*”Makalu” Gau Ming-Ho was the leader of the Taiwanese National Expedition, an ill- fated effort that had already claimed the life of Chen Yu-Nan, a fellow expedition member.
*Lopsang appears to be suggesting that his black radio—with which he could communicate with other Mountain Madness Sherpas—was sometimes not operating and that he overheard traffic between Pemba at Camp IV and Gyalzen at Camp II indicating Boukreev had left Camp IV with three bottles of oxygen and hot tea.
*Ian Woodall was the leader of the South African, Johannesburg Sunday Times expedition.
†Bruce Herrod was expedition photographer and deputy leader of the Johannesburg Sunday Times expedition. On May 25, 1996, he made his own attempt on Mount Everest, and at 5:15 P.M. he radioed to say that he had made the summit. After that radio call nothing was heard from Herrod again. He never returned to Camp IV. Not until nearly a year later was his fate known. On April 27, 1997, Boukreev was leading an Indonesian national team to the summit of Everest. As he reached the base of the Hillary Step, he discovered the body of Bruce Herrod fouled in the fixed ropes, (see pp. 245–246, The Climb).
‡There was no “Neal” or “Neil” on the New Zealand Adventure Consultants expedition. Likely, Dr. Hunt is referring to Neil Laughton of the Himalayan Guides Commercial Expedition led by Henry Todd of Edinburgh, Scotland. Brigitte Muir, a member of Todd’s expedition who was with Laughton on the South Col on the evening of May 10, says that Laughton, “from the United Kingdom,” had been radioed by Henry Todd and asked to do a “head count” of survivors. Source: Brigitte Muir, The Wind in My Hair (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia: Penguin Books Australia Ltd., 1998).
*Lopsang had struggled for several hours in his attempt to get Fischer off the mountain. He wanted Boukreev to go up for Fischer. Boukreev, who was consumed by his continuing efforts to rescue climber-clients, explained his situation to Lopsang and asked Lopsang if some Sherpas could be motivated to go up.
*Boukreev, by this point in the developing crisis, had discovered that some of the Mountain Madness Sherpas who had made a summit attempt that day had turned around before the summit. Boukreev thought they might have a reserve of strength to assist him in his rescue efforts.
†In addition to going to the tent housing the Mountain Madness Sherpas, Anatoli went to the tents of the Adventure Consultants expedition and to those of the Taiwanese National Expedition. He could find no one who was willing or able to assist him in his rescue efforts.
*Boukreev was suggesting that if he had stronger Sherpas on the Mountain Madness team—like Lhakpa Galgen Sherpa with whom he climbed the year before—he might have found a Sherpa willing to go with him.
†With Scott Fischer stranded on the mountain and with the climber-clients stranded at the South Col, Boukreev had to make a painful decision. He felt that Fischer, a highly experienced, high-altitude mountaineer, would fare better in the situation at hand, that the climber-clients had to be his immediate priority.
‡Boukreev has said that during his forays onto the South Col in the early-morning hours of May 11, 1996, he had seen only four climbers: Sandy Hill (Pittman), Charlotte Fox, Tim Madsen, and Yasuko Namba. He’d heard there was another climber stranded, Beck Weathers (a climber-client of Rob Hall’s), but did not come across Weathers.
*Why there were not more full bottles available is something that puzzled Boukreev when, as he was working on The Climb, he considered Lopsang’s statements about how many bottles had been delivered to the South Col. Lopsang had been clear. Ten bottles of oxygen—not counting the one that Lopsang had taken up the mountain and given to Sandy Hill (Pittman) just below the summit—were taken to the South Summit. While several—if not all—of the Mountain Madness climber-clients had retrieved a bottle on their way to the summit—as opposed to on their descent as had been planned—no less than three full bottles should have remained cached at the South Summit as the Mountain Madness team made its descent. One of the bottles would have been Neal Beidleman’s third bottle, which he’d not needed, as Boukreev had given him a third bottle in the vicinity of the Balcony as they were ascending. The other two, presumably, were there as Boukreev’s reserve. What happened to the Mountain Madness oxygen remains a mystery.
