Liu Xi Nan 1971-2007
I didn’t know Liu Xi Nan for a long time and I didn’t know him as well as many of his other friends did. I thought, though, that I would have the time to catch up… That will not happen anymore. Liu Xi Nan was killed on March 29th in a mountaineering accident when descending Danzen shan near Batang in Eastern Tibet. I lost many friends to the mountains over the years but in no way this miserable exercise prepares me for any further tragic news nor that I want it to. Last time we met was in a Tibetan house in Shuangqiao gou in Siguniang shan on the Chinese New Year night, only a bit over a month ago. We just stumbled upon each other there – he who just arrived to help run an ice climbing school, me after a day of climbing ice; we hugged and we…