A body found on a remote mountain in southwest China on Wednesday has been identified as missing US climber Charlie Fowler, said a local mountaineering association source on Saturday.

 

The body was identified by both Chinese and US rescuers.

 

Fowler, 52, and fellow climber Christine Boskoff, 39, had not been heard from since November and failed to catch their return flights home on Dec. 7.

 

Liu Feng, a liaison worker with the Sichuan Mountaineering Association, said rescuers had found no signs of Boskoff, despite a thorough search within a radius of 20 to 30 meters from the body.

 

The body was moved to the county site of Litang, and would be taken in two days to Kangting, capital of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, for cremation, said Liu.

 

Representatives from the US Consulate-General in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, and officials from Sichuan provincial government have arrived in the county to deal with the remaining problems.

 

Due to the poor weather conditions of Genyen Mountain, which made search very dangerous, rescuers had to suspend the search, said Liu.

 

"But we may continue the search for Boskoff by helicopter if weather permits," Liu said.

 

If nothing was found, the search would have to resume after the snow melted in early Spring, said Liu, who believed the body of Boskoff might be buried deep in snow.

 

Fowler's body was found around 5:00 PM. Wednesday at an altitude of 5,300 meters on 6,204-meter-high Genyen Mountain in Sichuan Province.

 

Most of the upper part of the body was buried in snow, but the legs were exposed.

 

His death was probably caused by an avalanche, said Liu.

 

Fowler had been a mountain climber for 35 years and was an expert on climbing in southwestern China, while Boskoff is among the top female high-altitude climbers in the world who has ascended six of the world's peaks over 7,800 meters, including Mount Qomolangma.

 

It was reported that Boskoff said in an e-mail on Nov. 7 to her adventure travel company Mountain Madness, "I'm having a great time and love the country, mountains and people here."

 

A day later in the last e-mail to the company Boskoff wrote, "We'll be leaving tomorrow, and we'll be back in Internet contact in two weeks."

 

Since then, the two climbers have not been heard from.

 

Rescuers found their luggage on Dec. 22 at a remote village in Lamaya Town near Genyen Mountain during door-to-door inquiries.

 

They should have registered their routes with local authorities as required by Chinese regulations. However, they did not, making their whereabouts a mystery, said secretary general of the Sichuan Mountaineering Association Lin Li.

 

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2006)