The tragedy, taken as the basis for the plot of the Hollywood film “Everest,” unfolded before the eyes of Krasnoyarsk residents. The famous climber, head coach of the Krasnoyarsk Territory mountaineering team Nikolai Zakharov was climbing to the top at the time when Scott Fischer, Rob Hall and members of their teams died there. He and his wife told Prospekt Mira about the irresponsibility of extreme tourism, the fallen noses of those rescued, and why climbers around the world learn Russian.
“This was the year when commercial mountaineering began to develop on the highest peak in the world,” says Nikolai Zakharov.— I won’t say that this is bad: if you have money, why not relax in the mountains? But not on an eight-thousander like Everest. I myself have climbed twice and I know how difficult it is: at the very top a person receives three times less oxygen than needed, there is an icy wind, the temperature drops to minus 60 degrees. You hesitated a little, didn’t get your bearings in time - and that’s it, you either froze, or the valves in the cylinders froze, and you’re without air. In principle, all this became the cause of the tragedy that took place on the slope in May 1996.
Still from the film
Two groups with paying tourists got into bad weather right at the very top. Some people had already reached the peak and were descending when an avalanche covered them. Rob Hall, the leader of one of the teams, gave in and agreed to drag one of the tourists (he had very little time left, but he could hardly walk himself), although it was clear that there was practically no time left for the descent. Both died.
“I had a case that practically repeated the story with Rob’s client,” recalls Zakharov. “During the first ascent, some of my comrades had already reached the top and turned back, and I only had about 200 meters left. Imagine: 200 meters - and for the first time in my life I’m on Everest! But if I went, they would have to wait for me, and the weather was changing. And I decided to turn back.
1996, photo from Zakharov’s personal archive
There are two routes to Everest: from Nepal, through the south col (the classic one, about which the film was made) and through the northern ridge, from Tibet. When Scott, Rob and their people died, Zakharov and a group of Krasnoyarsk tourists were climbing the northeastern wall for the first time: no one had climbed there before them.
— We missed each other in just a few days: on May 10 we went down to the camp to rest, so that we could then climb to the top. And on the 15th we moved up and found ourselves in exactly the same bad weather. We had a very bad time. The oxygen ran out, we spent three nights at an altitude of 8300 meters - this is a lot, the energy literally left us. Last night we didn’t sleep at all: everything was freezing even in our sleeping bag. But we were prepared; for us it was not an extreme situation, but a working moment. It was necessary to correctly assess everything, react and simply survive. We learned about what happened to the American teams after their return.
Still from the film
At this time, friends of Krasnoyarsk climbers were trekking under Everest. Among them was Nikolai’s wife - Lyubov Zakharova. They stopped for the night in the village of Felice (4200 meters above sea level), when wounded climbers began to be lowered from above.
“By this time we had already heard what happened; on the eve of the tragedy we saw a huge black cloud hanging over Everest,” says Lyubov Zakharova.— N But then we saw this horror with our own eyes: sad, lost people with bandaged hands, black, someone with a fallen nose - were sitting in a cafe. There was a feeling that they did not know what to do next. Someone mindlessly goes through things, takes something out and puts it back in the backpack. The strangest thing is that they don't talk to each other. Not at all, they just sit on their own. There is no euphoria that they survived, that they were going home (a plane was about to fly for them), that it was all over.
Photo from personal archive
“Now there are no such big tragedies on Everest,” continues Nikolai Nikolaevich. — the recovery industry has been worked out. But people still die every year. Because even 40 days of preparation for climbing to such a height is not enough. Personally, I would undertake to prepare a person for Everest at least three years in advance. Even a physically strong person in an extreme situation can become confused and not know what to do. The only thing the climbers had to do in 1996 was to go down as quickly as possible. But they hesitated and could no longer control the situation.
Still from the film
In the film, the only one who goes to the aid of those in trouble is Russian climber Anatoly Boukreev. This man is a legend in mountaineering. He worked as a guide for Scott Fisher.
“I knew Tolya well,” recalls Zakharov. — He is from Chelyabinsk, but lived in Alma-Ata. A very strong high-altitude climber. He and I climbed two eight-thousanders in the Himalayas. He walked without an oxygen apparatus. Then it was he who pulled out three (otherwise there could have been more victims) due to bad weather. I climbed to the top and came down three times. Afterwards he told me in great detail how everything happened. Tolya himself died in 1997 in an avalanche.
Photo from personal archive
By the way, the film does not at all focus on the fact that the climbers were saved by a Russian. It sounds: “Tolya, you can go out.” And at the end, in the credits: “Anatoly Boukreev pulled out...”.
“It is well known in the world that only Russian climbers are ready to go to the rescue no matter what,” Nikolai Zakharov is sure. “That’s just how we were taught.” Foreigners may well pass by if someone is freezing nearby. Therefore, many experienced and knowledgeable climbers from abroad learn our language and go on difficult routes only with Russians.
Still from the film
According to Zakharov, the film was shot in the Alps, but there was also a lot of natural filming. On Everest itself, the south col and tents were removed. Of course, all this adds to its realism.
“Young guys often come to me and ask me to sign them up as climbers,” finishes Nikolai Nikolaevich. “Now I started telling them: watch the film, and then come back.” Almost half don’t come later. There are many eight-thousanders in the Himalayas, but for some reason it is on Everest that people die very often. Everyone strives to climb to the highest peak in the world. And I personally don’t like Everest on classic routes. I saw enough of the dead there - This is a natural cemetery.
Photo from personal archive
Scott Fisher is a climber who, at the age of 20, showed himself to be a true professional in conquering mountain peaks. But most people know him from the tragedy on Everest in 1996, when 8 people from three expeditions died within 24 hours, including Fischer himself.
The beginning of a passion for mountaineering
As children, we dream of the most heroic professions. An astronaut, a fireman, a rescuer, a pilot, a ship captain - they are associated with a certain risk and therefore look so romantic in the eyes of a child. Scott Fischer knew at age 14 that he would be a mountain climber. He took rock climbing courses for two years. Then he graduated from the school of guides and became one of the best professional mountaineering trainers. During these years, he was actively involved in conquering high mountain peaks.
In 1982, he and his wife Jean moved to Seattle. Fisher's children, Andy and Katie Rose, were born here.
Conquest of Lhotse
Scott Fisher, a top-level mountaineer, became the first American high-altitude climber to conquer Lhotse, the world's fourth-highest peak.
The “Southern Peak” (this is how the name of the eight-thousander is translated) is located in the Himalayas, on the border of China and Nepal. It is divided into three peaks. Today, several routes have been laid to them, but the conquest of Lhotse remains incredibly difficult. Walking along the South Wall is considered almost impossible. Only a team of Soviet climbers was able to do this in 1990. Seventeen people worked harmoniously so that only two of them could climb to the top.
"Mountain Madness"
Energetic and enterprising, Scott Fisher opened his own high-mountain tour company in 1984. At first, this work was of little interest to the climber - the main thing in his life was climbing. The company helped him do what he loved. For a long time, Mountain Madness remained a virtually unknown travel company. Everything changed in the 90s, when conquering Everest became the cherished dream of ordinary tourists. Experienced high-altitude climbers became guides, accompanying those who wanted to climb to the top for money. The process of commercialization of Everest begins. Companies appear that promise to organize a rise to the top for a tidy sum. They took upon themselves the delivery of expedition members to the base camp, preparation of participants for the ascent and accompaniment along the route. For the opportunity to become one of the conquerors of Everest, those wishing to shell out huge sums - from 50 to 65 thousand dollars. At the same time, the organizers of the expeditions did not guarantee success - the mountain might not be conquered.
Scott Fisher's Everest Expedition. Reasons for its organization
The success of commercial expeditions by other climbers, including Rob Hall, led Fischer to consider a route to the Himalayas. As company manager Karen Dickinson later said, this decision was dictated by time. Many clients wanted to go to the highest point in the world. Scott Fisher, for whom Everest was not the most difficult route, by that time was seriously thinking that it was time to change his life. An expedition to the Himalayas would allow him to make a name for himself and show what his company is capable of. If successful, he could count on new clients who would allow themselves to pay large sums for the opportunity to climb to the top of Everest.
Compared to other climbers whose names never left the pages of magazines, he was not so famous. Few people knew who Scott Fisher was. Everest gave him a chance to become famous if the Mountain Madness expedition was successful. Another reason that forced the climber to go on this tour was an attempt to improve his image. He had a reputation as a brave and reckless high-altitude climber. Most wealthy clients wouldn't like his risqué style. The expedition included Sandy Hill Pittman, a newspaper reporter. Her report on the ascent would be excellent advertising for Scott Fischer and his company.
Events of 1996 on Everest
Much has been said about the tragedy that occurred in the Himalayas. The chronology of events was compiled from the words of the surviving members of the three expeditions and witnesses. 1996 was one of the most tragic years for the conquerors of Everest - 15 of them never returned home. Eight people died in one day: Rob Hall and Scott Fisher, the expedition leaders, three members of their teams and three climbers from the Indo-Tibetan Border Patrol.
