Employees of the Black Diamond Equipment Company are again grappling with the deadly lure of the mountains.

Owner Peter Metcalf says it was a like a bomb went off when they heard 40-year-old Alex Lowe and another climber died in an avalanche on Shishapangma, in Chinese Tibet.

The mountaineer worked at the climbing gear manufacturer several years, and met expedition members at work.

Metcalf says Lowe was one of the world's best, and skiied and climbed with many of them. But, they lose a friend to the mountains about once a year.

Peter Metcalf/Black Diamond CEO: "HE DIED DOING SOMETHING THAT HE LOVED IMMENSELY THAT HELPED DEFINE WHO HE WAS AS AN INDIVIDUAL AND THAT MADE HIM THE UNIQUE PERSON HE WAS."

Jed Boal/Eyewitness News: "THAT MARRIAGE OF WORK AND PLAY EXTENDS TO THEIR CONCERNS FOR FELLOW MOUNTAINEERS. OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS BLACK DIAMOND HAS DEVELOPED A BREATHING APARATUS CALLED AN AVALUNG THAT IN SOME CURCUMSTANCES MIGHT SAVE A PERSON'S LIFE IN AN AVALANCHE."

WE'VE LOST SEVERAL EMPLOYEES DUE TO AVALANCHES THAT HAD TO DO WITH ASPHYXIATION AND SUFFOCATION AND THAT WAS THE IMPETUS. WHAT COULD KEEP SOMEBODY ALIVE IF YOU WERE BURIED IN A MODERATE AVALANCHE?

It wouldn't have saved Alex Lowe, the trauma of the massive snow slide was too much. But, the company's research shows the breathing device works.

Metcalf says climbers are tight, and he'll honor the memories of lost friends by trying to protect each other.