China's top cliff hanger and former national champion Liu Xinan fell to death after conquering a 6,033m peak in Sichuan Province, Chinese mountaineering officials told Xinhua on Tuesday.

 

Liu, 26 and a native from Changchun, conquered Dangjiezhenla I peak located in Batang county of Ganzi, Sichuan, with his "Knife Blade" climbing team on March 29. While descending to the height of 5,700m, Liu unexpectedly fell a vertical height of 300m and died later.

 

Liu's climbing of Dangjiezhenla I had been approved, said Gao Min, vice secretary of Sichuan Mountaineering Association (SMA), who also expressed his condolences.

 

Liu won the first prize in men's climbing during the 2000 China's national extreme sport event. Since then Liu had performed well in several other equivalent sport events, and he was entitled national sports master later.

 

"I was shocked. It was a great loss for sport climbing of our country," said Chen Jun, a climbing expert and coach of the climbing team of Jilin University.

 

Chen was the first person who taught Liu basic techniques of climbing. According to Chen, Liu was hard-working and staid. The incident was probably due to exhausting strength.

 

 

Chen also expressed his concern for the recent fever of outdoor exploration. He said, extreme sports like mountaineering and climbing have attracted a great amount of young people in China, who are eager to seek excitement and challenges, and the number of incidents involving injuries and deaths have risen accordingly.

 

In order to avoid similar tragedies, Chen said that people must prepare well before taking part in extreme sports.

 

"Firstly, they should get approval from local mountaineering associations. Secondly, they should be trained under the guidance of experts or coaches. They also need to check their equipment from time to time and pay attention to weather forecast." he added.

 

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2007)