Problems began at the beginning of the ascent. Sherpas (local guides) did not have time to adjust all the railings, which greatly slowed down the ascent. Numerous tourists also interfered, who that day also decided to storm the summit. As a result, the strict ascent schedule was disrupted. Those who knew how important it was to turn back in time returned to the camp and remained alive. The rest continued to climb.
Rob Hall and Scott Fisher were far behind the rest of the field. The latter was in poor physical condition even before the expedition began, but hid this fact from others. His tired appearance was noticed during the ascent, which was completely uncharacteristic for an energetic and active climber.
By four o'clock in the afternoon they reached the top, although according to the schedule they were supposed to begin their descent at two o'clock. By this time, the light veil that covered the mountains had turned into a snowstorm. Scott Fisher descended with Lopsang Sherpa. Apparently, at this time his condition deteriorated sharply. It is assumed that the climber began to suffer from swelling of the brain and lungs, and a severe stage of exhaustion began. He persuaded the Sherpa to go down to the camp and bring help.
Anatoly Boukreev, the Mountain Madness guide, saved three tourists that day, delivering them to the camp alone. He twice tried to climb to Fischer, having learned from the returning Sherpa about the climber’s condition, but zero visibility and strong winds did not allow him to reach the group leader.
In the morning, the Sherpas reached Fischer, but his condition was already so bad that they made the difficult decision to leave him where he was, making him more comfortable. They lowered Makalu Go into the camp, whose condition made it possible to do this. A little later, Boukreev also reached Fischer, but the 40-year-old climber had by that time died of hyperemia.
The reasons for the tragedy that occurred with Fischer and other participants in the ascent
Mountains are one of the treacherous places on the planet. Eight thousand meters is a height at which the human body can no longer recover. Any, even the most insignificant reason can lead to a terrible tragedy. That day on Everest, the climbers were catastrophically unlucky. They were far behind the strict schedule due to the large number of tourists on the route at the same time. The time when it was necessary to turn back was lost. Those who reached the summit later than everyone else were caught in a severe snow storm on the way back and did not find the strength to go down to the camp.
Everest Open Graves
Scott Fisher, whose body was found frozen on May 11, 1996, was left at the scene of his death. It is almost impossible to bring down the dead from such a height. A year later, having returned to Nepal again, Anatoly Boukreev paid his last respects to his friend, whom he considered the best high-altitude climber in America. He covered Fischer's body with stones and stuck an ice ax over his makeshift grave.
Scott Fisher, whose body, along with the bodies of several dead Everest conquerors, was buried right at the site of his death, could have been lowered to the foot in 2010. Then it was decided, as far as possible, to clear the slopes of the mountain from the debris that had accumulated over many years and try to lower the bodies of the dead. Rob Hall's widow rejected this idea, and Fisher's wife Ginny hoped that her husband's body could be cremated at the foot of the mountain that killed him. But the Sherpas were able to find and lower the remains of two other climbers. Scott Fisher and Rob Hall still remain on Everest.
Reflection of the tragedy on Everest in literature and cinema
Participants in the incident, journalist Jon Krakauer, climber Anatoly Boukreev, Beck Withers and Lin Gammelgaard, wrote books in which they expressed their point of view.
Cinema could not stay away from such a promising topic as the 1996 tragedy on Everest. In 1997, John Krakaur's novel was filmed. It formed the basis of the film Death on Everest.
In 2015, the film “Everest” was released. The leader of the Mountain Madness expedition was played by Jake Gyllenhaal. Scott Fisher looked a little different in appearance (he was blond), but the actor fully managed to convey the energy and charm that the climber radiated. Rob Hall played. Keira Knightley, Robin Wright and Sam Worthington can also be seen in the film.
(Scott Fisher in the film "Everest") belongs to that category of actors whose skills grow before the eyes of the audience. Over the past two years, he has managed to please his fans with excellent performances in the films “Stringer” and “Lefty.” The Everest tragedy was no exception. The film received high marks from viewers and critics. Climbers also spoke positively about it, noting only a few minor errors in showing the behavior of people in conditions of oxygen starvation.
Is a dream worth a human life?
The desire to be at the highest point in the world is quite understandable. But Scott Fisher and Rob Hall, professionals of the highest level, showed weakness and went along with the ambitions of their clients. And the mountains do not forgive mistakes.
There is everything here to touch the Devil’s lair, and the walking dead, and human madness, and it burns like in the furnace of the underworld, but... from the icy abyss.
Either heroes or madmen come here voluntarily. This can be debated for a long time, but the fact remains that inhuman torment is prepared for people here.
This is Everest.
The Mallory-Irving team was the first to reach the summit in 1926. They didn't come back.
Only more than 70 years later, in 1999, climbers discovered Mallory, he was lying head down, frozen into the rock, hugging it with his hands.
Since then, the rock has buried a huge pile of people, many were not buried, and here and there, on the way of ascent, dead bodies appear.
There are also living ones, but often the most correct decision is to leave exhausted climbers to the will of providence, because of the danger of losing your life along with them.
TV channel " Discovery “They found an exhausted Englishman, and could only find out his name, leaving him to die in the icy abyss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eW6ifxuVFY
One of the biggest tragedies on Everest occurred in 1996.
Journalist and mountaineer Jon Krakauer described it very well and in detail in his diary.
John, along with eight others, became a client of Rob Hall, the organizer of the Adventure Consultants firm.
Rob is a lucky New Zealander, having lifted 39 people to the top in five years. Because of this, the price tag for his services is three times higher than that of others.
The other group is led to the ascent by Steve Fisher, a bodybuilder with the face of a movie star whose company is called Mountain Madness, which more than accurately describes his technique.
Steve is childishly charming, smokes marijuana and likes to drink, sometimes without counting his strength.
Hall and Fisher lead ragtag groups of wealthy clients who are willing to put their lives at risk for large sums of money.
Upon closer inspection, they could be mistaken for a suicide squad.
For example, 47-year-old Japanese Yasuka Namba, with mediocre mountaineering skills, who intends to become the oldest lady on the peak of Everest.
Doug Hansen, a 46-year-old postal worker, having saved up again, is trying to climb his fifth eight-thousander.
The main “star” of Fisher’s group, Sandy Pittman, a member of the prestigious New Yorker Society club, is married to one of the founders MTV .
This is her third ascent.
With her characteristic eccentricity, Sandy drew the attention of major New York newspapers to herself.
Steve Fisher must bring VIP client to the top, this will bring good publicity for his company.
Sherpa Fischer Lopsang drags 35 kg of equipment and the Sandy satellite station up the slope, which later turned out to be impossible to connect at altitude.
Sandy wanted to send emails from 7,900 meters above sea level, and Scott Fisher doesn't have the courage to stop the dangerous whims of his clients.
Morning comes and about 50 climbers are ready to conquer the peak today, and there are so many people on the slopes of the mountain, it’s like a traffic jam during rush hour.
Everyone moves very slowly and often stands.
At night, the senior Sherpas of Hall and Fischer's groups were supposed to tighten the railing ropes, but it turns out they can't stand each other, and the organizers didn't have enough sense to force them to do their job.
Breathing noisily, Lopsang pulls Sandy like a plow horse.
Fisher's assistant Anatoly Boukreev argues with the manager and does not want to help his clients climb up.
Fischer does it himself. Helps one to rise, goes down and rises again. It is clear that he is exhausted.
Beck Withers, a doctor from Texas, gave himself a ticket to the climb on his own anniversary. Due to the thin air, he loses his vision due to surgery.
Rob promises to pick him up after the climb.
Two o'clock in the afternoon comes, the very moment when, according to the rules, it is necessary to turn back.
But this does not happen, Fischer and Hall drag their clients upstairs, signing a verdict for some of them and themselves.
Hall waits at the summit for Doug Hansen for almost two hours. Why didn't Rob turn it around when the time to climb exceeded all reasonable limits?
It turns out that a year ago Rob had already turned Doug around, preventing him from rising to the top. And according to Doug’s stories, Rob strongly persuaded him to try to climb again.
A strong storm arises.
Everyone is very exhausted, Lopsang is throwing up, Sandy is shaking from side to side, she could fall into the abyss at any moment.
U Hansen's oxygen cylinder runs out - he is completely exhausted.
Hall tries to bring him down, almost motionless, without supplemental oxygen.
They get stuck and radio in with Hall's assistant, Harris.
Harris slowly gets up and goes to help alone. This decision cost him his life.
A section of the path that under normal conditions climbers cover in half an hour takes them more than 10 hours.
Lopsang catches up with Fischer and stays next to him for almost three hours, insuring and helping his boss.
In the end, he is no longer able to help, Lopsang decides to leave Scott Fisher and makes his way down through the snowstorm.
Exhausted, he gets to the camp, tells Boukreev that Fischer is very bad and falls into oblivion.
But it's not just Rob Hall, Scott Fisher and those who walked with them who are fighting for their lives this night.
Scott Fisher and Rob Hall
A few tens of meters above the rescue camp there is a struggle for the lives of the instructors of the team of Fischer and Hall with the helpless clients of Namba and Withers.
