As reported on the December 28 NewsWire, a body, mostly buried in the snow, was found on December 27 at approximately 5300 meters, three hours above Lengu Monastery in the Genyen Region of China’s Sichuan Province. The next day, the body was confirmed to be that of Charlie Fowler. According to the report on fowlerboskoff.blogspot.com, “Fowler was not wearing a harness nor was he roped. He was wearing crampons and a large pack, indicating that the intent was to establish a high basecamp.” It appeared he had been caught in an avalanche. No evidence of Christine Boskoff was discovered.
On December 29, as the weather in the region changed to snow, the Field Commander of the search determined that the area where Fowler’s body had been found was too hazardous to continue the search for Boskoff. The Fowler-Boskoff Search Committee concurred, halting the search until conditions stabilize, which will likely occur in the spring. The same day, the Field Coordinator in Chengdu reported that a puja ceremony had been arranged for Fowler and Boskoff at the Lengu Monastery, where Fowler’s body had been transported.
The news of the disappearance of these two competent, dynamic and charismatic individuals came at the end of a tragic year for climbers. An immensely poignant post on supertopo.com lists the names of those who died in 2006. It is with great sadness that we note Charlie Fowler and Christine Boskoff’s passage to this list.