The emergency situations service in the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria received a call from the Spanish Embassy in Russia saying Fernando Combi Rodriguez had gone missing on Mt. Elbrus, Europe's highest peak, said Kantemir Davydov.
The embassy source said the climber last phoned his girlfriend October 17.
"We have established that a team of Russian sportsmen saw the missing Spaniard not far from the Priyut-11 refuge [at an altitude of 13,780 ft]," the spokesman said.
This is the latest in a series of search operations this year on Elbrus (18,510 ft), where accidents and avalanches are common.
Rescuers combed the slopes of Elbrus throughout May in search of two climbers who remained missing after two groups of 12 mountaineers from Russia and Ukraine were trapped by bad weather May 9. Nine bodies were recovered soon after, and one climber managed to return to base on his own, but the two missing men were never found.
