Mountaineer, National Geographic photographer who recently moved from St. Paul missing on mountain

A veteran high-altitude mountaineer and accomplished photographer who recently moved from St. Paul is missing with other adventurers while on one of the world’s most recognizable peaks.

Edson Vandeira, 36, and two fellow climbers set out on May 29 to reach the top of Artesonraju Mountain in Peru and did not return as scheduled on June 1, said his former wife, Natalia Koch.

“In the early hours of the rescue [effort], the team’s tent was found empty,” Koch wrote 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.”

Koch, a University of Minnesota environmental researcher, said she is getting updates from the search team and from Vandeira’s family members.

She said the effort includes dozens of volunteers on the ground as well as helicopters and drones, but “high mountain rescue is extremely complex, demanding intense logistics, specific equipment, food, high-altitude travel and a lot of human and technical commitment.”

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 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.

Koch said Vandeira has 17 years of mountain climbing experience and is in excellent physical condition. He has biked in the Patagonia region of South America and participated in nine expeditions to Antarctica, working there for about three months each year overseeing the safety of scientists in the field and managing camp logistics.

“The weather is OK right now” on Artesonraju, said Koch, who believes Vandeira and his two fellow Peruvian climbers might have radio equipment of some sort. “Our hope is they are in a crevice up there.”

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.”

The outfitter noted that determining which route is safest “often cannot be made until just weeks before or even days before the climb.”

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

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.