Photo: Elia SaikalyĪdventure Consultant guide Rob Hall was stuck on the Hilary Step with his client Doug Hansen who had lost consciousness. Two, Gau Ming-ho from Taiwan and American Scott Fischer, were stranded and unable to descend below the Balcony (a small rocky platform at 8,400m). By 5:30pm a blizzard had blown in, burying the fixed ropes that had been placed and any trail that the groups had blazed on their ascent.īy this time, all hell was beginning to break loose for the climbers. Climber and journalist, Jon Krakauer criticised the Russian in the aftermath of 10 May for not helping others on his way down, but since then he has become recognised for saving others who could have died that night.īoukreev reached Camp IV at 5pm, but even then there were still climbers trying to get to the top. The result of these delays meant that a build-up of climbers caused a bottleneck at the Hilary Step, and many summited very late, past the recommended summit time of 2pm which allows for a safe descent back to camp.Īnatoli Boukreev, who was the first to summit that day, left the groups and returned by himself to Camp IV. Guides had forgotten to set up fixed ropes in advance and so the groups were delayed for over two hours on their ascent. On this day 33 climbers from three groups (Mountain Madness, a government-funded Taiwanese group and Adventure Consultants) were attempting to reach the summit.

Known as one of the most lethal years in Everest’s history, 1996 saw the deaths of 15 climbers, eight of whom died on 10 May. This story shows just how inhospitable the mountains can be.

Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth, is atop many mountaineer’s bucket list and while it is not necessarily one of the most technical, it can be one of the most deadly. Of all the tales of tragedies on the mountains, this is perhaps one of the most harrowing.

Doug hansen into thin air