Virginia Abbott

Frozen in Time

An 86-year-old mystery surrenders its secrets to
climate change, detective work, award-winning science
and family connections. Inspiring art...

In 1926, four men set out to hike the Konkordiaplatz
Glacier in the Swiss Alps, but never returned.

A notebook, found in a mountain cabin, was the only
record left behind of the Ebener brothers and their
guide, Max Rieder. According to their notes, poor
weather conditions forced the group to seek shelter in
the cabin. They intended to head for the glacier when
the weather improved. Eighty-six years later, through
the receding glacier, the evidence of the brothers and
their tragic fate melted out from the glacial ice.

In July 2012, in the Valais region of Switzerland, on
the Aletsch Glacier, two British climbers discovered
frozen skeletal remains,  and artifacts. They found
boots, walking sticks, a spike, binoculars and a

leather purse containing nine Swiss Francs.1 Subsequent
forensic analysis, including DNA testing, confirmed
that the the victims were siblings. The Cantonal Police

reviewed records going back to 1925, sifting through

280 cases of missing persons from that region.2 There
was little doubt that these were the remains of
Fidelis, Cletus and Johann Ebener. (Max Rieder did not
appear to be among the group.)

A recent scientific study indicates that the frozen
river carried the Ebener brothers a distance of over 6
miles and 2625 feet down the mountain. At times, they
were buried 820 feet under the ice. Guillaume Jouvet
describes how he was able to calculate this using
mathematical models in the “Journal of

Glaciology” (2013).3

I love a good mystery, and this story continues to
unfold with Internet searches,  news articles,
scientific reports, climate change events and phone
calls to my mother, whose maiden name is Ebener.

Could I be related to these men? I am pretty sure I am,
but I have not been able to confirm it yet. My
grandfather and his family hailed from Switzerland in
the Valais region, and his surname is Ebener.

This story unfolded miles away, and I found out about



the Ebener brothers by accident. A friend of my
cousin's read the story in a, South American newspaper
and noticed the surname, Ebener, the same as my
cousin's. Apparently, Ebener is not that common of a
name. My cousin, Harry Ebener, read the article, and e-
mailed the link to me.

The story reminded me of a 30-year-old drawing I
sketched. It  was an attempt to illustrate the feeling
of being trapped, but then rescued from a crevasse. In
that visual scenario, I thought the sketch would evoke
a sense of rescue and altruism. But not all are saved,
and I struggled with the dark tone. It was this
sensation of despair and loneliness that took me back
to that earlier work. I considered the plight of these
men, trapped in a crevasse, knowing that it was only a
matter of time before their untimely, unfair end.

A sketch, a story, a connection, a psychic premonition
perhaps, a translation made into a sculpture titled
"Vortex 1." "Vortex 1" is  constructed from discarded
and recycled items. An imbedded concave portrait of a
bearded man (the face of the mountain) bears witness to
both tragedy and salvation. The piece is painted to
resemble cold, shimmery glacial snow, slippery icy, and



the deep dark crevasses.

A special effect occurs when this art piece is
photographed. Maybe it is a call out to the spirits who
honor the heroic actions of the ones who save lives of
those in peril or connect with the vulnerable on the
brink. "Vortex 1" is a vehicle used as a metaphor to
all in need, and the heroes that save the lives of
others while risking their own. In addition, it shows
empathy for the men who lost their lives to a storm
hungry for the exhausted.

1. “British climbers find remains of three brothers who
went missing in 1926 as melting glaciers give up
secrets.”
published July 2012 - Daily Mail, UK  “http://
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2169731/British-
climbers-remains-brothers-went-missing-1926-melting-
Swiss-glaciers-secrets.html” by Tim Finan

2. The Local, Swiss News. “http://www.thelocal.ch/
20121123/glacier-bones-traced-to-long-lost-brothers” by
Malcolm Curtis.
3. Environmental Research Web Blog AGU 2013: Glacier
model helps trace fate of climbers posted Dec 11, 2013
by Liz Kalaugher “