*Rob Hall’s two guides, Andy Harris and Mike Groom, were on either side of Jon Krakauer, who would, ultimately, be the only Adventure Consultants client-climber to both summit and survive. Doug Hansen and Yasuko Namba perished on their descent from the summit.
*Sandy Hill (Pittman) has since explained that she had asked Charlotte Fox to give her an injection.
*At this point in the debriefing Tim Madsen is not present.
*Prior to the debriefing session, Sandy Hill (Pittman) had recounted that, while she was in the “dogpile,” she had been hallucinating, and in one of her hallucinations she had seen a man playing a mandolin.
†Mike Groom has said that, alone, he headed into the darkness and a heavy gale that lashed him with high-velocity ice particles. “I had no idea where I was going,” he remembered. Wandering for what seemed like hours and edging into a warm lethargy that belied the reality of his critically low and falling body temperature, he got a glimpse of Camp IV in a momentary break in the weather. Stumbling into Camp IV, he passed one tent and stopped at the next. It was the tent of Stuart Hutchison and Jon Krakauer, climber-clients and members of his expedition. Through the door of their tent he blurted out a slurry of frozen words that he hoped would convey the urgency of the situation and the location of those stranded at the South Col. He’s recalled, “Whatever I said, I hoped I gave some accurate directions and instructions to help find Beck, Yasuko, and the others. I was convinced that as a result of whatever conversations took place between us, rescuers would be rounded up to help me get Beck and Yasuko back into camp.” Now, Groom says, it’s his understanding that Hutchison went out into the storm, but that the ferocity of the blizzard prevented a rescue effort. Source: Michael Groom, Sheer Will (Milsons Point, NSW, Australia: Random House Pty. Ltd., 1997).
*Weathers, prior to Boukreev’s discovery of the “dogpile” on the South Col, had apparently wandered away from the group because, as has previously been mentioned, Boukreev found only four climbers on the South Col during his early-morning rescue efforts.
*Boukreev did not have the same recollection. When reviewing the debriefing tapes, he recalled that the return to Camp IV with Sandy Hill (Pittman) had taken longer than ten minutes.
†Two of Rob Hall’s climbing Sherpas, Ang Dorje Sherpa (climbing sirdar), and Lhakpa Chirri Sherpa, whom Boukreev had tried to recruit for a rescue of Yasuko Namba, made a valiant but unsuccessful attempt to climb to Rob Hall and rescue him.
*Dr. Caroline Mackenzie, Everest Base Camp doctor for the Adventure Consultants expedition.
†Klev Schoening, who was having some difficulty with his vision, asked Boukreev to help assist him down the mountain, but Boukreev, after checking with Neal Beidleman, said that he would be remaining at Camp IV to await word on Scott Fischer’s condition.
*Todd Burleson was the leader and a guide for the Alpine Ascents International Guided Expedition. Pete Athans was one of Burleson’s guides. These two climbers, as was Boukreev, were honored when, in December 1997, the American Alpine Club bestowed upon them the David A. Sowles Memorial Award for their heroism on Everest.
*Boukreev is describing his encounter with Beck Weathers just beyond the perimeter of Camp IV on the afternoon of May 11, as Boukreev headed up the mountain for Scott Fischer (see p. 203, The Climb).
*Boukreev, here, is describing how Beck Weathers’s screams of pain at Camp IV helped him find his way back to the Mountain Madness tents after he’d gotten lost in the storm that hit during his last-ditch attempt to save Scott Fischer (see p. 205, The Climb).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to offer their thanks to those individuals who contributed to this effort, some of whom, for reasons of privacy, have asked not to be publicly identified. To the members of the 1996 Mountain Madness
expedition to Mount Everest we are most grateful.
