A Day to Die For: 1996: Everest's Worst Disaster - One Survivor's Personal Journey to Uncover the Truth (23 page)

Michael escorted Martin Adams down to the Balcony. Pointing out Jon Krakauer and Yasuko Namba, visible in the gully below, he told Adams to follow them down. Initially, Michael had not noticed Beck Weathers standing nearby in the falling snow, a place he’d been all day waiting for Rob’s return. Michael was shocked to see Beck still there, expecting that he would have been in Camp 4 long ago. He was unaware of the agreement that Rob and Beck had made. Concerned about Beck’s condition, he fastened a short rope between them, six foot in length, and began what was to be a slow and precarious descent back down towards the South Col in a worsening blizzard.

Some distance lower down, Yasuko Namba’s oxygen ran out, as had that of most other people by this time. So she simply sat down and was found there by Neal Beidleman and Michael Groom. Because Michael was already struggling with Beck, Neal offered to take Yasuko down with his group.

Visibility above the South Col now dropped down to a few feet. The temperature had plummeted and the wind speed picked up to somewhere between 30 and 40 miles per hour.

The first of our team’s climbers, Neil Laughton, arrived on the South Col from Camp 3 around 5.30 p.m., to find strong winds but reasonable visibility. He was followed soon after by some of our Sherpas, who, along with Neil, battled against the wind to put up a second tent. One by one, the rest of our climbers arrived: Mark Pfetzer, Michael Jörgensen and Brigitte Muir, with myself being last into camp shortly after 6.30 p.m. By the time I reached the South Col, conditions had changed considerably since Neil’s arrival over an hour earlier. Darkness had fallen and the wind had increased to gale force, carrying with it a blizzard of harshly driven snow. As I bent down to get into the tent, I caught a glimpse of two head torches slightly off the normal route, on the gentle slopes to the left of the Kangshung side of the South Col. I’d stopped for just a moment, stunned by how late these climbers were returning from the summit, before slipping into our tent and out of the biting wind. We were totally oblivious to what was happening outside.

By the time Michael Groom and Beck Weathers reached the easier gradient, about 200 feet above Camp 4, they’d lost their sense of direction. Here, they bumped into Neal Beidleman’s group once more, who had themselves become disorientated in the poor visibility caused by the storm that was now raging. The time was around 6.45 p.m., and Jon Krakauer was arriving at the tents on the South Col. Martin Adams, who’d overtaken Jon, had got back there shortly before him.

John Taske, Stuart Hutchison, Frank Fischbeck, Lou Kasischke and Jon Krakauer from Rob’s team were now all back on the South Col. Lou Kasischke was suffering from excruciatingly painful snow blindness, having neglected to wear eye protection during part of his descent.

High above, on the Hillary Step, Rob Hall was still trying to coax and cajole a completely exhausted and hypoxic Doug Hansen down to the oxygen cache at the South Summit, presumably at some point aided by a courageous Andy Harris, who’d been having problems of his own. Around them, the storm ravaged Everest’s upper reaches.

Anatoli, who’d arrived back on the South Col around 5 p.m., was getting increasingly anxious. Only Martin Adams from Scott’s group had returned to the South Col. By 7.30 p.m., Anatoli had begun to climb back up with fresh supplies of oxygen. He knew those above him would have now run out. Unable to locate the exact route and with visibility reduced to almost nothing, Anatoli became concerned he would get lost himself. Eventually, he was forced to abandon this attempt and head back down to Camp 4.

Lopsang had left the South Summit around 5.30 p.m. to catch up with a rapidly weakening Scott Fischer, whom he found just above the Balcony at about 6 p.m. Scott by this time was losing touch with reality, quite possibly suffering from cerebral oedema judging by the comments he was reportedly making. Lopsang, concerned at Scott’s worsening condition, fastened a rope between the two of them and began to descend. Bolts of lightning and clashes of thunder began overhead. A short while later, they were overtaken by Makalu Gau and two Sherpas from the Taiwanese expedition heading down. Two hours after that, and three hundred feet further down, they came across Makalu Gau sitting by himself on a ledge, too weak to continue.

Lopsang was beginning to struggle with Scott, who by this time could not walk unaided. A conversation ensued during which Lopsang reluctantly agreed to leave Scott next to Makalu Gau, enabling him to descend alone to the South Col, about 1,200 feet lower down, to get help.

Neal Beidleman and Michael Groom, who’d joined forces on the South Col, were trying to keep Yasuko Namba, Beck Weathers, Charlotte Fox, Lene Gammelgaard, Tim Madsen, Sandy Hill Pittman and Klev Schoening together. With them were two Sherpas. Suffering desperate conditions, they continued their search for Camp 4 in a driving blizzard that had reduced visibility down to six feet or less. They spent hour after hour in their quest, stumbling around the South Col, becoming more disorientated with every minute. Around 10 p.m., Beidleman sensed they were standing in front of a huge void. In a northerly direction, the South Col rises up onto the slopes of Everest, to the south up onto the slopes of Lhotse. However, the eastern side is defined by a drop of 7,000 feet down the Kangshung Face and the western side by a drop of 4,000 feet down the Lhotse Face. The problem was, neither Neal Beidleman, nor any one else in the group, knew which way they were facing. Unbeknown to them, they were in fact a matter of feet away from the Kangshung Face.

In the fear that they might lose someone if they kept wandering around, Beidleman and Groom got everyone to crouch down behind a boulder, a few feet high, to try to shelter from the blast of the wind, forming a group that would later be referred to as ‘the huddle’. Amongst these, Yasuko Namba and Beck Weathers were faring worst. Everyone had long since run out of oxygen. Most head-torch batteries had expired, and hypothermia was beginning to set in.

