Mount Everest Daily News

Mount Everest Daily News
by Emily Ginsberg
Mount Everest Expedition of 1996
Mount Everest
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Time for an Everest trip
The call that
started it all
By Emily Ginsberg
In March, 1995 Jon Krakaur had received a call from an editor from Outside Magazine proposing that John join
a guided expedition of Mount Everest
and write an article about the "...Mushrooming Commercialization of the
Mountain and the attendant controversies." Jon says "Outside's intent was
not that I climb the peak, they simply
wanted me to remain at base camp
and report the story from the East
Rongbuk Glacier at the Tibetan side of
the mountain." Jon considers this offer
extremely. He went as fat as getting the
required immunizations and booking a
flight, but then backs out at the last
minute. He apparently said no because
it would be "unbearably frustrating"
for him to spend two long months in
the shadows of Everest other than ascending higher than base camp. To
him, it wasn't worth it, he'd rather have
a shot of climbing the mountain. Jon
asked Mark Bryant, the editor of the
Outside Magazine if he would consider
giving him 12 months to train properly.
Also, to book him with the more reputable guide services, and to pay the
$65,000 fee, which meant actually giving him a shot to climb the mountain. A
day later, Bryant called Jon back saying that if Jon was serious about climbing Everest, since it was an important
story he would figure out how to make
it happen, instead of making Outside
who couldn't shell out the money.
made it. "Those cold days were not
easy" as Jon would say. With a few broken ribs and dealing with many freezing nights, it seems to have all been
worth it. Standing on the summit
proud, Jon had come to realization he
had just completed a goal set since
childhood. Nothing could stop him
now. 29,028 feet with very little oxygen
left was forgotten for just a little while
as Jon was taking in the surroundings.
Jon says "At after about 1:00 I was beginning to have serious doubts about
reaching the summit, so at the top of
the step I asked Beidleman if he minded I hurry ahead to the summit...." Beidleman had replied "go right ahead"
and Jon started to ascend the last few
steps to the summit. He says he had
the sensation of being under water. But
as he finished snapping a few pictures
of the breath taking view he knew the
summit was only the half way point. A
dangerous descent lay ahead.
Getting close to the summit
Mount Everest storm
Client of Rob
Hall's 1996
Everest
expedition team
reaches summit
By Emily Ginsberg
Client Jon Krakauer of Rob Hall's 1996
Mount Everest Expedition team has
just reached the summit of Everest. On
May 10, 1996 at 1:12 pm Jon was on the
roof of the world. After months of training and weeks of ascending and descending the harsh peak he had finally
Rob Hall's 1996 Mount Everest team
It took Jon approximately 11 hours to
ascend to the summit of Everest from
camp four.
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Mount. Everest
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Disaster strikes
worlds highest
peak
Doug Hansen's
Everest
experience
responsibility to stay with Beck. Jon
had paid to be guided and helped on
Everest not help/guide others. Jon's
decision was not selfish nor irresponsible because it was not Jon's job and
Jon made a smart life-saving move.
valves are frozen. Considering Hall
didn't want to descend without Doug
because Doug couldn't descent alone,
Hall stayed with Doug on the Hillary
Step. Awhile after 5:00 pm Hall radios
to Base camp that Doug is gone. His
body was never found.
The storm 1996 Mount Everest
By Emily Ginsberg
"The Huddle"
All of Fischers'
sherpas can go
to the summit?
By Emily Ginsberg
By Emily Ginsberg
Descending from the summit of Everest
Neal Beidleman, Klev Schoening, Tim
Madsen , Charlotte Fox, Sandy Pittman,
Lene Gammelgaard, Tashi Tshening,
Nogawang Dorje, Mike Groom, Beck
Weathers, and Yasuko Namba get
caught up in the Night long storm on
May 10, 1996. As they wonder around
the mountain the group had somehow
strayed to the Eastern edge of the col,
which was the very edge of a 7,000 foot
drop down the Kanshung Face. The
group was approximately 1,000 horizontal feet from the safety of camp
four. Beidleman and Schoening
searched for a safe place to escape the
wind. But given they were in the middle of nowhere that wasn't possible.
No one in the group had oxygen it had
long since run out making everyone
more miserable to the wind chill which
was more than a hundred below zero.
Beidleman had then decided to scream
at the group to huddle right where they
were. Charlotte's eyes were frozen,
Sandy was hysterically yelling about
not wanting to die. "At that point, I
hoped death would come quickly,"
says Charlotte.