The Japanese woman has run out of oxygen, and she cannot walk on her own, the Texan is even worse, blind, in the icy void, the client waited for Hall for 12 hours and did not wait...
For the next two hours, eleven people wander in a gale of large ice crystals just meters from the rescue tents.
They come across several empty cylinders, but are disorientated.
Staggering, Beidleman feels a slight rise with his feet; he sees nothing, but feels that there is an abyss beneath him.
His instinct did not deceive him and saved the lives of his entire group; they approached a two-kilometer abyss.
The temperature drops to minus 45 degrees Celsius and everyone has run out of oxygen.
Eventually, the eleven climbers squat or curl up and close their eyes, awaiting death.
Beidleman sees a sign - several stars in the clearing sky, gathering all his strength he tries to force everyone to rise, but Pittman, Withers, Namba and another climber are too weak. If they don't get help they will die.
Boukreev goes out in search of the unfortunate people. Indeed, after a little over an hour he sees the faint light of a lantern in the snowstorm.
The strongest of the five is still conscious and appears to be able to walk to the camp on his own.
The rest lie motionless on the ice - they do not even have the strength to speak.
Yasuko Namba seems dead - snow is stuck in her hood, her right shoe is missing, her hand is as cold as ice.
Boukreev connects the oxygen cylinder he brought to Sandy Pittman’s mask and makes it clear that he will try to return as soon as possible.
Anatoly Bukreev
Boukreev returns. This time he is dragging towards Sandy's camp, with a fifth man lumbering behind him.
The little Japanese girl and the blind, delirious Withers are considered hopeless - they are left to die.
It's 4:30 a.m., it'll be dawn soon.
Before his death, Rob Hall said goodbye to his pregnant wife via satellite phone.
As it turned out, Hall had two oxygen tanks at his disposal, but the oxygen mask valve was frozen and he could not connect them.
12 days later, two Americans, whose path passed through the southern peak, found a frozen body on the glacier.
Hall was lying on his right side, half covered with snow.
On the morning of May 11, as several groups made desperate attempts to rescue Hall and Fisher, two bodies were found covered in a centimeter layer of ice: they were Yasuko Namba and Beck Withers.
Both were barely breathing. Rescuers considered them hopeless and left them to die.
But a few hours later, Withers woke up, shook off the ice and wandered back to camp.
He was put into a tent, which was torn down the next night by a strong hurricane.
Withers again spent the night in the cold - and no one bothered about the unfortunate man: his situation was again considered hopeless.
Only the next morning the client was noticed.
Finally, the climbers helped their comrade, whom they themselves had already sentenced to death three times.
To quickly evacuate him, a Nepalese Air Force helicopter rose to a dangerous height.
Due to severe frostbite, Beck Withers had his right hand and fingers on his left amputated.
The nose also had to be removed - its likeness was formed from the skin folds of the face.
Beck Withers
Over the course of two days in May, the following members of our teams died: instructors Rob Hall, Andy Harris and Scott Fisher, clients Doug Hansen and Japanese Yasuko Namba.
Min Ho Gau and Beck Withers suffered severe frostbite.
Sandy Pittman did not suffer any serious damage in the Himalayas.
She returned to New York and was terribly surprised and confused when her report on the expedition generated a flurry of negativeresponses.
Balthasar Colmacur brought the 1996 tragedy to the screen.
How he did it is up to you to judge for yourself.
The tragedy on Qomolungma in May 1996 refers to the events that occurred on May 11, 1996 and led to the mass death of climbers on the southern slope of Qomolungma.
During the entire 1996 season, 15 people died while climbing the mountain, which forever inscribed this year as one of the most tragic in the history of the conquest of Chomolungma. The May tragedy received wide publicity in the press and the mountaineering community, calling into question the feasibility and moral aspects of the commercialization of Chomolungma.
The surviving participants in the events each offered their own versions of what happened.
In particular, journalist Jon Krakauer described the tragedy in his book.
Jon Krakauer, a journalist, mountaineer, and participant in an expedition in the Himalayas, chronicled a tragedy involving frivolity and vanity, fatal arrogance, courage and big money.
One of my feet is in China, the other is in the kingdom of Nepal; I'm standing on the highest point on the planet. I scrape the ice off my oxygen mask, turn my shoulder to the wind and absentmindedly look down at the vastness of Tibet. I had long dreamed of this moment, expecting unprecedented sensual delight. But now that I am actually standing on the top of Everest, I no longer have enough strength for emotions.
I haven't slept for fifty-seven hours. Over the past three days, I have only managed to swallow a little soup and a handful of chocolate-covered nuts. I have been tormented by a severe cough for several weeks now; During one of the attacks, two ribs even cracked, and now every breath is real torture for me. In addition, here, at an altitude of over eight thousand meters, the brain receives so little oxygen that in terms of mental abilities I am now unlikely to give a head start to a not very developed child. Apart from the insane cold and fantastic fatigue, I feel almost nothing.
Next to me are instructors Anatoly Boukreev from Russia and New Zealander Andy Harris. I click four frames. Then I turn around and begin the descent. I spent less than five minutes on the greatest peak on the planet. I soon notice that in the south, where just recently the sky was completely clear, several lower peaks were hidden in the advancing clouds.
After fifteen minutes of careful descent along the edge of a two-kilometer abyss, I come across a twelve-meter cornice on the crest of the main ridge. This is a difficult place. As I fasten myself to the hanging railing, I notice—and this worries me greatly—that ten meters below, at the foot of the rock, about a dozen climbers are crowded together, still on their way to the top. All I have to do is unhook from the rope and give way to them.
Down there are members of three expeditions: a New Zealand team led by the legendary Rob Hall (I belong to it too), a team from the American Scott Fischer, and a group of climbers from Taiwan. As they slowly climb up the rock, I eagerly wait for it to be my turn to descend.
Andy Harris was stuck with me. I ask him to get into my backpack and turn off the valve of the oxygen cylinder - this way I want to save the remaining oxygen. Over the next ten minutes I feel surprisingly good and my head clears. Suddenly, out of the blue, it becomes difficult to breathe. Everything is swimming before my eyes, I feel like I might lose consciousness. Instead of turning off the oxygen supply, Harris mistakenly opened the valve all the way, and now my tank is empty. There are still seventy difficult meters down to the spare oxygen cylinders. But first you have to wait for the queue below to clear. I take off the now useless oxygen mask, throw my helmet onto the ice and squat down. Every now and then you have to exchange smiles and polite greetings with climbers passing up. In fact, I'm desperate.
Finally, Doug Hansen, one of my teammates, crawls up. "We did it!" - I shout to him the usual greeting in such cases, trying to make my voice sound more cheerful. Tired Doug mutters something unintelligible from under his oxygen mask, shakes my hand and trudges further upstairs.
Scott Fisher appears at the very end of the group. The obsession and endurance of this American climber have long been legendary, and now I am surprised by his completely exhausted appearance. But the descent is finally free. I fasten myself to a bright orange rope, with a sharp movement I go around Fischer, who, with his head down, leans on his ice axe, and, falling over the edge of the rock, I slide down.
I reach the southern peak (one of the two peaks of Everest) at four o'clock. I grab a full oxygen tank and hurry further down, to where the clouds are getting denser. A few moments later, snow begins to fall and nothing is visible. And four hundred meters above, where the summit of Everest still glows against the azure sky, my teammates continue to cheer loudly. They celebrate the conquest of the highest point on the planet: they wave flags, hug, take photographs - and waste precious time. It doesn’t even occur to any of them that in the evening of this long day every minute will count. Later, after six corpses were found, and the search for those two whose bodies could not be found was stopped, I was asked many times how my comrades could have missed such a sharp deterioration in the weather. Why did experienced instructors continue to climb, not paying attention to the signs of an approaching storm, and leading their less than well-prepared clients to certain death? I am forced to answer that in those afternoon hours of May 10, I myself did not notice anything that could indicate the approach of a hurricane. The veil of clouds that appeared below seemed thin, completely harmless and hardly worthy of attention to my oxygen-deprived brain.
A place on the death squad cost clients sixty-five thousand dollars
At the foot of Everest, four weeks earlier.
Thirty teams - more than four hundred people - were at that time on the Nepalese and Tibetan slopes of Everest. These were climbers from two dozen countries, high-altitude Sherpa porters from local residents, and quite a lot of doctors and assistants. Many groups were purely commercial: two or three instructors guided a few clients to the top who paid generously for their professional services. New Zealander Rob Hall is particularly lucky in this regard. In five years he has taken 39 people to the peak, and his firm is now advertised as "a leading organizer of Everest tours." Hall is about ninety meters tall, and he is as thin as a pole. There is something childish about his face, but he looks older than his thirty-five years, either because of the wrinkles around his eyes or because of his enormous authority among his fellow climbers. Unruly strands of brown hair fall over his forehead.
For organizing the climb, he demands 65 thousand dollars from each client - and this amount does not include either the cost of the flight to Nepal or the price of mountain equipment. Some of Hall's competitors charge only a third of that amount. But thanks to his phenomenally high top percentage this spring, Rob Hall has no problems with wealthy clients: he now has eight of them.
