Departures of note

In April 1964, Fritz Stammberger was part of an expedition to Cho Oyu in the Himalayas. When his two climbing companions developed high-altitude pulmonary edema, he continued to the summit without supplemental oxygen and then skied back down the mountain—a descent that set the record for the highest ski descent at the time. His companions died before help could reach them.

Born in Munich in 1940, Stammberger immigrated to Aspen, Colorado, in 1963. He was a mountaineer and skier known for pioneering high-altitude skiing. In 1974, he married Janice Pennington, a model and hostess on The Price Is Right.

In October 1975, Stammberger disappeared while scouting an expedition to Tirich Mir in Pakistan, near the borders of the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, and China. A 1977 search by climbing companions found no trace. Pennington later received military intelligence suggesting he had joined the mujahideen and died in Afghanistan in the early 1980s. Her search continued until 1992, involving interviews with U.S. and Soviet intelligence figures, and led to the publication of Husband, Lover, Spy, which alleged Stammberger had been recruited by the CIA.