The body of a young climber has been found preserved in the glacial ice of the Mont Blanc range of the French Alps, 32 years after he went missing.

Mountain climbers discovered the body of Patrice Hyvert, a trainee mountain guide, as they scaled the western side of the Aguille Verte mountain, part of the Mont Blanc massif.

The 23-year-old was last seen alive on the morning of March 1, 1982, when he took off on a solitary climb up the range which straddles the French-Italian border.

Bad weather set in that afternoon. Another climber was evacuated from the same mountain two days later, but Mr Hyvert was never found.

Local police confirmed to newspaper Dauphine Libere and other media that the frozen body was that of the missing climber after finding his identity card still in his wallet.

The discovery last Thursday came as a shock to Mr Hyvert’s 82-year-old father, Gerard.

The dangerous terrain, and inclement weather, of the Mont Blanc range results in scores of deaths of mountain climbers each year.

The bodies of the missing are often discovered the following year after the ice thaws.

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