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Mike Bearzi Killed on Gyachung Kang
Kathmandu, Nepal - Friday, May 17, 2002
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Everest 2002 News Photo
Mike Bearzi K2 Photos
Veteran Himalayan climber Mike Bearzi, 49, of Boulder, Colorado, was killed May 12 while attempting to climb the Northeast Face of Nepal's Gyachung Kang, according to Explore Himalaya, the local agency that handled the expedition.

According to the agency's website, Bearzi and partner Bruce Miller left Kathmandu on April 9 in order to attempt an alpine-style (single push, no support) first ascent of this never mapped mountain. The pair were also attempting to determine the true height of this remote mountain high on the Qutar Glacier. The unofficial height is 7952 meters.

Explore Himalaya reported that the whereabouts of Miller and Namgyal Sherpa are not known at this point.

Bearzi was a member of the 2000 K2 Expedition covered live by MountainZone.com. That year, attempting the North Ridge route, Bearzi and team were turned away by weather.

Everest 2002 News Photo
Mike Bearzi K2 Photo
"I can't add up enough little places we could have done better that would have put us on the summit," Bearzi reported on August 23, 2000. "In the end we pushed it as well as we could." Though not a new route, K2's North Ridge held an attraction for Bearzi because of its remoteness and what he called its "magnificent line" which "epitomizes" the essence of Himalayan adventures.

In early 1990s, as one of the most prominent pioneers of modern mixed climbing, Bearzi invented the "M system," a widely accepted method of ranking mixed climbs. In 1986, he did the first free ascent of Cerro Torre, on its West Face. He also has been to Everest three times, in 1992, 1993 and 1995, including two alpine-style attempts on the North Face and its Great Couloir Route without oxygen or any support.

The 1993 and 1995 climbs were attempted during summer monsoon weather and both times Bearzi was turned back.

Bearzi also has put up new routes in Alaska, and in 1981, climbed Alaska's Devil's Thumb and Mt. Burkett. He started climbing along Colorado's Front Range in 1976.

Bearzi, a master craftsman and carpenter, leaves his wife Renee.

MountainZone.com Staff

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