1996 Mount Everest Disaster
By Wesley & Jorge
Intro
On 1996 Mount Everest Had faced one of worst and deadliest storm killing a lot of people.
Historical Context
In the two articles “1996 Death on mount everest” and “1996: Ed Viesturs- Turn around guys” from history and national geographic explores the deadly expedition of 1996 when a group of experienced climbers led by Scott Fischer and Rob Hall set off to the Himalayas where they started the climb of mount Everest. On May 10,1996 they made their way down the mountain when one of worst storms Everest had faced some their way and killed nine people. This was the most deaths Everest had in one day. Many of the climbers died from intense frost bite on/or lack of oxygen.
The Event
In the two articles “1996: Ed Viesturs- Turn around guys!” and “Everest Takes Worst Toll, Refusing to Become Stylish” from national geographic and New york times describes on May 1,1996 a large group of experienced climbers led by Rob Hall and Scott Fischer set off to the Himalayas to attempt the dangerous climb of Mt. Everest. They started at the base camp where the group of people got ready to climb and discuss the safety rules . After they were trained and ready they started the climb. The climb took at least one week to get to the summit. When the group got to the summit they all had to wear oxygen masks because there was so little oxygen. They started making their way down after a couple minutes on the mountain. As they were making their way down, base camp called and said there was a very intense storm coming from the east towards the mountain. It was one of the worst Everest has ever faced. The radio batteries started to die some people's bottled oxygen started to run out. Rob Hall was still up in the mountain trying to a guy named Doug down the mountain with him. Doug died on the way down the mountain. The last thing Rob wanted to do was to call his wife in New Zealand and tell her that he loved her and he wanted to think of a name for their child. One of the climbers managed to make his way down to base camp with a frostbite on both his hands and feet and some on his nose. Nine people had died on the way down on May 11,1996 because of the deadly storm that occurred.
The Impact and Effect
In the two articles “Where Are The ‘Everest’ Survivors Today? These 8 Climbers Showed Major Strength On The Mountain” and “Everest Takes Worst Toll, Refusing to Become Stylish” by Sage Young and New York Times describes the storm on Everest impacted many lives. It killed 9 climbers. Some of the climbers where Rob Hall, Yasuko Namba, Andy Harris, and Doug Hanson. Rob Hall was very important and when he died on Everest it affected his family. His wife was pregnant with their first baby. Another one of the climbers got serious frostbite up on the Mountain and lost one of his hands and his nose.
Conclusion
The tragic event effected many future Everest climbers. The storm on Everest that day was one of the worst storms Everest has had. When you are climbing Mount Everest it is you against the Mountain and on May 11,1996 the Mountain won.