In a heartwarming tale that doubles as a stark reminder of the climate crisis, an 86-year-old mountaineer has been reunited with his backpack and climbing equipment after they emerged from a melting glacier in Austria - more than 60 years after he was forced to abandon them.

The items, including an ice axe, a camera, and a pipe dating from the 1950s or 1960s, were discovered on the Sulztalferner glacier in Austria's Tyrol region, at an altitude of 2,955 metres (9,700ft) above sea level, by a hiker in July. Austrian police launched an investigation and, through heavily frayed documents found in the backpack, identified the owner and tracked him down.

The man had fallen into a crevasse while crossing the glacier with friends in August 1963. The group was roped together, so his friends pulled him free. To lighten his load, he removed his backpack and tossed it into the crevasse. Police did not publicly name him but said he was too ill to collect the items, which were returned via his son.

The accelerating retreat of European glaciers - primarily driven by human-caused global heating, scientists say - has revealed a treasure trove of relics, ancient ecosystems, and human remains in recent decades. In 2015, a barracks where Italian troops sheltered during the 'White War' of World War I was discovered on Mount Scorluzzo, overlooking the Stelvio pass. The bodies of dozens of soldiers, some still in uniform, have emerged from the melting ice within the past 20 years.

And who could forget 1991, when two German hikers stumbled upon the 5,300-year-old mummified body of a hunter in the Ötztal Alps, close to Italy's border with Austria. 'Ötzi the Iceman,' complete with tattoos, now resides in a museum in Bolzano, proving that glaciers are not just ice - they're also nature's quirky time capsules, with a subscription that keeps on giving.