A search team attempted to ascend the glacier-capped Peruvian peak Saturday where two U.S. mountaineers went missing in mid-July.
Rescue coordinator Ted Alexander said a private plane was also contracted to join Saturday's search on Palcaraju for 29-year-old Gil Weiss and 32-year-old Ben Horne.
Horne is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego.
Alexander says the climbing team set off before 3 a.m. under clear starry skies.
Weiss and Horne have not been heard from since July 11 when they set off to climb the 20,000-foot peak (6,100-meter) in the Cordillera Blanca range in northern Peru.
Searchers found the climbers' tent at 16,700 feet (5,100 meters) on Thursday and tracks coming off the summit as well as evidence of an avalanche.
An eight-man team from Peru's high-mountain rescue police unit was also involved in the effort.
According to a website set-up for the missing climbers by friends and family, the bodies of Horne and Weiss were discovered on the mountain Saturday during the search efforts.
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