Back on June 30 I reported here about South Korean mountaineers Go Mi-sun and Kim Jae-soo, who became the first climbers to summit three 8,000-meter peaks in a single season when they climbed Makalu, Kangchenjunga, and Dhaulagiri in six weeks.

To top this amazing accomplishment, the pair headed to Pakistan’s Karakoram range to climb Gasherbrum I, Gasherbrum II, and Nanga Parbat, three of the other fourteen 8,000-meter peaks. After climbing these six peaks, Go Mi-sun would have only to scale Annapurna to become the first woman to summit all of the 8,000-meter peaks.

Unfortunately on Saturday, July 11, 41-year-old Go Mi-sun, after reaching the top of 26,658-foot (8,125-meter) Nanga Parbat, fell off a cliff on the descent in bad weather at 10:30 p.m. An expedition member told the Korean Times, “It happened on her way back to the base camp after conquering the mountain. We saw her fall from a cliff located at 6,200 meters.” She was missing for five hours before her body was spotted by team mates about 3,000 feet below the place where she fell.

I first heard late Friday evening that Go Mi-sun had reached Nanga Parbat’s summit when Ali Muhammad Saltoro Baltistan, a climber from Islamabad, Pakistan, reported on his Facebook page: “Go Mi-Sun also reached the summit of Nanga Parbat earlier today, but had to use supplemental oxygen to do so. Miss Go has generally climbed without the O's, but perhaps her ambitious climbing schedule is getting the best of her. After resting, she'll move on to the Gasherbrums to have a go at both G1 and G2 in her bid for a second 8000m Triple Header this year.”

Then yesterday Ang Karma Sherpa let me know he had just filed a report about the incident on EverestNews.com. Information coming from Pakistan was, however, very sketchy yesterday about what happened so I was unsure if Go Mi-Sun, who is simply an amazing alpinist and rock climber, was indeed dead.

Before she became a high-altitude mountaineer a few years ago, Mi-sun was the best woman rock climber in Asia. She regularly cranked hard routes and usually won climbing competitions like the Asian X-Games. I photographed her 10 years ago at the X-Games in San Francisco where she competed in bouldering. While she didn't medal, she climbed with skill and grace.

Sonia Knapp, an American climber who lived in South Korea, recently wrote me: “Mi-sun (aka Mi-young) is quite a good friend of mine. She was the #1 female (sport) climber in Asia when I was there '98-00 (though I believe she reigned almost 7 years). Her personal story could make a movie, and she is one of the most remarkable (yet truly humble) people I've ever met!"

Go Mi-sun’s death is another tragic loss to the climbing world this year. I was looking forward to hearing more of her amazing accomplishments this year, like climbing the three Karakoram peaks this summer and then finishing off the top fourteen by climbing Annapurna in the autumn. She’ll be missed. I send condolences to her elderly parents and six siblings in South Korea.

Read more about Go Mi-sun at K2Climb.net.

Photograph top: Go Mi-sun meets Saad Tariq Siddiqi, the Secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, last year. Photograph courtesy Alpine Club of Pakistan. Photograph bottom: Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain in the world. Photograph © Stewart Green Stockshots

On Friday afternoon, July 10, a climber was killed after slipping and fallling over 500 feet while descending 14,130-foot Capitol Peak in central Colorado. The climber, 47-year-old Jimi Raymond Flowers, the U.S. Paralympic swim coach from Colorado Springs, had successfully summited the mountain, the hardest and most rugged of Colorado’s 55 Fourteeners or mountains above 14,000 feet high.

While descending rocky terrain at about 13,000 feet on an exposed ridge between K2, a spur point northeast of Capitol Peak, and 13,300-foot Mount Daly, Flowers apparently slipped on a snow patch. Doug Ingram, his climbing partner and USOC director of international games, watched him slide downward at a high speed, bumping over cliff bands and snow-filled couloirs before stopping at 12,500 feet among boulders. Adam Crider with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s office said, “He literally slipped and fell and couldn’t catch himself. Most climbing accidents occur during descent because climbers are fatigued and have a relaxed mindset.”

Doug Ingram called his wife on a cell phone at 2:45 p.m. from the mountain and she alerted Mountain Rescue Aspen. The rescue team was ferried by a Flight for Life helicopter and dropped off one at a time on a flat area a mile-and-a-half from the accident site. A paramedic reached Flowers at 6:25 p.m. and began cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) even though Mr. Flowers was not breathing and had no pulse. Shortly afterward CPR ceased, he was prounounced dead, and the operation became a recovery effort. The partner was flown out by helicopter, while three rescuers bivouacked near the body.

On Saturday, July 11, at 6 a.m., Mr. Flower’s body was evacuated by a cable attached to a hovering helicopter. He was transported to a landing sport where he was put into the helicopter and taken to Aspen Valley Hospital.

The death of Jimi Flowers, survived by his wife Sue and two young children, hits hard at the United States Olympic Committee and the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. USOC acting CEO Stephanie Streeter said today, “Jimi was an incredible coach who developed numerous Olympic and Paralympic champions. He was passionate about swimming, dedicated to helping others and was such an inspiration to athletes, colleagues, and all who knew him.”

