Everest disaster: the story of the most tragic ascent in 1996

It is the cherished dream of every mountaineer to climb Jomolungma, to wave his hand to the barely visible ground from a frightening height, to feel the pride that overflows from his heart.

Of course, many daredevils wanted to write their name in the history of Everest conquest. Few were confused by the fact that this peak could mercilessly take human lives or condemn them to suffering, leaving them crippled forever.

There was a certain statistic: out of 10 ascents on Everest – one of them necessarily ended in death.

Hannelore Schmatz, the first German woman to summit Everest in October 1979, never celebrated her triumphant ascent. She died on the descent from oxygen depletion and the bitter cold. For nearly 20 years, her sight terrified climbers ascending Everest. The fact is that the bodies of the dead on the summits do not descend to the foot. It is too difficult and dangerous to organize such an operation. Helicopters can not fly up. A man risks his life by taking on a terrible load.

The famous Norwegian mountaineer Arne Naess Jr. described his encounter with the dead Hannelore Schmatz frozen like a mummy as follows: “I can’t escape the ominous guards. About 100 meters from Camp IV she sits leaning against her backpack as if taking a short break. A woman with her eyes wide open and her hair fluttering in every gust of wind. And yet I feel like she’s watching me as I walk by.”

Hannelore Schmatz

The start of the climb

May 1996 opened perhaps the most tragic page in the history of Everest’s conquest. It became the grave for five people who had ventured to the very summit, which was sometimes only a few dozen meters short of the summit.

This terrible story should have served as a cautionary tale to desperate heads about the value of human life. But in our case, unfortunately, excitement, inordinate ambition and thoughtlessness led to sad results.

On May 10, 1996, before dawn, two commercial groups – “Mountain Madness” and “Adventure Consultants”, which included six high-class guides, 16 clients and eight Sherpas, in a cheerful mood went to storm the cherished peak. The first squad was led by American Scott Fisher, the second by New Zealander Rob Hall. Both leaders were considered experienced climbers.

When climbing Everest, every minute is precious. Both Fischer and Hall were well aware of this. However, from the very beginning everything went wrong. Discord among the Sherpas led to the fact that they did not have time to hang the rope railing along the route. Neil Beidleman, the guide of the Mountain Madness group, and Russian mountaineer Anatoly Bukreev did this hard and laborious work. Of course, the lost time played a fatal role.

Even before the trek began, Beidleman frankly confided to Boukreev: “Half of the clients have no chance of reaching the summit. For most of them the ascent will end already on the South Saddle (7900 m)”. As unfortunate as it was, his bitter prophecy came true.

Not a walk, but a test…

We can rightfully say that the commercial approach to a very dangerous and risky venture had a noticeable effect on the psychology of the clients. Having paid $ 65 thousand for participation in the conquest of Everest, almost every newly minted mountaineer imagined a trip to the summit as a fun walk with some elements of extreme.

Many beginners wanted to tickle their nerves and make a photo at the highest point of the mountain. Any professional training of clients was out of the question. For experienced climbers they became a burden.

Already at the storming of the cherished peak Scott Fisher and Rob Hall strongly regretted their recklessness. They thought that a large number of people will trample through the snowdrifts, and the paved path will be much easier and more convenient to move along. That is why three groups of climbers rushed to climb Everest at once.

The crowd, the queue of those eager to be the first to climb Jomolungma caused confusion. It was incredibly hard to wait for their hour at a great height under the terrible icy wind at 40-degree frost. There was no trace of good mood. The stifling cold had already taken away my strength – and I wished it would all be over quickly.

Members of the Adventure Counselors team

Frank Fishback, 53, of the Adventure Counselors expedition, decided not to push his luck and headed back to camp. His companions, Lou Kazischke, Stuart Hutchinson and John Taske, also did not venture further up the climb. Although at that time the weather was perfect on Everest, and the climbers only needed to reach the summit 100 meters and realize their long-held dream. Alas, the hard, exhausting ascent completely killed the former romance.

Once on the saving ground, Lou Kazischke confirmed the above with his confession: “I took off my glove and saw that all my fingers were frostbitten. Then I took off the other one and it was the same. I suddenly felt how tired I was. Besides, unlike most of my comrades, I didn’t need to climb at all costs. Of course, I wanted to conquer the summit. But… I live in Detroit. I’d go back to Detroit and say: “I’ve climbed Everest.” They’d say, “Everest, huh? That’s great. By the way, did you hear how ours played against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night?”.

Desperate descent

The first and the last, as it turned out, lucky climbers who conquered Everest on that ill-fated day were Anatoly Boukreev, Neil Beidleman, Andy Harris, Martin Adams and Jon Krakauer.

The rest of the climbers were unable to overcome the last barrier. And now began the most crucial part of the climb: the slow and extremely dangerous descent. As luck would have it, the weather immediately turned bad and the climbers were hit by a white, solid wall of snow. It should be noted that the air temperature on Everest at that time dropped sometimes to almost 75 degrees of frost.

It was as if Everest felt the weakness of people. In pitch darkness, where no one could be seen even at arm’s length, a “death zone” appeared at an altitude of 8000 meters. Now everything depended on the character of each climber and his health. In such brutal conditions, even coughing fits due to lack of oxygen could cause rib fractures and pulmonary edema. The same reason turned some climbers descending from Jomolungma into robots, unable to think or make the right decisions.

The victims of Jomolungma

Death has already begun its mournful countdown… Scott Fisher died of brain swelling. Rob Hall, who had time to send a touching message to his pregnant wife, died of frostbite: “I love you. Good night, my darling. Don’t worry too much about me.” Two months after Rob’s death, his wife gave birth to a daughter, Sarah.

Yasuko Namba, Doug Hansen, Andy Harris, Tsewang Smanla, Dorje Morup, Tsewang Paljor were added to the Everest death toll.

There could have been more victims. Here we must pay tribute to the courage and experience of Anatoly Bukreev, who carried the freezing climbers to the fourth camp. He fought his way through the snow darkness and wind. He went to those who were struggling to descend from the summit. They had hot tea and a life-saving cylinder of oxygen.

“He did a heroic act. He did something that no ordinary person could do,” Neil Beidleman later said of him.

Anatoly Bukreev died in 1997 while climbing Annapurna. An avalanche took his life. Earlier he was awarded the David Soles Award, which is given to the most outstanding mountaineers.