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The Everest Decade: 1996
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Ed Viesturs on 1996: Turn Around, Guys!
America's preeminent high-altitude mountaineer dissects the decisions made during 1996—the deadliest season in Everest's history.
Adapted from No Shortcuts to the Top, by Ed Viesturs with David Roberts; to be published in October 2006 by Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
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By now we knew from relayed reports from the South Col that people were missing all over the South Ridge. Scott Fischer had not even made it back to the col. The plan was for whichever of the Sherpas had the strength to try to go up on the morning of May 11—all the way up to the South Summit, if possible—to try to bring down Rob, Scott, and the other missing guides and clients. But that was asking a lot of Sherpas who had gone to the top only the day before. And the storm was still raging.
This was the hope, however, that I had to hold out to Rob. We knew that he was about 20 feet (6 meters) below the South Summit, in a little saddle on the far side. He'd actually have to climb up those 20 feet (6 meters) to start down. I got on the radio. "Rob," I pleaded, "crawl if you have to. Get to the South Summit. If you can start moving part of the way down, the Sherpas will meet you somewhere below. You can shorten their day getting to you."
When there was no answer, I tried to joke with Rob, anything to rally him to action. "When this is over," I radioed, "we'll go to Thailand, and I'll get to see your skinny white legs on the beach for the first time." Rob never wore shorts, even in the hottest weather, so in fact I'd never seen his bare legs.
He actually laughed and said, "Thanks for that." I'd gotten Rob to laugh! That gave me new hope that we could rescue him. "We'll get you off the hill," I radioed. My mantra was don't say anything negative. "But Rob, you've gotta move!"
At this point, Paula radioed us. Others at Base Camp, especially Guy Cotter and Helen Wilton, had also been trying to rouse Rob. Now my wife said, "Ed, everybody's being too nice. You've got to yell at Rob. Get mad at him."
She was right. Even though it belied my true feelings to express anger, now I broadcast, "Rob, come on, man! You can't just sit there!"
We were encouraged to hear from Rob, however, that he'd found the two full oxygen bottles on the South Summit. It had taken him four hours to de-ice his mask, but by 9 a.m. he was breathing gas once more. Over the radio all of us were exhorting him to get moving down the ridge. From Base Camp, Helen commanded, "Rob, you think about that little baby of yours." In New Zealand, Rob's wife, Jan Arnold, was now seven months pregnant. "You're going to see its face in a couple of months, so keep on going." For hours I cajoled Rob myself. Sometimes I'd joke, sometimes I'd yell, sometimes I'd promise that the Sherpas were coming to help him. I told him, "Don't talk much. Just get ready, start moving." Broadcasting uses up battery power far more quickly than listening does. All this while, we assumed that Rob had started down. Sherpas Ang Dorje and Lhakpa Chhiri had started up from the South Col in a truly heroic rescue attempt. The skies had cleared somewhat, but a fierce wind still swept the upper mountain. The uncertainty was killing me. After four or five hours, I had to ask. "Rob," I pleaded over the radio, "how's it going?"
"I haven't moved," he said.
All of us listening to the radio were totally shocked and demoralized by this news. We knew now that the only hope for Rob was if the two Sherpas could get to him and help him down.
We started to mobilize ourselves. We weren't sure what we could do to help, but David Breashears, Robert Schauer, our teammate Araceli Segarra, Veikka Gustafsson, and I decided to head up the fixed ropes on the Lhotse Face toward Camp III. I made one last broadcast. "Rob," I said, "I'm leaving now. I'm heading up the hill. I'll see you tomorrow. We'll talk again as soon as we can."
A couple of hours later, I was about 50 feet (15 meters) above David, moving up the fixed ropes, when I heard him yell, "Ed, stop! I've got some news, and it's not good." David was carrying our only handheld radio, and he'd just gotten word from Base Camp. "Ang Dorje and Lhakpa are back at the South Col," David reported. "They simply couldn't climb up in these conditions."
David took a deep breath, then said to me, "I think it's time to say goodbye to Rob."
That's when I lost it. I just hung on my ascenders, sobbing. David was weeping, too.
Amazingly, despite having been out for some 36 hours, most of it without bottled oxygen and above 28,000 feet (8,534 meters), Rob was still alive and coherent by nightfall on May 11. By then we were settled into Camp III, preparing to do whatever we could to help the following day.
At 6:20 p.m. Guy managed to patch through his wife, Jan, via satellite phone from New Zealand. Rob and Jan's farewell exchange has become part of Everest legend.
Before Rob could gather up the nerve to talk to his wife, he begged for a minute so he could eat some snow and moisten his mouth. Then he spoke: "Hi, my sweetheart. I hope you're tucked in a nice warm bed. How are you doing?"
"I can't tell you how much I'm thinking about you!" Jan answered. "You sound so much better than I expected. . . . Are you warm, my darling?"
"I'm reasonably comfortable."
"How are your feet?"
"I haven't taken my boots off to check, but I think I may have a bit of frostbite."
Jan knew there was no hope—she'd been on top of Everest herself. And Rob must have known too. But in their parting words, they kept up the poignant fiction of a coming reunion. "I'm looking forward to making you completely better when you come home," Jan promised. "I just know that you're going to be rescued. Don't feel that you're alone. I'm sending all my positive energy your way!"
Rob closed with "I love you. Sleep well, my sweetheart. Please don't worry too much."
Those were the last words Rob ever spoke—or if he said anything more, there was no one there to hear it.
Continue Part I: 1996: Turn Around, Guys!: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Next >>
Part II: 2006: The Mad Season >>
Everest Map: The 2006 Cast of Characters >>
Everest Main Page >>
More on Ed Viesturs:
Podcast interview with Ed Viesturs: Download it now >>
Best of Adventure 2006: Ed Viesturs was named the magazine's first Adventurer of the Year >>
There+Back: Ed Viesturs became the first American to climb all the world's 8,000-meter (26,248-foot) peaks when he summited Annapurna >>
Q+A: 8,000-Meter Man: Contributing Editor Michael Shnayerson profiles Ed Viesturs >>
Adventure's September 2006 issue features 31 amazing adventure towns; chaos at the top of Mount Everest; an inside look at surfing California's Lost Coast; 11 fall weekend getaways near you; the best high-tech footwear, world class adventure travel; hiking the Alps, and more!
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