Sounds similar to John Peel's untimely demise back in 2004, reduced oxygen levels due to altitude bringing about undiagnosed heart problem.

Not to be disrespectful, but I think it was Mrs Peacock, in the dining room with the candle stick. She just shipped him to China for convenience

-Mike

High altitude is an indiscriminate killer. HAPE or HACE can strike anybody. And the physical stress of both climbing and the altitude can result in minor issues becoming major problems.

Over the years I've spent a bit of time in Tibet and Northern Sichuan and I was really surprised at how badly the thin - very fit looking - 'lowland' Chinese faired, even at relatively low altitude (Lhasa is at about 3,000m and most places in Tibet are a fair bit higher than that). Apparently, the CITS tourist groups lose a fair few folks – Chinese and Westerners - every year, despite dishing out blue rubber pillows full of oxygen.

And apropos nothing in particular, I was recently told by a Chinese military bloke that Viagra has proven to be a pretty good mitigating measure against altitude sickness – so there’s a plausible cover story if you need it….

He may have ate a bad diet (e.g. high carbs) which furred up his veins, so his body didn't have enough blood flow at altitude and under stress. If your body is messed up, being fit doesn't help.

Right, I'm going on a sponsored walk up a mountainside in two months time, I've been planning and saving for this for the last 18 months. If I die I want a 1,000 word article posted on el-reg. I work in IT, I'm British, and . . . oh . . . sorry, ignore me, I'm not a millonaire.

Damnit, has el-reg turned into one of those tossy rich celeb type magazines like Now, Hello or OK! ?? How else would this story jump the pages of the Telegraph to El-Reg exactly???

Correct.