One of his clients is me, although the money does not come from my pocket. An American magazine sent me on an expedition to get a report on the ascent. For Hall, this is a way to once again express himself. Because of me, his desire to reach the top is noticeably intensified, although it is clear that the report will appear in the magazine even if the goal is not achieved.
Scott Fisher's team is climbing Everest at the same time as us. Fischer, 40 years old, is a quite sociable, stocky athlete with a tail of blond hair at the back of his head, driven forward by inexhaustible internal energy. If the name of Hall's company, Adventure Consultants, fully reflects the New Zealander's methodical, meticulous approach to organizing climbs, then Mountain Madness, the name of Scott Fisher's enterprise, defines the latter's style even more precisely. At the age of twenty, he was already famous in professional circles for his more than risky technique.
Team "Adventure Consultants Everest". 1996
Many people are attracted by Fischer's inexhaustible energy, the breadth of his nature and his capacity for childlike admiration. He is charming, has the muscles of a bodybuilder and the physiognomy of a movie star. Fischer smokes marijuana (though not while working) and drinks somewhat more than his health allows. This is the first commercial expedition to Everest he organized.
Hall and Fischer each have eight clients, a diverse group of mountain-obsessed people who are united only by their willingness to spend significant sums and even risk their own lives to stand on the world's highest peak. But if we remember that even in the center of Europe, on Mount Mont Blanc, which is half as low, dozens of amateur climbers sometimes die, then the commercial groups of Hall and Fischer, consisting mainly of rich but not very experienced climbers, even with favorable conditions resemble suicide squads.
Take one client, Doug Hansen, a 46-year-old father of two grown children and a postal worker from Renton, near Seattle.
To fulfill his life's dream, he worked day and night, saving the necessary amount. Or doctor Seaborn Beck Withers from Dallas. He gave himself a ticket to this far from cheap expedition for his fiftieth birthday. Yasuko Namba, a frail Japanese woman from Tokyo with very limited climbing abilities, at forty-seven years old, dreams of becoming the oldest woman to conquer Everest.
Many of these future conquerors send messages daily to almost every country in the world via satellite communications or the Internet. And yet the main correspondent is in Fischer's group. This is Sandy Hall Pittman, forty-one years old, a member of the prestigious New Yorker Society and married to one of the founders of the MTV music channel. An athletic woman, one meter eighty tall, even brought the spirit of New York to the Himalayas: she drinks aromatic coffee bought at her favorite store, and the latest issues of fashion magazines are sent to the base camp especially for her. With her characteristic egocentrism, Pittman managed to interest all the major New York newspapers in her expedition to Everest. This is her third attempt and this time she is determined to get to the top. This exposes Scott Fischer to the greatest temptation: if this VIP client gets to the top with his help, he will receive the most stunning publicity he could ever dream of.
Our expedition began at the end of March in Northern India, from where we went to Nepal. On April 9th we reached the base camp, located at an altitude of 5364 meters on the western side of Everest. In the following days, while the Sherpas slowly made their way up, we gradually got used to the cold and thin high-mountain air. Some even then felt unwell: there was not enough oxygen, their bloody legs ached, they suffered from headaches or, as in my case, a constant cough. One of the Sherpas accompanying us was seriously injured when he fell into a crack.
At an altitude of 6400 meters, we came face to face with death for the first time - it was the corpse of an unlucky climber, wrapped in a blue plastic bag. Then one of the best and most experienced porters of the Fisher team suffered from pulmonary edema. He had to be evacuated by helicopter to a hospital, but Sherpa died a few weeks later. Fischer's client with the same symptoms was, fortunately, brought to a safe height in time, and thanks to this his life was saved.
Scott Fischer quarrels with his deputy, Russian instructor Anatoly Boukreev: he does not want to help clients climb up the rocks, and Fischer has to do the grueling work of a guide alone.
At Camp III, our penultimate mountain shelter before the summit, we prepare for the final stage of the ascent. Nearby were climbers from Taiwan with their leader, photographer Min Ho Gau. Ever since the hapless Taiwanese needed rescuers to conquer Mount McKinley in Alaska in 1995, the team has become notorious for its lack of experience. The climbers from the Republic of South Africa are equally incompetent: their group is followed by a whole trail of scandalous rumors, and several experienced athletes separated from them at the base camp.
We begin the attack on the summit on May 6th. And although there is an agreement between the groups not to attempt the assault on Everest all at the same time - otherwise there will be queues and jostling on the approach to the very top - this, unfortunately, does not stop either the South Africans or the team from Taiwan.
The first victims of unpreparedness appeared on the way to the top of Everest...
On the morning of May 9 one of the Taiwanese climbs out of the tent to recover and wash himself. He only has soft chuni on his legs. Squatting down, he slips, flies, somersaulting, down the slope and after about twenty meters falls into a deep crack. The Sherpas pull him out and help him to the tent. He is in a state of shock, although at first glance there appears to be no serious physical damage.
Soon after, Ming Ho Gau leads the remnants of the Taiwanese group towards Camp IV, which is located on the south col, leaving his unlucky comrade to rest in a tent all alone. A few hours later, the poor man’s condition deteriorates sharply, he loses consciousness and soon dies. American climbers radioed about this tragedy to group leader Min Ho Gau.
“Okay,” he replies, “thank you very much.” And, as if nothing had happened, he informs his partners that the death of a comrade will in no way affect the schedule of their ascension.
On the southern col (height 7925 meters) there is a camp, which becomes our base for the duration of the assault on the summit. The South Col is a vast ice plateau between the wind-whipped cliffs of the upper Lhotse Mountain and Everest. On the eastern side it hangs over an abyss two kilometers deep, at the edge of which our tents stand. There are more than a thousand empty oxygen cylinders lying around, left behind by previous expeditions. If there is a more bleak and polluted place anywhere else on earth, I hope I don’t have to see it.
On the evening of May 9, the teams of Hall, Fischer, the Taiwanese and the South Africans reach the South Col. We made this multi-hour journey in difficult conditions - there was a strong wind and it was very slippery; some arrived at the place already in the dark, completely exhausted.
Here comes Lopsang Yangbu, senior Sherpa from Scott Fisher's team. He carries a 35-kilogram backpack on his back. Among other things, there are satellite communication devices - Sandy Pittman wants to send electronic messages around the world from an altitude of 7900 meters (later it turned out that this is technically impossible). It does not occur to Fisher to stop such dangerous whims of clients. On the contrary, he promised to personally carry Pittman’s electronic toys upstairs if the porter refused to carry them. By nightfall, more than fifty people had gathered here, small tents standing almost close together. At the same time, a strange atmosphere of isolation hovers over the camp. The gusty wind on the plateau howls so loudly that it is impossible to communicate even if you are in neighboring tents. As a team we exist only on paper. In a few hours the group will leave the camp, but each will move forward on his own, not connected to the others by any rope or special sympathy.
In the evening, at half past eight, everything calms down. It’s still terribly cold, but there’s almost no wind anymore; The weather is favorable for the summit attempt. Rob Hall shouts loudly to us from his tent: “Guys, today looks like today is the day. At half past eleven we begin the assault!
Twenty-five minutes before midnight, I pull on my oxygen mask, turn on the lamp, and step out into the darkness. Hall's group consists of fifteen people: three instructors, four Sherpas and eight clients. Fischer and his team - three instructors, six Sherpas and clients - follow us at intervals of half an hour. Next come the Taiwanese with two Sherpas. But the South African team, which found the grueling climb too difficult, remained in the tents. That night, thirty-three people left the camp in the direction of the summit.
At three forty-five in the morning, twenty meters below me, I notice a large figure in a poisonous yellow puff. In conjunction with her is Sherpa, who is much shorter in stature. Breathing noisily (he is not wearing an oxygen mask), the Sherpa literally drags his partner up the slope like a horse drags a plow. This is Lopsang Yangbu and Sandy Pittman.
We stop every now and then. The night before, the guides from the teams of Fischer and Hall had to hang the fixed ropes. But it turned out that the two main Sherpas couldn't stand each other. And neither Scott Fisher nor Rob Hall - the most authoritative people on the plateau - were able or willing to force the Sherpas to do the necessary work. Because of this, we are now losing precious time and energy. Hall's four clients are getting worse and worse.
But Fischer's clients are in good shape, and this, of course, puts pressure on the New Zealander. Doug Hansen wants to turn down, but Hall persuades him to go further. Beck Withers almost completely lost his sight - due to low blood pressure, the consequences of his eye surgery appeared. Soon after sunrise he had to be left helpless on the ridge. Hall promises to pick up Withers on his way back.
According to the rules, the leader is obliged to set a time when all members of the group, regardless of where they are, must turn back in order to return safely to the camp. However, none of us knew this hour.
