American mountaineer of his generation when he and Bridges were swept away during an expedition that aimed to ski down Shishapangma. 
 
 Lowe’s accomplishments included two climbs to the top of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, several first ascents in Antarctica and dozens of less prominent but highly technical ascents. 
 
 Steck and Goettler made two attempts to reach the summit of Shishapangma this month, but failed because of bad weather.
– The mountaineers who discovered the bodies of long-lost American climbers Alex Lowe and David Bridges in Tibet left them untouched out of respect—and it took them days to realize who they were. Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck tells Reuters that he was on the way up Mount Shishapangma with German climber David Goettler when they found the bodies encased in ice at 19,356 feet. The men, who perished in an October 1999 avalanche, were just 6 feet apart. "We did not touch them out of respect and left the bodies on the mountain in the same position as we had discovered [them]," says Steck, considered one of the world's best mountaineers—just as Lowe was at the time of his death, notes the Guardian. "We didn't realize this could be Alex and David. But when we were back in base camp we were talking about this and were like—oh, these two bodies could be," Steck tells the AP. Goettler called Conrad Anker, who survived the 1999 avalanche. Based on the description of the men's clothing and gear, Anker said he was sure that the bodies were those of Lowe, considered the best American climber of his generation, and renowned cameraman Bridges. Steck and Goettler were the only climbers to attempt the difficult southern route of Shishapangma this year, but they were unable to reach the summit in two attempts because of bad weather. Anker married Lowe's widow, Jennifer, in 2001 and adopted his three sons. "Conrad, the boys, and I will make our pilgrimage to Shishapangma," Jennifer Lowe-Anker said in a statement after the bodies were found. "It is time to put Alex to rest." (The mother of a vegan who died trying to climb Mount Everest is demanding answers.)