Two famous mountain climbers missing in China
 

http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP18/ne...boskoff-beckey

This article details what they think their plans were. Given that they were supposed to be back on Dec. 4, and given that the rescuers are not even sure what mountain they may have attempted, chances of survival are seemingly remote.

original Panchen Lama still missing in China, too
 

sometimes people "disappear" there

One theory is that they would have been murdered by brigands.

Perhaps the bar-headed geese accosted them on the way to flying over Everest?

Seriously, that's not happy news. If experienced climbers can go missing like that, what chance would I ever have?

I'll stick to climbing Lone Peak and the back side of Timp.

Or maybe just walking from RES to the Huntsman Center. These days, that's enough of a climb for me.

climbs
 

How about climbing out of a bunker onto a green? ;)

:D.

Too much work. Stay on the short stuff and avoid the sand altogether.

One of the climbers was found dead at the 17,000 foot level. Haven't found the other, but presumed dead.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16368852/

I'm risk averse enough to not want to attempt a sport where the people at the very pinnacle, in terms of skill and knowledge, die not too infrequently. And of course, crappy climbers die a lot too (even though they are not attempting things as difficult).

But to be in remote China, with no one even knowing where you are, that's rolling the dice.

I don't understand the mentality of climbers.

Why attempt things without informing others what you intend to attempt?

I have not attempted anything very difficult, but it feels at least for me like this,

You start off okay, but feeling like you have too much gear and hope to get in form along the way.

You stop a few times to feel more comfortable. After a couple of hours, you begin to tire and begin eating stuff for energy, not because it tastes good.

Later on, your feet start hurting and if it involves inclement weather, you're cold, you begin wondering why you're not home in a warm bed making love instead far away on a desolate but beautiful mountain side with hours and hours of work left.

Depending how hard you have to work to sleep near a mountain top, you're tired, wet and hungry, but preparing food at altitude sucks. If you have any type of frostbite and arthritis, you really start to suffer. The wind starts to howl and you wish somebody could tuck you in. And above 11,000 feet you start to get headaches so you take some advil.

I can't imagine above 18,000 feet what it feels like.

Does that sound like fun?