An undated file photo of Adlerpass, a mountain pass in the Swiss Alps. STEFANO BECCIO/REDA&CO/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES

A German climber has died after falling about 1,640 feet in the Alps in southern Switzerland, police said Tuesday.

The accident happened near the resort of Zermatt on Sunday, police in Valais state said in a statement. Authorities were alerted Monday that the 26-year-old man, who lived in Germany, was missing, and rescuers in a helicopter found his body on a glacier.

The man had set out alone on Sunday morning to climb the Strahlhorn peak, police said in the statement.

The accident happened on the Adlerpass, a mountain pass below the peak at some 12,800 feet above sea level. For reasons that weren't immediately clear, the climber fell about 500 meters down a rock face on one side of the pass.

In 2016, an American hiker fell about 500 feet to his death near ski slopes above Zermatt, which is home to the famed Matterhorn mountain.

According to Zermatt's website, its "mighty mountains are the highest and most impressive peaks in the Alps."

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