‘Buried under ice since 1937’: Bradford Washburn’s ‘treasure’ found after 85 years

The “treasure” – cameras and equipment of the famous American explorer and photographer Bradford Washburn, was discovered after the objects were abandoned in 1937 on a glacier in the Yukon Territory, bordering American Alaska, France Press reported. .

In the spring, a team “embarked on an unprecedented mission: uncovering an incredible piece of history,” government agency Parks Canada said in a Facebook post.

The team formed by the Teton Gravity Research company, which specializes in producing videos dedicated to extreme sports, heads to Kluane National Park in the Yukon in search of the hideout where Bradford Washburn’s photographic equipment and climbing equipment had been left.

Mountaineer, photographer and cartographer, Bradford Washburn was also the director of the Science Museum he founded in Boston, Massachusetts. The researcher died at the age of 96 in 2007.

“Buried under ice since 1937, the hideout contains three historic cameras. The images show what these mountains looked like 85 years ago,” says Teton Gravity Research.

In 1937 Bradford Washburn participated in an expedition with three other climbers in an attempt to climb Mount Lucania (5,226 meters). It is the third highest peak in Canada, which is also the highest ever climbed in North America.

Encountering extreme conditions on the descent, Bradford Washburn and another American climber, Robert Bates, were forced to minimize their equipment, abandoning the cameras and climbing gear that became a treasure decades later.