Mount Everest and Me

Probably because of my experiences with the Boy Scouts, I entertained the idea of climbing Mount Everest at some point in my future. I used to love camping, hiking, and backpacking. I bought an expedition quality backpack (incidentally I bought this while in Ireland in 1993 right before the first successful Irish Everest expedition that same year). I was thoroughly enamored with the romantic ideal of climbing the highest mountain in the world. I even had K2 on my radar.

Years later, I haven't been hiking since my scouting days. Even during my scouting days I never really got to climb anything further away than an easy day's drive. I haven't really used my backpack for anything other than a piece of luggage that is a lot easier to schlep around than conventional luggage. I would love to get back to hiking, but all I anticipate doing is local day hikes.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was looking for something to read, and came across The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest. I have been reading mostly fiction, and I have been getting more interested in nonfiction, so this looked like a good one to give a try. It is the story of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster as told by Anatoli Boukreev. Boukreev was a freak. He had climbed around 18 8000+ meter summits over the course of his career, all without supplemental oxygen. Boukreev was hired as a guide for one of the commercial expeditions. After reading it, I found out the book was largely written in response to a book written by one of the expedition members that painted Boukreev in an unfavorable light.

I can't really speak to how accurate this representation of the actual events is, but it was an interesting read. The book strips away the fantasy of my youth quite effectively. There are times when the expedition members come across some of the bodies still on the mountain. The book conveys a sense of just how perilous a summit bid can be. Boukreev's expedition had a laundry list of little problems and challenges that probably should have prompted Boukreev's boss, Scott Fischer, to order a tactical retreat. They had problems with their communications equipment, some of their gear, their oxygen supply, and there were little problems with some of the clients. Ultimately, and this is pretty universally acknowledged, Fischer and rival expedition leader Rob Hall, both broke with their own policies and general smart expedition strategy and continued climbing on the summit bid past 2:00 PM, the cut off time for when climbers should start to descend with enough time to reach the safety of Camp IV before nightfall.

Boukreev ended up leaving Camp IV after dark and in blizzard conditions in an attempt to bring back the climbers who had not yet returned. His efforts saved three lives, but he was ultimately unable to save his boss, Fischer. Hall, another of his guides, and two of their clients also died on the mountain.

The book definitely drove home how dangerous this kind of climb can be. I would still like to get back into climbing, but I'm not going to entertain fantasies of climbing anything outside of my home state. Boukreev ended up dying the next year, just half a year after publication, in an avalanche. It gave a good sense of both the experience and the danger. I really enjoyed it.