Cathay pilot killed in fall from world's third-highest peak

A Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific pilot with a passion for the outdoors has died in a Himalayan mountaineering accident.

Christopher Hugh Grasswick, 39, of Mid-Levels, fell to his death on Friday on his way down from a successful ascent of the north face of 8,586-metre Mount Kanchenjunga.

Grasswick and climbing partner Stuart Findlay, of Scotland, had just begun their descent from the summit of the world's third-highest peak when they were struck by an avalanche at around 8,400 metres, said a spokesman for the American Kanchenjunga Expedition, with whom the pair had travelled to the mountain on the Nepal-India border. Grasswick fell hundreds of metres into a crevasse, a Nepali Tourism Ministry official said. Findlay escaped death.

Yesterday a friend, Joe Parente, said Grasswick was an 'experienced, enthusiastic and serious mountain man' who had climbed other challenging peaks including the Eiger and Mont Blanc in the Alps.

'He was a real go-getter type of individual. He's always been a real nature man. He loved being out there - camping, trekking, hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, he did it all,' he said.

Grasswick began his flying career in the Canadian military, and had worked for Cathay Pacific for more than 10 years.