While all this had been happening on the eastern side of the South Col, Stuart Hutchison, a matter of 650 feet away at Camp 4, had been getting out of his tent and going out into the storm to flash torches and bang pots in an effort to guide the missing climbers back in. The problem was, he had no idea where they were, or even if the missing climbers had reached the South Col.

It was just before midnight, during a brief lull in the storm, that Klev Schoening, one of the ‘huddle’, made out the vague outlines of Everest and Lhotse towering high above. From this glimpse alone, he was able to determine the direction of Camp 4. Fortunately, he remained calm and stuck to his guns regarding the understanding he’d reached. He managed to persuade Neal Beidleman and Michael Groom that he was right. Gathering all those who were able to walk, they headed off to raise help. Around 1 a.m., Beidleman, Groom, Schoening, Gammelgaard and their two Sherpas staggered into Camp 4. Still out on the South Col were Yasuko Namba, Beck Weathers, Sandy Hill Pittman, Charlotte Fox and a brave Tim Madsen, who had volunteered to stay with them.

Beidleman went to the tents belonging to Scott’s group on the South Col and, along with Klev Schoening, told Anatoli where those they’d had to leave behind were stranded. With the alarm raised and the approximate location known, Anatoli headed out alone to rescue these stranded climbers. He’d been unable to muster anyone to help him.

At the same time, Michael Groom went to Rob’s tents, where he came across the tent of Stuart Hutchison and Jon Krakauer and informed them that Yasuko Namba and Beck Weathers were on the Kangshung Face side of the South Col. Stuart, unaware of Anatoli’s rescue efforts, got out of the tent again to bang pots and flash torches to try to guide the stranded climbers back in, not knowing the terrible condition they were in by this time.

Anatoli’s first attempt was thwarted. He was unable to locate the missing climbers in the blizzard conditions. After returning to Camp 4 for further directions, he headed out into the storm once more, carrying fresh oxygen and hot fluids. First, he brought back Charlotte Fox before going out again later to get Sandy Hill Pittman and Tim Madsen. Yasuko Namba lay unconscious, and Beck Weathers was nowhere to be seen. It was now about 5 a.m.; light was beginning to appear in the morning sky and the storm had started to die down.

Meanwhile, radio calls had continued with Rob throughout the course of the early evening. Experienced mountaineers had been trying to persuade Rob to abandon Doug, who was by that stage beyond help given his condition and their location, and at least to save himself. The last call that evening was made around 6 p.m. It wasn’t until 5 a.m. the following day that Rob spoke to Base Camp on the radio again. He was now at the South Summit. By this time, as Rob put it, ‘Doug is gone.’ Andy Harris was nowhere to be seen, although Rob said he could see some of Andy’s equipment nearby and enquired repeatedly after him. Confusion was to reign for a few months after these events over what actually happened to Andy Harris. Rob had said that Andy had been with him through the night, while Jon Krakauer had reported seeing him near Camp 4 on the evening of 10 May. Crampon marks had been found the following morning near the Lhotse Face. It was feared that in the low visibility of the storm the previous night, Andy may have stepped off the edge. It would turn out that it was not Andy Harris that Jon Krakauer had seen near Camp 4 but Martin Adams. It seemed that Andy Harris must have bravely climbed back up to try to help Rob with an ailing Doug Hansen. What actually happened to Andy will probably never be known. His ice axe was found on the South Summit.

Stuart Hutchison and four Sherpas headed out onto the South Col on the morning of 11 May to find Yasuko Namba and Beck Weathers. Both were found barely breathing. The judgement made was that little could be done to save them.

Two Sherpas, Ang Dorje and Lhapka Chhiri, from Adventure Consultants headed up from the South Col with oxygen supplies, in an attempt to rescue Rob. They were followed a short while later by two Sherpas from Mountain Madness and one from the Taiwanese expedition, who set off to reach Scott Fischer and Makalu Gau. Both had spent the whole night on a ledge 1,200 feet above the South Col, exposed to the full force of the storm. Once the Sherpas reached this pair of stricken climbers, both were put straight onto supplementary oxygen. A badly frostbitten Makalu Gau responded and was brought down to the South Col. Scott, who was close to death, did not and was left where he lay.

Also on the morning of 11 May, Todd Burleson and Pete Athans from the Alpine Ascents expedition climbed up to the South Col to assist and evacuate the climbers who’d been caught in the storm the night before. Those in the tents were mostly suffering from shock and only minor injuries. The Imax expedition had oxygen supplies stashed on the South Col; they told Todd and Pete over the radio to utilise these as necessary. Other climbers headed up from Camp 2 to assist those now starting to descend from the South Col. Nearly all expeditions were trying to assist in whatever capacity they could. Medical tents were set up in Camp 2, manned by doctors who waited for the injured to be brought down.

The Sherpas who’d climbed back up to try to rescue Rob were forced back by strong winds at 3 p.m., near the Balcony. They were some 700 feet and probably two hours below where Rob was stranded. Here, they left the oxygen they were carrying before hurrying back down to the South Col, distraught that they’d not succeeded.

During the course of the afternoon, Beck Weathers, who’d been lying unconscious on the South Col since the early hours of the morning, woke up. Incredibly, he managed to get himself upright and stagger back to a shocked Camp 4. He was immediately put into a warm sleeping bag and placed on oxygen. No one thought he would survive the following night.

Anatoli, seeing that Beck had apparently risen from the dead, refused to give up on Scott. Leaving the South Col at 5 p.m., Anatoli reached Scott some two hours later to discover he was dead.

The final radio call with Rob came at 6.20 p.m., during which Rob was patched through to New Zealand to speak to his pregnant wife. Following that conversation, all further attempts to reach him by radio went unanswered.