Chinese rescuers resumed the search for Boskoff in the Genyen Mountain this month after snow melted, and found her body near the site where the body of fellow climber Charlie Fowler was found in December, said Gao Min, deputy secretary general of the Sichuan Mountaineering Association.

The Sichuan Mountaineering Association said they appeared to have been killed in an avalanche.

Boskoff, 39, and Fowler, 52, disappeared in November. Boskoff was among the world's leading high-altitude women climbers and had ascended six of the world's peaks over 7,800 meters, including Mount Qomolangma (Mount Everest).

Fowler had been a mountain climber for 35 years and was an expert on climbing in southwestern China.

The Chinese rescuers said it was too dangerous to remove Boskoff's body from the steep slope on which she lay.

The Sichuan Mountaineering Association has informed US diplomats in China of the discovery, and are awaiting a response on how to deal with the body.