"Mike was an optimist who lived a big, bold life," sponsor Arc'teryx wrote in an Instagram tribute Michael Gardner, an American alpine climber and skier known as "a true climber’s climber," died in a fall on a Nepal mountain this week at age 32.

Michael Gardner—a professional alpine-climber who scaled mountains in Denali, Alaska and Nepal—died from a fall while descending Nepal's Jannu East mountain on Oct. 7. He was 32.

Professional alpine climber Michael Gardner has died at age 32 following a fall. Gardner and his longtime climbing partner, Sam Hennessey, were trekking up the Jannu East Mountain in Nepal on Monday,

Michael Gardner died in a fall on Jannu East (7,468m), in Nepal’s Kangchenjunga region, on October 7. The 32-year-old was attempting a new route with longtime friend and climbing partner Sam Hennessey up the imposing North Face,