The mountains have claimed yet another US climber, who lost his life in a rockfall – the third American tourist to die in the Swiss Alps in three months.
Twenty-year-old Kieran Liner, who was visiting from Austin,Texas, was climbing the famed Matterhorn with a friend at the end of October.
While at an altitude of around 3,500 metres, “rockfalls occurred nearby,” the Valais cantonal police reported, adding that Liner’s companion “lost sight of his friend and immediately raised the alarm.”
A helicopter with a rescue team on board was deployed to search for the climber, “locating him quickly, but he was already dead,” the police said in a press release.
“Most challenging and notorious peak”
The local media in Texas reported that Liner died “while climbing one of the most challenging and notorious peaks in the world.”
But despite his young age, Liner was no novice to various sports, including mountaineering, telling his worried mother before he left for Switzerland that “nothing’s gonna happen. But if something were to happen, I want you to know that I died doing what I loved.”
Others before him
Liner was not the only American to die in the Swiss Alps since the summer – or the youngest.
On July 6th, the body of a 19-year-old American citizen was found in a rugged area overlooking Lake Brienz, in canton Bern.
The teen apparently fell off the marked trail in steep terrain near Spycheren during the descent, sustaining fatal injuries.
And in September, a 55-year-old US tourist died close to where Liner was found: the accident happened at the Klein Matterhorn glacier, at an altitude of 3,883 metres above sea level, where the victim was discovered by rescuers.
“The man fell into a glacier crevasse after entering a restricted area closed to pedestrians,” the police said.
On average, around 40 to 50 foreign tourists die each year in the Swiss Alps while engaging in mountain sports.
