US climbers who died in Pakistan lauded as 2 of the best

This undated photo shows climber Scott Adamson. Two well-known Utah climbers are missing in Pakistan where they were attempting to make a treacherous ascent up an icy mountain. Alpinists Kyle Dempster and Adamson were due back at base camp on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, after they left five days earlier to begin an ascent up the north face of a place called "Ogre II" off the Choktoi Glacier in northern Pakistan, said Jonathan Thesenga of Black Diamond Equipment. Snowy and cloudy conditions are hindering rescue efforts that began Sunday, he said. (Nathan Smith/Pull Photography via AP) This undated photo shows climber Scott Adamson. Two well-known Utah climbers are missing in Pakistan where they were attempting to make a treacherous ascent up an icy mountain. Alpinists Kyle Dempster and Adamson were due back at base camp on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, after they left five days earlier to begin an ascent up the north face of a place called "Ogre II" off the Choktoi Glacier in northern Pakistan, said Jonathan Thesenga of Black Diamond Equipment. Snowy and cloudy conditions are hindering rescue efforts that began Sunday, he said. (Nathan Smith/Pull Photography via AP)

By Associated Press September 7, 2016 4 min read

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – American mountain climbers Kyle Dempster and Scott Adamson earned reputations as two of the world’s best by pushing limits and setting out to conquer icy, steep routes others couldn’t scale.

That fearlessness and passion led them to a treacherous mountain peak in a remote part of Pakistan this summer for their second attempt at making a climb never done before.

They nearly died last year on the first try, miraculously surviving a 400-foot fall down the mountain.

This time, they did not make it off the mountain.

A search launched Aug. 28 for the missing climbers was called off Saturday by their families after helicopters found no signs of the men or their equipment on the mountain they started climbing on Aug. 21.