After a while I see Lopsang in the snow: he is on his knees, throwing up. Sherpa is the strongest climber in the group, but yesterday he spent the whole day carrying Sandy Pittman’s useless satellite phone, and today for five or even six hours in a row he pulled her up. The right of the guide to go first in the group and determine the route is for Lopsang now additional load. Due to the poor preparation of the route by the warring Sherpas, the poor physical condition of Lopsang and Fischer himself, and mainly due to the endless delays caused by the limitations of such participants as Sandy Pittman, Yasuko Namba and Doug Hansen, we moved forward slowly and even optimally. for Everest, the weather conditions could not help us. Between one and two, when it was time to turn back, three-quarters of the climbers had not even reached the summit. Scott Fisher and Rob Hall were supposed to signal their groups to return, but they weren't even in sight.
Anatoly Boukreev, Mike Groom, Jon Krakauer, Andy Harris, and a long line of climbers on Everest on the Southeast Ridge, with Makalu behind, May 10, 1996. Photo from the book "Into Thin Air"
At the top of Everest, 13 hours 25 minutes.
Scott Fisher's team instructor Neil Beidleman, in conjunction with one of his clients, finally reaches the top. Two other instructors are already there: Andy Harris and Anatoly Boukreev. Beidleman concludes that the rest of his group will appear soon. He takes a few winning shots and then starts a playful tussle with Boukreev.
Scott Fisher's team on the summit ridge of Everest at 13:00 on May 10, 1996. Photo from Jon Krakauer's book "Into Thin Air"
At 14 o'clock Still no word from Fischer, Beidleman's boss. Right now – and not later! - everyone should have started to descend, but this is not happening. Beidleman has no way to contact other team members. The porters carried a computer and a satellite communication device upstairs, but neither Beidleman nor Boukreev had with them a simple intercom device that weighs practically nothing. This blunder subsequently cost clients and instructors dearly.
At the top of Everest, 14 hours 10 minutes.
Sandy Pittman makes it to the ridge, slightly ahead of Lopsang Yangbu and three other members of the group. She can barely drag herself - she is, after all, forty-one years old - and before the summit she falls down as if knocked down. Lopsang sees that her oxygen tank is empty. Luckily, he has a spare one in his backpack. They slowly walk the last meters and join in the general rejoicing.
By this time, Rob Hall and Yasuko Namba had already reached the summit. Hall talks to base camp via radio. Then one of the employees recalled that Rob was in a great mood. He said, “We're already seeing Doug Hansen. As soon as it reaches us, we will move down."
The employee transmitted the message to Hall's New Zealand office and a whole bunch of faxes scattered from there to the friends and families of the expedition members, informing them of complete triumph. In reality, Hansen, like Fischer, had not a few minutes to go to the top, as Hall thought, but almost two hours.
Probably, even in the camp, Fischer’s strength was running out - he was seriously ill. In 1984, in Nepal, he picked up some mysterious local infection, which developed into a chronic illness with frequent attacks of fever, like malaria. It happened that the climber was shaking all day with severe chills.
Rob Hall, Scott Fisher, Anatoly Boukreev, and Jon Krakauer - photo from Jon Krarauer's book "Into Thin Air"
A full oxygen tank is the price of human life in the “death zone.”
At the top of Everest, 15 hours 10 minutes.
Neil Beidleman has been lounging on the highest point of the planet for almost two hours by this point and finally decides that it is time to leave, although the group leader, Fisher, is still not in sight. By this time I had already reached the southern peak. I will have to continue the descent in a snow storm and only by 19.40 will I be able to reach camp IV, where, having climbed into the tent, I will fall into a semi-conscious state due to severe hypothermia, lack of oxygen and complete exhaustion of strength.
The only one who returned to base camp that day without any problems was the Russian, Anatoly Boukreev. At 17 o'clock he was already sitting in his tent and warming himself with hot tea. Later, experienced climbers would doubt the correctness of his decision to leave his clients so far behind - more than a strange act for an instructor. One of the clients would later say about him with contempt: “When the situation became threatening, the Russian ran out of there as fast as he could.
Neil Beidleman, 36, a former aeronautical engineer, on the other hand, has a reputation as a calm, conscientious instructor and is loved by everyone. In addition, this is one of the strongest climbers. At the summit, he gathers Sandy Pittman and three other clients together and begins the descent with them, heading to Camp IV.
Twenty minutes later they come across Scott Fisher. He, completely exhausted, silently greets them with a gesture. But the strength and abilities of the American climber have long been legendary, and it doesn’t occur to Beidleman that the commander might have problems. Much more disturbing to Beidleman is Sandy Pittman, who can barely move. She is staggering, her consciousness has become so dark that the client has to be secured so that she does not fall into the abyss.
Just below the southern peak, the American woman becomes so weak that she asks to be given cortisone, which should neutralize the effects of rarefied air for some time. In Fischer's team, every climber has this drug with him in case of emergency, in a case under his down jacket, so as not to freeze.
Sandy Pittman is looking more and more like an inanimate object. Beidleman orders another climber on his team to replace the journalist's almost empty oxygen tank with his full one. He ties ropes around Sandy and drags her down the hard, snow-covered ridge. To everyone's relief, the injection and additional dose of oxygen quickly have a life-giving effect, and Pittman comes to his senses enough to continue his descent without assistance.
At the top of Everest, 15 hours 40 minutes
When Fischer eventually reaches the top, Lopsang Yangbu is already there waiting for him. He gives Fischer the radio transmitter. “We were all at the top,” Fisher reports to base camp, “God, I’m so tired.” A couple of minutes later, Min Ho Gau and his two Sherpas join them. Rob Hall is also still up there, eagerly awaiting Doug Hansen. A veil of clouds slowly closes around the peak. Fischer again complains that he doesn’t feel well - such behavior is more than unusual for a famous stoic. At approximately 15.55 he begins his return journey. And although Scott Fischer made the entire route to the top wearing an oxygen mask, and in his backpack there is a third, almost full cylinder, the American suddenly, for no apparent reason, takes off his oxygen mask.
Soon the Taiwanese Min Ho Gau and his Sherpas, as well as Lopsang Yangbu, leave the summit. Rob Hall is left all alone, still waiting for Doug Hansen, who finally appears around four o'clock in the afternoon. Very pale, Doug struggles to overcome the last dome before the summit. The delighted Hall hurries to meet him.
The deadline for everyone to turn back had expired at least two hours ago. Later, Hall’s colleagues, who were well aware of the New Zealand climber’s caution and methodical nature, were genuinely surprised by the strange clouding of his mind. Why didn't he order Hansen to turn around before reaching the top? After all, it was absolutely clear that the American did not meet any reasonable time frame to ensure a safe return.
However, there is one explanation. A year ago in the Himalayas, at about the same time, Hall had already told him to turn back: Hansen had returned from the southern peak, and for him it was a terrible disappointment. Judging by his stories, he went to Everest again largely because Rob Hall himself persistently persuaded him to try his luck one more time. This time, Doug Hansen is determined to get to the top no matter what. And since Hall himself had persuaded Hansen to return to Everest, it must now have been especially difficult for him to prevent the slow client from continuing to climb. But time was lost. Rob Hall supports the exhausted Hansen and helps him climb the last fifteen meters up. They stand for a minute or two on the summit, which Doug Hansen finally conquered, and slowly begin their descent. Noticing that Hansen is barely able to stand, Lopsang stops to watch as the two negotiate the dangerous ledge just below the top. After making sure everything is fine, Sherpa quickly continues his descent to join Fischer. Hall and his client were left alone far behind.
Soon after Lopsang is out of sight, Hansen's oxygen tank runs out and he is completely exhausted. Rob Hall tries to bring him down, almost motionless, without supplemental oxygen. But the twelve-meter cornice stood before them as an insurmountable barrier. Conquering the peak required the exertion of all forces, and there are no reserves left for the descent. At an altitude of 8,780 meters, Hall and Hansen get stuck and contact Harris by radio.
Located on the southern summit, Andy Harris, the second New Zealand instructor, decides to take the full oxygen cylinders left there to Hall and Hansen for the return trip. He asks for help from Lopsang, who is descending, but the Sherpa prefers to take care of his boss Fischer. Then Harris slowly gets up and goes to help alone. This decision cost him his life.
Already late at night, Hall and Hansen, perhaps already together with Harris, who had risen to them, under an ice hurricane, everyone tried to break through down to the southern peak. A section of the path that under normal conditions climbers cover in half an hour, they walk for more than ten hours.
Southeast ridge, height 8650 meters, 17 hours 20 minutes
A couple of hundred meters from Lopsang, which has already reached the southern peak, Scott Fisher slowly descends along the southeastern ridge. His strength decreases with every meter. Too exhausted to perform tedious manipulations with the railing ropes in front of a series of cornices over the abyss, he simply descends along another - sheer one. It’s easier than walking along hanging railings, but then, to get back on the route, you have to walk a hundred meters knee-deep in the snow, losing precious strength.
At about 6 p.m. Lopsang catches up with Fischer. He complains: “I feel very bad, too bad to go down the rope. I will jump." The Sherpa insures the American and persuades him to slowly move along. But Fischer is already so weak that he is simply unable to overcome this part of the path. The Sherpa, also very exhausted, does not have enough strength to help the commander overcome the dangerous area. They're stuck. The weather gets worse and worse, they squat on a snow-covered rock.
