Bubb said in the application that the climb would mark the first time an American joined a Japanese team speaking only the Japanese language. His parents, Ian and Susan Bubb, declined comment, but neighbors boasted that Bubb never took a class to learn the language. He learned it by living among the people who spoke it, they said. He went on to get a bachelor's of science degree in physics from the State University at Stony Brook, said JoVanna Little, the school's alumni affairs director. In addition to his parents, Bubb is survived by a younger sister, Keri, who lives in Seattle, neighbors said.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
City Mountaineering Federation said three members of an 11-person team were involved in Monday's avalanche, with one escaping. An initial search was suspended Monday evening with the rescue team returning the next morning to look for the two remaining climbers. Mountaineering Federation officials said the team had planned on returning to Japan in mid-July. Expedition officials said Wednesday they were found two days after they went missing in an avalanche. An initial search was suspended Monday evening with the rescue team returning the next morning to look for the two remaining climbers.