Melissa Stockwell, a U.S. Paralympic swimmer who lost a leg in a roadside bombing in Iraq, told The Denver Post, “He's one of the greatest men I've ever known. He had a way of believing in people. My husband said he was a walking exclamation point. You couldn't be around him and not laugh or smile.”

Capitol Peak is often considered Colorado’s toughest Fourteener. It stands alone on the northwest edge of the Elk Range west of Aspen. The mountain is tough even by its easiest route with lots of scrambling on rocky terrain and the famous 100-foot-long Knife Edge Ridge, an exposed bit of Class 4 climbing that sometimes requires a rope and steel nerves.

I haven’t been able to find out what equipment Mr. Flowers was carrying but it appears from the accident reports that he wasn’t using an ice axe, which he could have used to arrest his fall. After a heavy snow season, conditions in the Colorado Rockies are still spring-like. Lots of the high peaks are plastered with snow and ice so it would be smart to carry an ice axe and crampons to avoid this situation. I’ll keep an ear to the rock and see if I can find out any other details about the accident.

Photograph above: Morning light washes across the Knife Edge on Capitol Peak. Photograph © Stewart M. Green

John Bachar, killed last Sunday after a fall while climbing solo on Dike Wall near his home in Mammoth Lakes, California, was without a doubt one of the most influential rock climbers of the last 40 years. “He was an artist,” says his friend and photographer Dean Fidelman. “He transcended the sport.”

The extent of John’s reputation as a climber is evidenced by news of his death and subsequent obituaries appearing in many major American newspapers as well as media and newspapers around the world. Three of the best obituaries appeared in The New York Times, parent company of About.com, The Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian in London.

This trio of articles about John Bachar, unlike so many articles in the mainstream media, get the facts right about John and the dicey sort of climbing that he did. After reading them, please post comments about John Bachar—his climbing, his life, and how he influenced you—below in the comments section.

Read John Bachar’s obituaries:
New York Times: John Bachar, Rock Climber, Dies at 51; Daredevil with Uncompromising Style
Los Angeles Times: John Bachar Dies at 52; Rock Climber Specialized in Free-Solo Ventures
The Guardian: John Bachar

Photograph: John Bachar atop a Joshua Tree cliff after another free-solo climb. Photograph courtesy Karl Baba/PeakLightImages.com (Thanks Karl for the use of your great images of John!)

Sunday’s death of John Bachar is playing out in a very public forum, particularly on the SuperTopo website in California. So many of John’s friends and admirers have written posts in shock and disbelief that one of America’s climbing legends, a man who climbed with control, strength, and purity, could fall and die.

The one thread on SuperTopo, however, that is most poignant and moving was started by John Bachar’s young son Tyrus. On Sunday night at 11:22 p.m., Tyrus reached out to his father’s many friends, writing: “Dude I'm soo sad right now my dad is dead he fell of of the dike wall. I knew it was a bad idea to go soloing today. I knew it. JB 09 I LOVE YOU DAD.....” Reading that tears you apart.

Through the rest of the night, Tyrus posted several other notes. At 12:36 a.m. on July 6 he wrote, “I appreciate all of the kind words and offers to help me. If I need help I know who to call.” Four minutes later he wrote, “i miss him :(”

Many of John’s close friends and climbing partners wrote to Tyrus, offering solace and understanding to a boy who just lost his father, a boy who couldn’t sleep.

The next morning John Long wrote a long letter saying: “The last time I talked to your dad, several months ago, we were just finishing the text for the new Stonemaster book. As you probably know, your dad much preferred to climb than to write about it. But I had to have a story written by THE Stonemaster himself (your dad), or the book wouldn´t fly…. I never imagined that this book would be a testimonial for your father, for his courage, vision and uncompromising approach to life. Of course, your dad is featured on the cover - who else belongs there? Nobody but your dad, that´s who.

”Anyway, that story does say in plain and simple terms, what your dad´s climbing was about. But it doesn´t say what He was about. Tyrus, he was about you. Any friend that talked to John had to be prepared for the conversation to end up about you, because that´s where it was going to go. Never mind some stupid book or story—John Bachar´s life never made real sense till you were born. Any friend can tell you as much."

Yesterday afternoon Kurt Smith also wrote a moving tribute to John Bacher: “Tyrus, be proud of your father and all who he touched. Be proud of your father to sticking to his guns and never taking the easy way out. Be proud of your father for all that he did to progress the sport that we all love so much. Be proud of your father for showing you so many wonderful adventures. Every time I saw him he would light up like a roman candle when he would talk about you. He loved you and was proud to have you in his life. His life was never easy and not always fun but he stood his ground and never compromised his dreams, his vision and I will always hold him in the highest regard. He did more to influence me than anyone in my life and I owe him for showing me the way and letting me try to follow in his footsteps. he was greater than a great man, he was and will always be my hero, my idol, my friend.”

The loss of John weighs heavy on all of us climbers. He was a great climber. He redefined the game. He was a friend and inspiration to so many climbers. But his loss is most acute for his family, particularly for his son Tyrus. Our hopes and prayers and best wishes are with him now and in the future.

Photographs: Top: An iconic image of John Bachar soloing “On the Lamb” at Tuolumne Meadows that was used on a Boreal poster. Bottom: John Bachar relaxing on Joshua Tree granite. Photographs courtesy John Bachar Collection and Karl Baba

What do you think about John Bachar's death? Do you have any stories about John? I welcome your comments below.