Inside the Search for Charlie Fowler and Christine Boskoff

Two of America’s hardiest alpinists, Charlie Fowler and Christine Boskoff, went missing in the eastern Himalaya last December during a mission to climb untamed peaks. As the days ticked by, friends began to worry: These were not the kind of climbers just to disappear. Fowler and Boskoff were mountain-hardened veterans with 8,000-meter summits, wild icefalls, and stout rock climbs under their belts. Were they lost in the backcountry? Being held incommunicado by unsympathetic authorities? Or had they decided to extend their trip? Ted Callahan, a friend of Boskoff’s and one of her Mountain Madness guides, takes you firsthand inside the epic search for the late climbers.

Charlie Fowler must have been having a fine day. Mild temperatures and unusually stable weather (except for some recent snow) had brought the summit of one of the last peaks on his list within reach. He was climbing with the woman he loved, Christine Boskoff, and by any standard they were having a great trip: an ascent of the coveted and oft-attempted Yala Peak (5,820 meters) by a new route and a nearly successful first ascent of the officially unclimbed Jampalyang (5,958 meters). Now, the pair, two of America’s best alpinists, were trying a new route on Genyen (6,204 meters), a sacred, beautiful mountain in a remote valley in China’s Sichuan province, before returning to the States.