At about 20 o'clock Min Ho Gau and two Sherpas emerge from the snowstorm. The Sherpas leave the completely exhausted Taiwanese next to Lopsang and Fischer, while they themselves continue their descent lightly. An hour later, Lopsang decides to leave Scott Fisher with Gau on a rocky ridge and makes his way down through a snowstorm. Around midnight, he staggers into Camp IV: “Please, go upstairs,” he begs Anatoly Boukreev. “Scott is really bad, he can’t walk.” Sherpa's strength leaves him and he falls into oblivion.
A blind client waited twelve hours for help.
And I didn’t wait...
South-eastern ridge, 70 meters above camp IV, 18 hours 45 minutes
But it's not just Rob Hall, Scott Fisher and those who walked with them who are fighting for their lives this night. Seventy meters above rescue camp IV, no less dramatic events unfold during a suddenly violent snow storm. Neil Beidleman, the second instructor of Fisher's team, who waited for almost two hours in vain at the top for his boss, moves very slowly with his group. The instructor from Hall's team is the same: he is exhausted with two absolutely helpless clients. This is Japanese Yasuko Namba and Texan Beck Withers. The Japanese woman ran out of oxygen long ago and cannot walk on her own. The situation is even worse with Withers. It was during the ascent that Hall left him at an altitude of 8400 meters due to almost complete loss of vision. And in the icy wind, the blinded climber had to wait in vain for help for almost twelve hours.
Both instructors, their charges and two Sherpas from Fischer’s team, who emerge from the darkness a little later, now form a group of eleven people. Meanwhile, the strong wind turns into a real hurricane, visibility is reduced to six to seven meters.
To get around the dangerous ice dome, Beidleman and his group make a detour to the east, where the descent is less steep. At half past eight in the evening they reach the gentle southern col, a very large plateau on which the tents of Camp IV stand just a few hundred meters away. Meanwhile, only three or four of them have much-needed flashlight batteries. In addition, they all literally collapse from exhaustion.
Beidleman knows they are somewhere on the east side of the saddle and the tents are located to the west of them. Exhausted climbers need to step towards the icy wind, which with terrible force throws large crystals of ice and snow into their faces, scratching their faces. The gradually intensifying hurricane forces the group to deviate to the side: instead of walking directly into the wind, the exhausted people move at an angle towards it.
For the next two hours, both instructors, two Sherpas and seven clients wander blindly across the plateau in the hope of accidentally reaching the rescue camp. Once they came across a couple of discarded empty oxygen cylinders, which means the tents are somewhere nearby. They are disorientated and cannot determine where the camp is. Beidleman, who is also walking staggeringly, at about ten o'clock in the evening suddenly feels a slight rise under his feet, and suddenly it seems to him that he is standing at the end of the world. He sees nothing, but feels the abyss beneath him. His instinct saves the group from certain death: they have reached the eastern edge of the saddle and are standing on the very edge of a steep two-kilometer cliff. The poor fellows have long been at the same height as the camp - only three hundred meters separate them from relative safety. Beidleman and one of his clients are looking for some kind of shelter where they could escape the wind, but in vain.
Oxygen supplies have long since dried up, and now people are even more vulnerable to frost, with temperatures dropping to minus 45 degrees Celsius. Eventually, eleven climbers squat on hurricane-polished ice under the precarious protection of a rock ledge barely larger than a washing machine. Some curl up and close their eyes, waiting for death. Others beat their comrades in misfortune with their senseless hands in order to warm themselves and stir them up. No one has the strength to speak. Only Sandy Pittman repeats without stopping: “I don’t want to die!” Beidleman tries his best to stay awake; he is looking for some sign that would foretell the imminent end of the hurricane, and shortly before midnight he notices several stars. The snowstorm continues below, but the sky is gradually clearing. Beidleman tries to get everyone up, but Pittman, Withers, Namba and another climber are too weak. The instructor understands: if he fails to find the tents and bring help in the very near future, they will all die.
Gathering those few who are still able to walk on their own, he goes out with them into the wind. He leaves four exhausted comrades under the care of the fifth, who can still move on his own. About twenty minutes later, Beidleman and his companions stumbled toward Camp IV. There they were met by Anatoly Boukreev. The unfortunate people explained to him as best they could where their five freezing comrades were waiting for help, and, climbing into the tents, passed out.
Boukreev, who returned to the camp almost seven hours ago, became worried as darkness fell and went in search of the missing, but to no avail. He eventually returned to camp and waited for Neil Beidleman.
Now the Russian goes out in search of the unfortunates. Indeed, after a little over an hour he sees the faint light of a lantern in the snowstorm. The strongest of the five is still conscious and appears to be able to walk to the camp on his own. The rest lie motionless on the ice - they do not even have the strength to speak. Yasuko Namba seems dead - snow is stuck in her hood, her right shoe is missing, her hand is as cold as ice. Realizing that he can only drag one of these poor fellows to the camp, Boukreev connects the brought oxygen cylinder to Sandy Pittman’s mask and makes it clear to the elder that he will try to return as soon as possible. Then he and one of the climbers wander towards the tents.
A terrible scene is playing out behind him. Yasuko Namba's right arm is extended upward and completely frozen. Half-dead Sandy Pittman squirms on the ice. Beck Withers, who was still lying in the fetal position, suddenly whispers: “Hey, I got it!”, rolls to the side, sits on a rock ledge and, spreading his arms, exposes his body to the maddened wind. After a few seconds, a strong gust blows him away into the darkness.
Boukreev returns. This time he is dragging Sandy Pittman towards camp, with a fifth man lumbering behind him. The little Japanese girl and the blind, delirious Withers are considered hopeless - they are left to die. It's 4:30 a.m., it'll be dawn soon. Upon learning that Yasuko Namba was doomed, Neil Beidleman burst into tears in his tent.
Before his death, Rob Hall said goodbye to his pregnant wife via satellite phone.
Base camp, altitude 5364 meters, 4 hours 43 minutes
The tragedy of the eleven lost is not the only one on this frosty, hurricane night. At 5:57 p.m., when Rob Hall last made contact, he and Hansen were near the summit. Eleven hours later, the New Zealander contacts the camp again, this time from the southern summit. There is no one with him anymore: neither Doug Hansen nor Andy Harris. Hall's remarks sound so confused that it is alarming.
At 4.43 he tells one of the doctors that he cannot feel his legs and every movement is given to him with such colossal difficulty that he is unable to move from his place. In a barely audible, hoarse voice, Hall croaks, “Harris was with me last night, but now it’s like he’s not here. He was very weak." And then, apparently unconscious: “Is it true that Harris was with me? Can you tell me? As it turned out, Hall had two oxygen tanks at his disposal, but the oxygen mask valve was frozen and he could not connect them.
At five in the morning, base camp establishes a telephone connection via satellite between Hall and his wife Jan Arnold, who is in New Zealand. She is seven months pregnant. In 1993, Jan Arnold climbed Everest with Hall. Hearing her husband's voice, she immediately understands the seriousness of the situation. “It seemed like Rob was hovering somewhere,” she later recalled. “Once we discussed with him that it was almost impossible to save a person stuck on the ridge below the very top. He then said that it would be better to be stuck on the Moon - there are more chances.”
At 5:31, Hall injects himself with four milligrams of cortisone and reports that he is still trying to clear the ice from his oxygen mask. Every time he contacts the camp, he asks what happened to Fischer, Gau, Withers, Yasuko Namba and other participants in the ascent. But what worries him most is the fate of Andy Harris. Over and over, Hall asks where his assistant is. A little later, the base camp doctor asks what’s wrong with Dut Hansen. “Doug is gone,” Hall replies. This was his last mention of Hansen.
Twelve days later, on May 23, two American climbers followed the same route to the summit. But they didn't find Andy Harris' body. True, about fifteen meters above the southern peak, where the hanging railings end, the Americans picked up an ice ax. Perhaps Hall, with the help of Harris, managed to lower Doug Hansen to this point, where he lost his balance and, having flown two kilometers down the vertical wall of the southwestern slope, crashed.
What fate befell Andy Harris is also unknown. An ice ax found on the south summit, which belonged to Harris, indirectly indicates that he most likely remained at night with Hall on the south summit. The circumstances of Harris' death remain a mystery.
At six o'clock in the morning, base camp asks Hall if the first rays of the sun have touched him. “Almost,” he replies, and this awakens hope; Some time ago he reported that he was constantly shivering due to the terrible cold. And this time Rob Hall inquires about Andy Harris: “Did anyone but me see him last night? I think he went down during the night. Here is his ice axe, jacket and something else.” After four hours of effort, Hall finally manages to clear the ice from his oxygen mask and has been able to inhale oxygen from a cylinder since nine in the morning. True, he had already spent more than sixteen hours without oxygen. Two thousand meters below, the New Zealander's friends are making desperate attempts to force him to continue his descent. The voice of the head of the base camp is trembling. “Think about your baby,” she says on the radio. - In two months you will see his face. Now go downstairs.” Several times Rob announces that he is preparing to continue his descent, but remains in the same place.