Many contributed to the weave and texture of the moments and events that led to this book. We extend our appreciation to: Reina Attias, Kevin Cooney, Charles Ramsburg, Michele Zackheim, Bob Palais, Charlie Mace, Perry Williamson, Gary Neptune, Laurie Brown, Michael DiLorenzo, Todd Skinner, Jack Robbins, David Shenk, Alex Beers, Elliot Robinson, Fleur Green, Christian Beckwith, Anne Krchik, Dr. Roger Miller, Beth Wald, Sue Fearon, and Greg Glade.
To Jed Williamson, former president of the American Alpine Club and current editor of the annual Accidents in North American Mountaineering, Weston DeWalt owes a special thanks. His encouragement of this effort was a consistent source of support.
Two translators/interpreters, Natalya Lagovskaya and Barbara Poston, saw us through the entire project, and the final shape of the words on these pages are due largely to their untiring efforts.
Our primary researcher, sometimes interviewer, was Terry LeMoncheck, whose commitment to this effort was a true gift. It could not have been done without her.
For her belief in our project and her enduring efforts, we extend our thanks to Kathleen Anderson of Scovil, Chichak and Galen.
To our editor at St. Martin’s, George Witte, we offer our sincerest gratitude for his efforts in guiding us on the mountain that was this book.
To a special friend, Linda Wylie, we both owe our deepest of thanks. Her hospitality, graciousness, level-headedness, and commitment to the human spirit brought us, more than once, out of the clouds and down to the issues.
About the Author
Anatoli Boukreev was (with G. Weston DeWalt) coauthor of The Climb and a world-renowned high-altitude mountaineer. Twenty-one times he reached the summit of the world's highest mountains. For his heroic actions on Mount Everest in May 1996, he was awarded the American Alpine Club's highest honor, the David A. Sowles Memorial Award. You can sign up for author updates here
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Authors’ Note
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1 Mountain Madness
CHAPTER 2 The Everest Invitation
CHAPTER 3 Doing the Deals
CHAPTER 4 The Clients
CHAPTER 5 The Trail to Everest
CHAPTER 6 Doing the Details
CHAPTER 7 Base Camp
CHAPTER 8 Khumbu to Camp II
CHAPTER 9 Camp II
CHAPTER 10 The First Delays
CHAPTER 11 Toward the Push
CHAPTER 12 The Countdown
CHAPTER 13 Into the Death Zone
CHAPTER 14 To the South Summit
CHAPTER 15 The Last Hundred
CHAPTER 16 Decision and Descent
CHAPTER 17 Snowblind
CHAPTER 18 Walk or Crawl
CHAPTER 19 The Rescue Transcript
CHAPTER 20 The Last Attempt
CHAPTER 21 Mountain Media Madness
AFTERWORD
EPILOGUE: THE RETURN TO EVEREST
POSTSCRIPT
IN MEMORY
EVEREST UPDATE: A RESPONSE TO JON KRAKAUER
A REVIEW FROM THE AMERICAN ALPINE JOURNAL
MOUNTAIN MADNESS EVEREST DEBRIEFING: A TRANSCRIPT
Acknowledgments
About the Author
THE CLIMB: TRAGIC AMBITIONS ON EVEREST. Copyright © 1997 by
Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt. “In Memory” copyright
© 1998 by G. Weston DeWalt. “Everest Update: A Response to Jon
Krakauer” copyright © 1999 by G. Weston DeWalt. “A Review from
The American Alpine Journal” copyright © 1999 by Galen Rowell.
Reproduced with the permission of The American Alpine Journal.
“Mountain Madness Everest Debriefing: A Transcript” copyright
© 1999 by Estate of Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt. All rights reserved.
Maps and illustrations by Deborah Reade
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Boukreev, Anatoli.
The climb : tragic ambitions on Everest / Anatoli Boukreev and G. Weston DeWalt.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-1-2500-9982-2
1. Mount Everest Expedition (1996) 2. Mountaineering accidents—Everest, Mount (China and Nepal) I. DeWalt, G. Weston.
II. Tide.
GV199.44.E85B69 1997
796.52’2’095496—dc21
97–23194
CIP
The Climb Page 39
