Mountaineer, National Geographic photographer who recently moved from Twin Cities dies during climb

A veteran high-altitude mountaineer and accomplished photographer who recently moved from the Twin Cities and two other adventurers have been found dead on one of the world’s most recognizable peaks.

Beto Pinto Toledo, an official with the Association of Mountain Guides of Peru, announced Sunday that searchers located the bodies of Edson Vandeira, 36, formerly of St. Paul, and two fellow climbers, Peruvian mountaineers Efraín Pretel Alonzo, 34, and Jesús Manuel Picón Huerta, 31, on Peru’s Artesonraju Mountain.

The three had been missing since May 29, and an extensive rescue effort in the treacherous terrain was called off after 10 days.

Natalia Mossmann Koch, who lived with Vandeira in St. Paul until their divorce late last year, said Monday that searchers recruited by the families of the other climbers “are trying to the take the bodies off the mountain still. ... They are now in contact with the Peruvian military to get more help, a helicopter is what I have heard.”

Mossmann Koch, who has been closely tracking the search effort and has been in close contact with Vandeira’s family, said the climbers “were hit by blocks of ice” and thrown off their mission.

Even though she no longer is married to Vandeira, Mossmann Koch said that the uncertainty of his fate “has been a lot. … When they stopped the search, I realized that was the end. That’s when my grief began."

At the same time, she continued, “Now we are going to have answers about the accident. That is comforting in a way.”

The trio set out to reach the top of Artesonraju and did not return as scheduled on June 1, Mossmann Koch said.

“In the early hours of the rescue [effort], the team’s tent was found empty,” she wrote in early June as part of an online fundraising campaign started to help finance the search. “There are signs that the group had reached the summit and that something serious had possibly happened during the descent.”

Mossmann Koch, a University of Minnesota environmental researcher, said the effort included dozens of volunteers on the ground as well as helicopters and drones.

Artesonraju, in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range in the Peruvian Andes, tops out at nearly 20,000 feet and is admired for its near-perfect pyramid shape. Artesonraju is known as one of the inspirations for the Paramount Pictures logo.

Vandeira, a native of Brazil who lived in St. Paul with Mossmann Koch from late 2020 until their divorce near the end of 2024, was making the climb as part of his training toward receiving full certification as a high-mountain guide, she said.

Mossmann Koch said Vandeira had 17 years of mountain climbing experience and was in excellent physical condition.

On its website, outfitter Peruvian Andes Adventures describes conditions on Artesonraju as “often difficult and unstable. Generally each year the route on one of the faces proves to be dangerous with high avalanche risk and climbing is only attempted from the alternative route.”

Vandeira’s career as a photographer earned him space in National Geographic and a spot on the legendary photo-driven magazine’s go-to roster, Mossmann Koch said.

His work behind the lens, focusing on adventure, the environment and culture, was the subject of the History Channel’s “Andes Extremo” TV series in 2022.

Mossmann Koch said Vandeira loved making photography trips to the North Shore and capturing images of the northern lights. The Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis over the Mississippi River also caught his eye during his time in Minnesota.