Around 9:30, two Sherpas, the same ones who had returned exhausted from the summit the previous night with a thermos of hot tea and two oxygen tanks, climb up to help Hall. Even under optimal conditions, they would face many hours of grueling climbing. But the conditions are not at all favorable. The wind blows at a speed of over 80 kilometers per hour. The day before, both porters were severely hypothermic. In the best case, they will reach the commander in the late afternoon and only an hour or two of daylight will remain for the difficult descent together with the sedentary Hall.
Soon, three more Sherpas go up to remove Fischer and Gau from the mountain. Rescuers find them four hundred meters above the south col. Both are still alive, but almost without strength. The Sherpas connect oxygen to Fischer's mask, but the American does not react: he is barely breathing, his eyes are rolled back, his teeth are clenched tightly.
Deciding that Fischer's situation was hopeless, the Sherpas left him on the ridge and descended with Gau, on whom the hot tea and oxygen had some effect. Tied to the Sherpas with a short rope, he is still able to walk on his own. Lonely death on a rocky ridge is Scott Fisher's lot. In the evening, Boukreev finds his frozen corpse.
Meanwhile, the two Sherpas continue to climb towards the Hall. The wind is getting stronger. At 3 p.m., rescuers were still two hundred meters below the southern summit. Due to frost and wind, it is impossible to continue the journey. They give up.
Hall's friends and teammates have been pleading with the New Zealander all day to go down on his own. At 18.20 his friend Guy Cotter contacts Hall: Ian Arnold in New Zealand wants to talk to his husband on a satellite phone. “Just a minute,” Hall replies. - My mouth is dry. Now I’ll eat some snow and answer her.”
Soon he is back at the machine and wheezes in a weak, distorted voice: “Hello, my treasure. I hope you are in a warm bed now. How are you doing?".
“I can’t express how worried I am about you,” the wife replies. -Your voice is much firmer than I expected. Aren’t you very cold, my love?”
“Considering the altitude and everything, I feel relatively good,” Hall replies, trying to reassure his wife as much as possible.
"How are your legs?"
“I haven’t taken off my boot yet, I don’t know for sure, but I think I’ve earned myself a couple of frostbites.”
“I don’t expect you to get out of there completely unscathed,” shouts Ian Arnold. - I only know that you will be saved. Please don't think about how lonely and abandoned you are. Mentally I send you all my strength!” As Hall ended the conversation, he told his wife, “I love you. Good night, my precious. Don’t worry too much about me.” These were his last words. Twelve days later, two Americans, whose path passed through the southern peak, found a frozen body on the glacier. Hall was lying on his right side, half covered with snow.
The bodies of living and dead climbers were covered with a crust of ice.
On the morning of May 11, As several groups made desperate attempts to rescue Hall and Fischer, at the eastern edge of the south col, one of the climbers found two bodies covered with a centimeter layer of ice: these were Yasuko Namba and Beck Withers, who had been thrown into the darkness by a strong gust of wind the previous night. Both were barely breathing.
Rescuers considered them hopeless and left them to die. But a few hours later, Withers woke up, shook off the ice and wandered back to camp. He was put into a tent, which was torn down the next night by a strong hurricane.
Withers again spent the night in the cold - and no one bothered about the unfortunate man: his situation was again considered hopeless. Only the next morning the client was noticed. Finally, the climbers helped their comrade, whom they themselves had already sentenced to death three times. To quickly evacuate him, a Nepalese Air Force helicopter rose to a dangerous height. Due to severe frostbite, Beck Withers had his right hand and fingers on his left amputated. The nose also had to be removed - its likeness was formed from the skin folds of the face.
Epilogue
Over the course of two days in May, the following members of our teams died: instructors Rob Hall, Andy Harris and Scott Fisher, clients Doug Hansen and Japanese Yasuko Namba. Min Ho Gau and Beck Withers suffered severe frostbite. Sandy Pittman did not suffer any serious damage in the Himalayas. She returned to New York and was terribly surprised and confused when her report on the expedition generated a flurry of indignant and contemptuous responses.
0b author:
Jon Krakauer lives in Seattle (USA) and works for Outside magazine. His diary of the fateful expedition to Everest in May 1996, Into Thin Air, sold seven hundred thousand copies in the United States and became a bestseller.
Rob Hall - this 35-year-old New Zealander was considered a star among the organizers of paid climbs. A calm, methodical climber and brilliant administrator, he had already stood on the planet's highest peak four times. At the same time, he managed to safely bring 39 people to the top. With his summit in May 1996, he became the only Westerner to climb Everest five times.
Three versions of one terrible tragedy, told by its participants and researchers
Everest 1996
Three versions of one terrible tragedy,
told by its participants
and researchers
In cinemas around the world, the film “Everest” is in full swing, dedicated to the terrible events of 1996 that unfolded on the “roof of the world” due to massive commercial expeditions, inconsistency in the actions of guides and unpredictable weather. A dry summary of the tragedy is as follows: on May 10-11, 1996, after a series of ascents, 8 climbers were left forever on the mountain: a storm that suddenly caught them on a late descent disorientated the travelers, forcing them to wander in complete darkness and a snowstorm in the death zone without oxygen. Thanks to several night trips by one of the guides, three climbers were rescued; another, recognized as dead, later came to the camp himself, half dead and frostbitten. At least 4 books, dozens of articles were written about the tragedy on Everest in 1996, and several films were made, 2 of them feature films. But for almost 20 years, no one has been able to put an end to the discussion - except, perhaps, the new film by Baltasar Kormakur mentioned above. Today we will return to this terrible drama and present three main points of view on the events of May 1996.
The main controversy was between Adventure Consultants expedition member Jon Krakauer (now living), who went to Everest as a guest journalist from Outside, and Mountain Madness expedition guide Anatoly Boukreev, one of the most outstanding climbers of the Soviet school, who conquered 11 eight-thousanders of 14 and those who died on Annapurna in 1997. Today we will try to understand this avalanche of mutual accusations and understand why, despite the total popularity of the views of the Outside journalist, the award for courage in the United States was given to Bukreev, and in the film “Everest” the Russian’s role is one of the leading ones. So, meet: theses from the books “Into Thin Air” (Jon Krakauer, USA, 1997) and “The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest” (Anatoly Boukreev, Weston de Walt, USA, 1997), as well as
- Statistics on those killed on May 10, 1996:
- "Adventure Consultants": 4 dead (2 guides, 2 clients)
- "Mountain Madness": 1 dead (guide)
- Indian expedition: 3 dead (military)
a reconciling version from the film “Everest” (Baltasar Kormakur, USA, 2015). And although the outcome of the tragedy and the lists of those killed are described in detail on Wikipedia and various portals, we still warn you: Beware, spoilers!
Version No. 1: accusation
Jon Krakauer is one of the most prominent outdoor journalists in the United States of the last 20 years. It was he who wrote the investigative book about Alex the Supertramp, a traveler who traveled alone across America to Alaska and met his death there. This book was used to make the cult film “Into the Wild,” which fans of free travel consider the most important movie of the 2000s. But long before this, Krakauer’s important literary achievement was an attempt to understand the tragedy on Everest in 1996, of which he was a direct participant. He belonged to Rob Hall's ill-fated Adventure Consultants expedition, which buried most of its members that fateful day. It was he who was the first to speak out publicly and announce his version of what happened - first with an article in Outside magazine, then with the documentary novel “In Thin Air.”
Krakauer focuses on the mistakes of guides: unhealthy competition, lack of proper organization, inattention to client illnesses and lack of a plan in case of disaster.
Krakauer's main focus is on the mistakes of the guides: their desire to compete with each other in the quality of the service provided in order to attract new participants for the next year, the lack of the proper level of organization, inattention to the needs and illnesses of clients and, finally, the lack of a plan in case of disaster. The bottom line is that all his claims are true: Rob Hall, the head of Consultants, at that time really had a monopoly on commercial ascents on Everest, but the experienced and adventurous Scott Fisher (Mountain Madness), who was preparing for the expedition, suddenly began to step on his heels Almost at the last moment, he recruited the strongest climber of the Soviet school, Anatoly Bukreev, as a guide. Hall brought in best-selling Outside magazine writer Jon Krakauer, giving him a good discount and literally snatching him from Fischer's grasp. Fisher, in turn, took Manhattan star, socialite Sandy Pittman, to the mountain, who promised NBC to broadcast live from the mountain. Naturally, behind all these debates and attempts to please elite clients, real organizational issues were left far away.
