Into Thin Air Read Free Page A

climber
     
    Frederic Bloomquist
    Sweden, filmmaker
     
    Ang Rita Sherpa
    Nepal, climbing Sherpa and film crew member
     
    Norwegian Solo Expedition
     
    Petter Neby
    Norway, climber
     
    New Zealand-Malaysian Guided Pumori Expedition
     
    Guy Cotter
    New Zealand, leader and guide
     
    Dave Hiddleston
    New Zealand, guide
     
    Chris Jillet
    New Zealand, guide
     
    American Commercial Pumori/Lhotse Expedition
     
    Dan Mazur
    USA, leader
     
    Scott Darsney
    USA, climber and photographer
     
    Chantal Mauduit
    France, climber
     
    Stephen Koch
    USA, climber and snowboarder
     
    Brent Bishop
    USA, climber
     
    Jonathan Pratt
    U.K., climber
     
    Diane Taliaferro
    USA, climber
     
    Dave Sharman
    U.K., climber
     
    Tim Horvath
    USA, climber
     
    Dana Lynge
    USA, climber
     
    Martha Johnson
    USA, climber
     
    Nepali Everest Cleaning Expedition
     
    Sonam Gyalchhen Sherpa
    Nepal, leader
     
    Himalayan Rescue Association Clinic
     
    (in Pheriche Village)
     
    Dr. Jim Litch
    USA, staff doctor
     
    Dr. Larry Silver
    USA, staff doctor
     
    Dr. Cecile Bouvray
    France, staff doctor
     
    Laura Ziemer
    USA, assistant
     
    Indo-Tibetan Border Police Everest Expedition
     
    (climbing from the Tibetan side of the mountain)
     
    Mohindor Singh
    India, leader
     
    Harbhajan Singh
    India, deputy leader and climber
     
    Tsewang Smanla
    India, climber
     
    Tsewang Paljor
    India, climber
     
    Dorje Morup
    India, climber
     
    Hira Ram
    India, climber
     
    Tashi Ram
    India, climber
     
    Sange Sherpa
    India, climbing Sherpa
     
    Nadra Sherpa
    India, climbing Sherpa
     
    Koshing Sherpa
    India, climbing Sherpa
     
    Japanese-Fukuoka Everest Expedition
     
    (climbing from the Tibetan side of the mountain)
     
    Koji Yada
    Japan, leader
     
    Hiroshi Hanada
    Japan, climber
     
    Eisuke Shigekawa
    Japan, climber
     
    Pasang Tshering Sherpa
    Nepal, climbing Sherpa
     
    Pasang Kami Sherpa
    Nepal, climbing Sherpa
     
    Any Gyalzen
    Nepal, climbing Sherpa
     
     
    * Not everyone present on Mt. Everest in the spring of 1996 is listed.

     
    ONE

    EVEREST SUMMIT
    MAY 10, 1996 • 29,028 FEET
    It would seem almost as though there were a cordon drawn round the upper part of these great peaks beyond which no man may go. The truth of course lies in the fact that, at altitudes of 25,000 feet and beyond, the effects of low atmospheric pressure upon the human body are so severe that really difficult mountaineering is impossible and the consequences even of a mild storm may be deadly, that nothing but the most perfect conditions of weather and snow offers the slightest chance of success, and that on the last lap of the climb no party is in a position to choose its day.…
    No, it is not remarkable that Everest did not yield to the first few attempts; indeed, it would have been very surprising and not a little sad if it had, for that is not the way of great mountains. Perhaps we had become a little arrogant with our fine new technique of ice-claw and rubber slipper, our age of easy mechanical conquest. We had forgotten that the mountain still holds the master card, that it will grant success only in its own good time. Why else does mountaineering retain its deep fascination?
    Eric Shipton, in 1938
     
    Upon That Mountain
     
    Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet. I understood on some dim, detached level that the sweep of earth beneath my feet was a spectacular sight. I’d been fantasizing about this moment, and the release of emotion that would accompany it, for many months. But now that I was finally here, actually standing on the summit of Mount Everest, I just couldn’t summon the energy to care.
    It was early in the afternoon of May 10, 1996. I hadn’t slept in fifty-seven hours. The only food I’d been able to force down over the preceding three days was a bowl of ramen soup and a handful of peanut M&Ms. Weeks