Alex Lowe's remains found on mountain 16 years after doomed expedition

The body of American climber Alex Lowe has been found encased in ice on Shishapangma mountain, in Tibet. He was discovered with the body of his cameraman, David Bridges.

Andrew McLean was the leader of the 1999 expedition in which the two climbers died. He tells As It Happens co-host Carol Off he thought it would be many decades before his friend's body would be found.

"It's fairly common that bodies are eventually washed out from glaciers," he says. "But I didn't think it would happen so quickly."

It was a classic Hollywood, huge avalanche- Andrew McLean 

On October 5, 1999, Alex Lowe was part of a team hoping to ski down from the 8,000-metre peak of Shishapangma mountain in Tibet. 

They were scouting out the mountain from their base camp when the avalanche hit.

"I could see the big face of the mountain and we heard a little crack and a rumble and there was a small avalanche way up high," McLean tells As It Happens.

"As it propagated it became obvious that it would fill the entire valley that we were in."

McLean managed to shield himself behind a rock formation as the wall of snow hit. But Lowe and two others were out in the open. 

"It was a classic Hollywood, huge avalanche," McLean says.

Last week, a group of climbers found the remains in a partially melted glacier, according to a statement posted on the website of Alex Lowe's charitable foundation.

In the statement, Lowe's widow Jennifer said, "Alex's parents are thankful to know that their son's body has been found...the boys and I will make our pilgrimage to Shishapangma. It is time to put Alex to rest."

Andrew McLean says it never bothered him greatly that Alex Lowe's body was not found for so long. He considers the mountain to be a fitting resting place.

"He told me that he would be happy to be buried up in the mountains somewhere," he says.