Still from the movie "Everest". Photo: independent.co.uk
Hall, Fisher and other guides on the mountain, in the general pursuit of glory, did not keep track of a huge number of things: the safety ropes (railings) were not hung along the entire route, which greatly slowed down the ascent; many clients were frankly unprepared for the climb (poorly physically prepared or insufficiently acclimatized), and the control time for returning from the mountain was never precisely stated, which is why many climbers stood on the summit for an unforgivably long time, losing precious minutes. Finally, Fischer's team didn't even have proper walkie-talkies, which prevented the team from coordinating their actions when disaster struck. But for some reason, Anatoly Boukreev suffered the most from Krakauer - the only one who was able to get his bearings and go out into the night to help his clients. It was Bukreev, during night outings in a terrible snowstorm, who discovered a group of 5 people lost 400 meters from the camp and saved those three who were still able to walk. However, Krakauer writes in his book that the Russian climber was taciturn and did not help clients, followed his own climbing and acclimatization schedule, which he alone understood, did not use oxygen on the climb, and in a difficult situation abandoned all those who died higher on the mountain . Oddly enough, the fact that Krakauer blames Bukreeva saved the lives of three people: the cylinders he saved were useful to those who were dying of frostbite in the disaster zone, and the early return to the camp from the mountain allowed the climber to make two night searches in absolute solitude lost. Perhaps it was Bukreev’s closed, non-contact nature and his poor English that prevented Krakauer from understanding the situation, but he did not abandon the written words even after the death of Anatoly in 1997 on Annapurna, although he agreed to review other points in his book.
Scott Fisher (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) in the movie Everest. Photo: wordandfilm.com
For some reason, Anatoly Bukreev suffered the most from Krakauer - the only one who was able to find his bearings and go out into the night to help his clients
The fact that the world completely trusted Krakauer and his point of view seems very strange, if not suspicious. A journalist who at the last moment switched from one team to another because of the price; an unprofessional (albeit strong) climber who was unable not only to reach the tents on his own, but also to come to the aid of a group of 5 people in distress, and who made a number of serious factual errors (he confused client Martin Adams with the “Consultants” guide Andy Harris, who died higher on the mountain, thereby giving vain hope to his relatives) - could Krakauer give an objective assessment of what was happening on the mountain, just a few weeks after the event? As in the case of the later book “Into the Wild,” all the relatives of the victims, without exception, were offended by Krakauer: Rob Hall’s wife for making public the last conversation with her husband on a satellite phone, Fischer’s friends for reproaches of unprofessionalism, the husband of the deceased Japanese climber Yasuko Namba - because, like the others, he considered a still breathing woman unworthy of salvation. Be that as it may, many of his arguments are fair, and the book “Into Thin Air” was and remains an absolute bestseller among all the literature about the tragedy on Everest in 1996.
Rob Hall speaks to his wife on a satellite phone. Still from the film “Everest”, kinopoisk.ru
Version No. 2: feat
Stunned by Krakauer’s accusations, Boukreev responded to the journalist with the book “Ascension,” the main work on which was done by the interviewer Weston de Walt. Oddly enough, in many ways his explanations do not contradict Krakauer’s theses, but confirm them: Boukreev talks in detail about the devastation that reigned during the preparation of Fischer’s expedition and how desperately they tried to hide from clients the fact that there was barely enough oxygen to rise and the descent of all participants, and the money remaining with Fischer is not enough for rescue operations in case of emergency. Boukreev was also surprised by the fact that the most experienced climber Fischer did not follow the acclimatization schedule, ran back and forth on the mountain according to the needs of his clients, without sparing himself, thereby signing his own death warrant. In addition, Boukreev assessed the abilities of his team members much more soberly: several times he asked Fischer to “unfold” several members, but he was adamant and wanted to bring as many clients as possible to the top. These actions put the lives of other climbers at risk: for example, senior Sherpa Lobsang Jambu, instead of hanging ropes on a dangerous section of the route, actually dragged the overworked Sandy Pittman up.
Boukreev never saw the partial apology that Krakauer included in the 1999 reissue of his book: in December 1997 he died on Annapurna
Boukreev also made two important mistakes: during the night outings, he decided that it was no longer possible to save Yasuko Nambu and Beck Withers, who were frostbitten and showed no signs of life, and returned to the camp with the climbers who could walk. The next day, the expedition members again returned to their frozen comrades and considered their condition hopeless, although they were still breathing. Beck Withers returned to camp against all laws of life and physics. Yasuko Namba died alone among the ice and stones. Subsequently, during an Indonesian expedition in April 1997, Boukreev found her body and built an arch of stones over it to prevent highland birds from feeding on it. He repeatedly apologized to Namba's widower for failing to save her. Boukreev also failed to help his boss: in the book, he says that, unlike the Sherpas, he understood perfectly well that Fischer had no chance of surviving a night in a snowstorm at a great height. However, on May 11 at about 19:00 in the evening, he went upstairs to ascertain the death of his comrade.
Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson as Boukreev. Still from the movie "Everest". Photo: lenta.ru
Weston de Walt devotes several chapters of the book to what preceded the ascent: Anatoly’s high-altitude work (he was plotting the route with Sherpas when he realized that he didn’t have enough hands), his acclimatization process, working with clients and conversations with Fischer. If he and Hall had followed Bukreev’s advice, the victims could have been avoided altogether, but history does not know the subjunctive mood, just as the mountains do not know the feeling of compassion. Boukreev never saw the partial apology that Krakauer included in the 1999 reissue of his book: in December 1997, an avalanche overtook him and high-altitude cameraman Dmitry Sobolev on Annapurna. The bodies were never found. Bukreev was 39 years old.
Ingvar Eggert Sigurdsson as Boukreev. Photo: letmedownload.in
Version No. 3: elements
Baltasar Kormakur, who made the difficult decision to make a blockbuster based on the tragedy, which next year will be 20 years old, decided not to put an end to the endless debate between the parties, but to take a different path. The creator of the film “Everest” was much more interested in the elements and the challenge that the death zone threw at each of the travelers in exchange for conquering the roof of the world. Neither profession, nor family, nor venerable age can stop someone who once caught mountain fever - the film pays special attention to how each of the climbers hides their illness and weakness in order to reach the top at any cost. To create a reliable story, the film team did not turn to the texts of “professionals” at all - the works of Krakauer and Boukreev were left aside. The greatest attention was paid to the book by Beck Withers - the same client who himself crawled to the camp on frostbitten hands and feet. It’s not for nothing that it’s called “Left to Die”: Withers experienced first-hand that not only a mountain, but also people in extreme conditions can be cruel. Left for dead three times (first by Rob Hall on the climb when he was struck by snow blindness, the second time on the South Col, and the third time in a camp tent at night during a new storm), he was nevertheless able to save not only his life , but also a sympathetic attitude towards other participants in the tragedy.
The creators of "Everest" did not take sides: they sought to show the personal drama of everyone who was destined to be on the mountain that day, and the struggle for life despite all obstacles
Another source of information for the film crew was transcripts of conversations between the Adventure Consultants leader and his wife, Jen Arnold. In these dialogues, Rob Hall reports on the situation, freezing alone on Hillary's steps, and tells the details of what happened at the very top in the midst of the storm, and says goodbye to his pregnant wife. The scene of the personal drama in the film is reproduced in as much detail as possible: Hall died saving one of his clients, Doug Hansen, whom he did not manage to lift up the mountain once and took with him a second time with an eye to victory. His demonstrated humanity cost him his life: having started the descent too late and having wasted oxygen, both remained forever on the mountain.
Still from the film “Everest”, kinopoisk.ru
Also, Kormakur, unlike many researchers of the situation, thought to communicate not only with the expedition members, whose memories were clouded by oxygen starvation, cold and horror from the death of their comrades, but also with those who observed the disaster from the sidelines and participated in rescue operations. David Breashers, a member of the IMAX expedition that filmed a documentary about Everest that same spring, donated his oxygen to the victims and helped them in their descent, and also told the creators of the new film many interesting details. The creators of Everest did not take sides: they sought to show the personal drama of everyone who was destined to be on the mountain that day, and the struggle for life in spite of all obstacles.
However, we still know something about which of the climbers the creators of the new film sympathized with: in “Everest,” Krakauer has only a couple of lines - the strange question “why are you all here” at the base camp, addressed to the expedition members, and the phrase “I won’t go with you,” thrown at Bukreev before the start of his rescue operation. But the team took the selection of an actor for the role of the Russian climber as seriously as possible (he is played by the Icelandic film star Ingvar Sigurdsson, who has already played Russians), and Bukreev himself is shown in detail in the scene of the rescue of the climbers.
If you believe the Sherpas - the indigenous inhabitants of these places - every action has its consequences and every sown seed of karma will sprout sooner or later. Since that tragedy, much more terrible events have occurred on Everest. And now, 20 years later, through the cameras of Kormakur’s cameramen, the tragedy on Everest in 1996 is gradually losing its heroic flair and becoming what it really was - a fatal coincidence of circumstances, mistakes and omissions of many people. All this would not have led to anything serious if not for a terrible unforeseen storm that collected a bloody toll on the mountain. Despite the horror of the situation, the drama at the peak taught those who advocated commercial climbs a lot, forcing them to be more careful and prudent, and reminding clients of the costs of great ambition. And if, despite everything, the eight-thousanders still attract you, we advise you to dive as seriously as possible into the Everest 1996 case and decide for yourself whether you are willing to pay such a price to have your name written in history.
Loading...