It was May 10, 1996, the day of the
summit push. The mountain Madness
team with guides Fischer, Beidleman,
and Boukreev including their six clients
and six sherpas were readying for the
push. At the last minute Scott Fischer
opens his hearts and says "All Sherpas
can go to the summit." This is because
a few were supposed to stay back incase of any emergency. I think it was
not a great idea to say that all the Sherpa's were aloud to go even though they
have worked hard to get to camp four,
plus some sherpas have to fix ropes on
the way up anyway. But besides that if
one client got lost and made it down to
camp four alone there should be at
least one or two sherpas waiting to
help the cold lost climber.
Beck Weathers
This had been Doug Hansen's second
attempt to climb Mount Everest. He
was a client on Rob Hall's expedition
team the first time he had tried to
climb the mountain the previous year
in 1995. That year Doug and three other clients were forced to turn around
330 feet below the summit by their
guide Rob Hall. Rob recalls "the hour
was late and the summit ridge was
buried beneath a mantle of deep, unstable snow." Rob had then convinced
Doug to try again the next year because he knew Doug was capable and
so did Doug. Doug was now on Rob
Hall's 1996 Everest expedition team
and happened to share a tent with Jon
Krakauer. This year Doug was determined to get to the top and he wasn't
going to let Hall turn him around this
time. I don't think Hall was even going
to let him self get in the way of Doug.
Jon says he was rooting for him and if
anyone was going to reach the summit
from their expedition he assumed it
would be Doug. Doug's fifteen years of
experience made him completely capable of looking after himself on heights.
He was strong, driven, and he had already been high on Everest. The day of
the ascent for Doug, was not kind to
him. Doug had reached the summit at
about 4:00 pm on May 10, 1996 meeting with Hall who had waited for him.
Rob Hall's turn around time had been
two hours past and the reason Hall had
let it slide and let Doug reach the summit is unknown. Perhaps it was because of the previous year. After Hall
and Doug spent a few minutes on top
they started to descend with Lopsang.
Lopsang figures they can move without
him so he leaves them on the Hillary
Step to catch up with Scott Fischer.
Doug runs out of oxygen and because
Andy Harris still believes there are no
full canisters at the South Summit that
is what he tells Hall. Hall somehow gets
ahold of two oxygen canisters but the
Doug Hansen 1996 on everest
Beck left alone?
By Emily Ginsberg
There he was. Beck Weathers standing
alone in the snow, shivering vigorously.
For Jon to leave Beck where he was
even though he said he would wait for
Mike to short rope him was a very personal impulse. Although others would
call it a selfish move because Jon
could've saved Beck's life and waited
with him I would disagree and say it
was a smart life saving move.
Jons's decision for leaving Beck alone
was smart. This is because Jon was already so exhausted and cold from his
ascent that helping another person
out, would make it worse for both of
them. It may have ended with Jon
needing help as well. So in a situation
like this you have to ask yourself ,
would you risk having yourself and the
other persons' life be in danger just to
attempt a rescue? Or would you save at
least yourself? Adding the fact that Jon
was a client not a guide therefore it
was not his job to help Beck. Although
it may have come off rude considering
Beck was partially blind, it his own decision to keep ascending up the mountain. Also when Rob Hall offered earlier
in the day to have a Sherpa escort Beck
down, he refused.
In addition, I do not think it was Jon's
made the decision to leave the two
where they lay and let nature take it's
course, considering they would probably die by the time they were dragged
down to base camp. As for Fischer, he
was believed to be dead or close to it.
The next day May 11, 1996 everyone in
the group had made it back to camp
four except Weathers, Namba, and Fischer. Weathers and Namba had been
found where they were left the night
before. They were partially buried in
snow with pretty much just their hands
and feet sticking out. Surprisingly
when Hutchison pulled a chunk of ice
from Namba's face he found she was
still breathing. Along with Beck who
was mumbling some words. Hutchison
First of all, the Sherpas have been
hired to help paying clients incase they
are injured or in need of support. Also
they are supposed to be around to help
and listen to the guides. Fischer was
understanding and sympathetic to the
sherpas want of ascending to the summit. But incase a client is hurt, there
wouldn't be any sherpas back at camp
ready to aid. Thanks to Lospang, who
must be thinking my thoughts made
his cousin "Big" Remba remain behind.
Lospang tells his cousin behind Fischers' back "You must stay, or I will not
give you job again." Of course Remba's
angry, but what if a client was hurt? No
Sherpa would be at camp ready to assist. I think at least two Sherpa's
should have stayed so there would be
double the help incase one out of two
of the Sherpas got sick/injured. As long
as a Sherpa was behind at camp, any
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sick or injured client/guide/Sherpa
would have a better chance of being
cured.
