Washington – Two prominent American climbers, including one from Colorado, have disappeared while exploring a region of unclimbed 20,000-foot peaks in southwest China. They were last heard from in November.
Fellow climbers in the United States say they and American and Chinese officials in China’s Sichuan province have organized searches for Christine Boskoff, one of the world’s top female high-altitude climbers, and Charlie Fowler, a well- known climber, mountain guide and photographer.
Boskoff has ascended six of the world’s 26,000-foot peaks, including Everest. She owns Mountain Madness, a Seattle adventure travel company formerly owned by Scott Fischer, one of the guides who died on Mount Everest in 1996, chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s best-selling book “Into Thin Air.”
Fowler, of Norwood, northwest of Telluride, is a former Boulder resident, a sometime Everest guide and an expert on climbing in southwest China.
Boskoff and Fowler left for China in the early fall. Boskoff guided three clients to the summit of China’s 26,906-foot Cho Oyu in early October.
Boskoff and Fowler were last heard from in early November, after a first ascent up the previously unclimbed 19,094-foot Yala Peak. They were due back in Denver on Dec. 4.
Mark Gunlogson, president of Mountain Madness, said Thursday that ground searches were being launched “with assistance from the U.S. consulate and Chinese authorities.”
“The hope is that they’re sitting in some village drinking yak butter tea, waiting for the weather to clear.”
