National Geographic Photographer Dies Climbing Mountain in South America
A National Geographic photographer and experienced high-altitude mountaineer has died while attempting to scale one of the world’s most iconic peaks.
American photographer Edson Vandeira, 36, was found dead on one of South America’s highest peaks Artesonraju Mountain in Peru — following a weeks-long search to find him. His body was found alongside two fellow climber Peruvian mountaineers Efraín Pretel Alonzo and Jesús Manuel Picó Huerta.
Vandeira has been a mountaineer for 17 years and had photographs of his climbs published in the National Geographic.
The photographer, who lived in Saint Paul, Minnesota, set off on May 29 with two fellow climbers to summit Artesonraju Mountain in the Peruvian Andes. Standing nearly 20,000 feet tall, the peak is famous for its near-perfect pyramid shape — making it a challenging climb. It’s also said to have inspired the Paramount Pictures logo.
However, Vandeira did not return as planned on June 1. His former wife, Natalia Mossmann Koch, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help fund the search. Dozens of volunteers joined the effort, along with drones and a government helicopter, to locate him and his two fellow climbers.
Friends tell ABC News that Vandeira was a technical, meticulous, and organized climber. But search teams also spotted signs of an avalanche on the mountain.
“In the early hours of the rescue [effort], the team’s tent was found empty,” Mossmann Koch wrote on GoFundMe in early June. “There are signs that the group had reached the summit and that something serious had possibly happened during the descent.”
The extensive rescue effort in the treacherous terrain was called off after 10 days. According to The Minnesota Star Tribune, Beto Pinto Toledo, an official with the Association of Mountain Guides of Peru, announced on Sunday that Vandeira had been found dead on the South American mountain and the climber’s body was among three located by searchers.
Mossmann Koch tells the Minnesota Star Tribune that Vandeira and his climbing partners “were hit by blocks of ice” and knocked off course. He had made the climb on Artesonraju Mountain as part of his training toward receiving full certification as a high-mountain guide.
According to the news outlet, as well as being a veteran climber, Vandeira was a renowned photographer who became part of the National Geographic’s trusted roster of contributors. His photography, which captured the spirit of adventure and nature, was even spotlighted in the History Channel’s 2022 series Andes Extremo.
Vandeira also had a passion for shooting the Northern Lights and Minnesota’s landscapes, often visiting the North Shore and photographing the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis.