In conclusion, Fischers' decision was
not smart. Although his decision may
have not been well thought out at the
time. Maybe Fischers' decision was because the high attitude was making
him delusional to make any sense able
thoughts. So, even it was a nice
thought to have all sherpas go to the
summit, it was a very inconvenient
idea.
The affects of
the victim
By Emily Ginsberg
From Jon Krakauer's information in the
spring of 1996 12 climbers died and 84
had reached the summit including
himself. Which would calculate to a ratio of one climber out of seven would
die on that ascent/descent from the
summit of everest.
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down to camp he had been hustled
into a tent and immediately doctors
started treating him. He was later evacuated by a helicopter before Beck, and
taken to Kathmandu hospital.
Sandy Pittman had returned to her
home in Manhatten. Sandy found that
she had become "a lightning rod" for a
great deal of public anger over what
had happened on Everest. Sandy said
that things had gotten so bad her son
was being ridiculed and ostracized by
classmates at his exclusive private
school. All this wrath left Sandy reeling.
Neal Beidleman had come off of Everest saving many people. He saved the
lives of five clients by guiding them
down the mountain. Yet, he is still
haunted by a death he was unable to
prevent, of a client who was not even
on his team. A client he was not officially responsible for. He said he had
dragged her a step or two before she
let go. But he knew he couldn't help.
Someone had to get to the tents to get
help or everybody he was with was going to die. He says "I can still feel Yasukos' fingers sliding across my biceps,
and letting go. I never even turned to
look back."
Sadly Yasuko Namba, Rob Hall, Scott
Fischer, and Doug Hansen had not survived the disastrous storm. Many more
had died. But none of them have been
nearly forgotten.
Andy Harris was last seen at the South
Summit. He had attempted to bring
Rob Hall a canister of oxygen but never
made it to him. Jon Krakauer had assumed that Harris had fallen 7,000 feet
of an edge to his death, but was soon
faced with the truth.
Beck Weather's had made it off of Everest surprisingly alive. A little while after
Hutchison had left him he had managed to descend by himself to camp.
From there on he was aided by doctors.
After being evacuated from the peak he
was taken to Kathmandu hospital and
immediately being cared for. Beck's
right arm had been amputated halfway
below the elbow, all four fingers and
the thumb on his left hand were removed. Lastly, his nose was amputated
and rebuilt and he is now disabled for
life.
Makalu Gau was found by three
Sherpa's who had gone up to rescue
Scott Fischer as well. They had decided
to leave Fischer on a ledge at 27,200
feet. Given Fischer's condition the
Sherpa's had concluded he was beyond saving. When they got Makalu
with many terrible deaths and leaving
the survivors scared. After reading this
book some people may have an urge to
climb the mountain because of it's
beautiful scenery and the rush of an
adventure. Others may find the book
disturbing and may decide they never
want to climb the peak. I would say
overall that this book made me feel as
if I were on the expedition myself. It
was a very well put together novel.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about climbing
Mount Everest or is interested in reading about a Mount Everest expedition
gone wrong. For the people who are interested in climbing the peak, Into Thin
Air gives you a look into the eyes of the
climbers and what they had experienced. Be ware that there are many excruciating events taking place in the
novel, so if you don't think you can
handle reading beyond blood and
vomit then this book is not for you. I
would not recommend this book to
anyone under the age of 13. For this
book is to mature and much too factual for children. The words are written at
a very high level and children would
not be able to comprehend most of the
text. In my opinion Into Thin Air was a
wonderful story about an expedition
group climbing to the top of Mount
Everest and happened to get caught up
in a dangerous storm. Even for me
there were lots of facts maybe even too
many and they had made me lose my
concentration. This novel is definitely
at a very high level of thinking and
reading. An older person would probably understand it better as apposed to
a person around 13.
Hopefully if you decide to read Into
Thin Air you will get a taste of the adventure Jon had. I have never read
anything like this before. I'm sure you'll
be dumbfounded by what you read in
Into Thin Air. But if you don't think so,
read the book and find out yourself.
Taken by a survivor of the 1996 everest tragedy
The Summary of
Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air is a personal account of
the Mount Everest disaster written and
experienced by Jon Krakauer. This
book explains the events of the 1996
tragic Mount Everest storm. Ending
Into Thin Air (The book) written by
Jon Krakauer
* All information from these articles
were found in the book Into Thin Air by
Jon Krakauer
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