China: We're in the town of Litang for a few days, getting ready for one more trip into the hills. We just got back from attempting a peak I tried in '96 doing a film. Didn't make it that time due to complications with the film crew. This time the peak was a lot less icy (global warming?). We got near the top but backed off due to scary conditions --- thin snow over rock slabs. Had a blast climbing as far as we did though. Now off to one more different area to try a 6,000-meter peak and a smaller one, then traveling back doing the tourist thing. Search efforts Fowler and Boskoff were officially declared missing when they were not present on a scheduled return flight to the United States booked for December 4. Search efforts by Chinese authorities and an independent search party retained by friends and mountaineers continued through most of December 2006. The two peaks Fowler referred to in his final email were unnamed, which initially complicated search and rescue efforts launched by local authorities in Litang. Furthermore, locals in Litang and Buddhist monks living at a monastery near the base of Mount Genyen told investigators they had not seen any foreigners in the area for the previous month. The authorities also found no evidence of the pair in the vicinities of other peaks they had talked about climbing in previous e-mails. But, on December 25 (about three weeks after the pair was declared missing), authorities began to make progress in the search when they discovered a local man who said he had driven Fowler and Boskoff to a remote town not far from the Tibetan border. According to the driver, Fowler and Boskoff said they planned to climb 6,204-meter (20,354-foot) Mount Genyen. They left their luggage with the man when he dropped them off on November 11, and said they would retrieve it when they returned on November 24, which they never did. With this new lead, the authorities began to focus their efforts on the slopes of Mount Genyen. Bodies found On December 27, searchers found a body, mostly buried in snow, at the 5,300-meter level of Mount Genyen, though darkness prevented them from making an immediate identification. They returned on December 28 and confirmed that the body was Fowler's. The initial investigation revealed that Fowler was likely killed in an avalanche. The body of Christine Boskoff was found and identified on July 8, 2007. It was to be retrieved from the mountain in August 2007 (when more favorable weather conditions were predicted for recovery team). Notable ascents 1981 Pale Fire IV 5.12, Moses, Canyonlands National Park, Utah; FFA of North Face Route (Bjornstad, Beckey, Galvin, Nephew, Markov 1972) with Chip Chace, May 1981 1982 In Search of Suds III 5.10+, Washer Woman Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah; FA with Glenn Randall, November 1982 1988 The Promised Land (V 5.10+ A3+), Moses, Canyonlands National Park, Utah; FA with Sue Wint 1992 East Face, La Catedral, Paine Group, Patagonia (VI 5.10 A4+ 1000m). FA of route (2nd of peak) with John Catto, Peter Gallagher and Max Kendall. Summit reached January 26, 1992. See also Christine Boskoff (climbing partner) Mountaineering Mount Genyen Forensic pathology Mountain Madness (Mountaineering company) References External links "Charlie Fowler: A Climber's Life" appreciation of Fowler at Climbing Magazine Fowler's autobiographical statement at Mountain Madness "Rescuers Search for American Climbers Missing in China," The New York Times, 15 December 2006 "Chinese official says survival hopes dim for missing U.S. climbers," The Associated Press, 19 December 2006 "U.S. climbers in China missing 1