Maloney's Spouse Ready For Flight Home

Congressmember Carolyn Maloney and her two daughters patiently awaited the return of her husband's remains yesterday from Nepal, five days after he died after scaling one of the world's highest mountains.

It took several days to get the body down the steep slopes of Mount Cho Oyu, on the Tibet-China border. The last part of the descent was carried out by a team of Sherpas on Monday.

They took Maloney's body to a base camp in the Himalayas and from there a waiting helicopter flew the remains to the Nepalese border, according to a press report.

From this point, the body was flown by helicopter to Katmandu to be prepared for the long flight home.

Maloney, 71, died in his sleep last Friday, the day after he reached the summit of the 27,000 foot Cho Oyu Mountain in the Himalayas, 12 miles east of Mount Everest. The avid climber, hiker and marathoner reached the frigid, windswept summit, the sixth highest peak in the world after having failed to do it one time previously.

His last words were; "I'm the happiest man in the world. I've just summited a beautiful mountain."

The report of his death and final hours came from the retired investment banker's long-time friend, climbing partner and guide, Martin Schmidt, who was accompanying Maloney on the climb.

Earlier, after Maloney had reached the summit, he had texted his wife, who was at a dinner Thursday night when she received a text message from him giving her the news of his successful climb.

A source reported, "She cheered and told those dining with her and they all toasted him."

Maloney kept himself in top shape and he had run in the New York City marathon 20 times. He had reportedly made several successful climbs of numerous peaks, including Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount McKinley in Alaska, Mount Rainier in the Pacific northwest and Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America.

According to newspaper reports, in a posting on his blog about two weeks ago, Schmidt said he and Maloney were making steady progress toward Cho Oyu's summit. They were "happy, acclimatizing very well" and Maloney was "not having any headaches, body aches, toothaches or brain aches and we are on schedule with our plans."

The Maloneys were married 33 years ago in 1976 and had two daughters, Christina, 29 and Virginia, 22. Mr. Maloney graduated from Princeton and Harvard Business School and served in the Pacific as a Navy lieutenant from 1960 to 1963. He worked many years at Goldman Sachs then founded his own investment company, C.H.W. Maloney (for Clifton Harlan Wells Maloney).

He was very supportive of the Congresswoman's political career, and was active in her campaigns. According to a friend, former journalist and political consultant George Arzt, "They were unbelievably intertwined."

Mrs. Maloney was elected to Congress in 1992 (she had served 10 years in the City Council previously) and recently considered running for the U.S. Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand (D- N.Y.) next year, but then changed her mind.