Timeline of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster details the sequence of events leading up to the deaths of five climbers on the South Col route to the summit of Mount Everest on 10–11 May 1996. The climbers all died during a blizzard while descending from the summit. Three more climbers died on the North Face route in the blizzard.
Mount Everest, elevation , is the highest mountain in the world. First summited in 1953, by 1996 attempts to summit Everest had become increasingly common both by experienced mountain climbers and amateurs with enough money to pay for guides and Sherpas to support them in their quest. Climbing Everest is dangerous. The lack of oxygen in the sparse air at the elevations on its slopes can cause high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), both life-threatening. Frostbite, hypothermia, avalanches, and accidents are common dangers. Oxygen deprivation at high altitudes can cause mental confusion as well as extreme exhaustion. Supplemental oxygen is used by most climbers. In 1996, medical evacuation by helicopter had never been done above elevations of about .
Scott Fischer, the American owner of Mountain Madness, was an experienced mountain climber, but 1996 was his first year as an expedition leader and guide on Everest. He signed up eight clients for the attempt to summit Everest. American Sandy Hill Pittman reported from the mountain by satellite phone to NBC News. Lene Gammelgaard, a Dane, also reported to the media from the mountain but her reports from the field were handwritten and left Everest on foot and by helicopter as did mail from other expedition members. Fischer's lead guide was Anatoli Boukreev from Kazakhstan, one of the most experierenced mountaineers in the world. Boukreev climbed without the use of supplemental oxygen, a controversial practice for guides. First published in 1997 in Denmark
Rob Hall, from New Zealand, the owner of Adventure Consultants, also had eight clients for the Everest climb. It was his seventh year in operation and he had guided 39 climbers to the summit of Everest without a fatality, but his attempt with clients in 1995 had been a failure. With Hall was American Jon Krakauer who was supported by Outside magazine. Krakauer's assignment was to write an article for the magazine about the commercialization of Everest.
Among several other climbing groups on the mountain, David Breashears headed a team of experienced mountain climbers to make an IMAX film about climbing Everest. 1996 was the busiest year yet on Everest and, with the presence of several journalists among the climbers, the expedition leaders had a business incentive to ensure climbing success.
Hall's and Fischer's plan for their clients to summit Everest on 10 May was to leave Camp IV on the South Col at midnight, reach the summit of Everest about 12:00 p.m. and descend, reaching Camp IV at about 6 p.m. The time required for the planned round trip was eighteen hours. Hall established a turn-around time of 2:00 p.m. (some sources say 1 p.m) at which time all climbers, wherever they were on the mountain, were required to begin their return to Camp IV. Hall said that his decision to descend was "absolute law, beyond appeal." On the day of the tragedy, Hall did not enforce his "law." Fischer does not seem to have established a firm turn-around time. Thirty-three climbers departed the South Col (Camp IV) on 10 May to climb upward toward the Everest summit. Twenty two them were Hall and Fischer, their guides, and their clients. The others were Sherpas working for the teams and the Taiwanese climber "Makalu" Gau Ming-ho.
Eight climbers died on Everest, five of them on the South Col route. Three members of the 1996 Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition to Mount Everest died on the North Face route. The circumstances and the causes of the disaster on the South Col have been extensively documented and disputed. The climbers were attempting to descend from the summit of Everest during a blizzard in which the temperature had fallen and visibility was minimal. The descent was at night because they had not summited in time to reach camp and safety before darkness.
All times listed in this article are approximate.
The South Col route The prominent locations via the South Col route, listed in ascending elevations, were: Everest Base Camp, Camps I, II, III, and IV (the South Col), The Balcony, the South Summit, the Hillary Step, and the summit of Everest.
15 March
Anatoli Boukreev arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal to advance Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness expedition to summit Everest. Boukreev had been hired by Fischer as the lead guide. In his first year of operation, Fischer had signed up eight clients for the climb.
21 March Sandy Pittman, who had signed up to climb Everest with Scott Fischer, broadcast to NBC from Nepal. "I wouldn't dream of leaving town without an ample supply of Dean & Delucas Near East Blend and my expresso maker." The magazine Newsweek called Pittman's remark "altitude chicness." Vanity Fair called Pittman a "socialite climber," but Pittman had an impressive mountaineering record, including two previous attempts to summit Everest.
25 March Anatoli Boukreev and Nguna Sherpa flew by helicopter from Kathmandu to Syangboche at an elevation of to begin preparations for the arrival of the clients.
29 March Scott Fischer's clients flew from Kathmandu to Syangboche. They felt the breathlessness of the higher elevation. Acclimation to increasingly high elevations was part of the process of climbing Everest.
Journalist Jon Krakauer arrived in Kathmandu to join Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants expedition to summit Everest. Hall's well-established organization had been in operation for six years, but in 1995 his group had failed to summit Everest because of bad weather. For 1996, Hall had also signed up eight clients for the attempt to summit Everest. Krakauer assessed Hall's clients as "nice" people, but not 'hard-core climbers,"
30 March
Boukreev arrived by foot at the Everest base camp, elevation . Sherpas were already there preparing campsites.
31 March Rob Hall, guide Andy Harris, and Adventure Consultants' clients helicoptered from Kathmandu to Lukla, in elevation.
7 April
Sherpas went up the mountain in advance of the clients to prepare the camps for the arrival of the clients. One of Hall's Sherpas fell into a crevasse while crossing the glacier uphill from the base camp. The rescue and evacuation of a climber injured at an elevation of was no small undertaking. Hall asked to borrow six Sherpas from David Breashears, the leader of the Everest IMAX Filming Expedition. Breashears insisted that Hall pay them for their work -- about six dollars per day each -- as it was their day off and they needed rest to recover from several days of carrying heavy loads of equipment. Hall objected to the expense, but relented and assembled a team of 25 Sherpas to rescue and transport the injured Sherpa to lower elevations where he was evacuated by helicopter. Time for rest, recuperation, and acclimation was essential for people attempting to climb Everest and this was the first of several incidents which would sap the strength of guides, clients, and Sherpas.
8 April Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness clients and guides arrived on foot at the Everest base camp. Boukreev made the observation that the radios Fischer brought for the expedition were "antiquated" and "a joke". On Fischer's team only Fischer and Sherpa sardar (leader) Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa carried radios. This would inhibit communication among the guides.
9 April Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants guides and clients arrived on foot at the Everest base camp. Eleven teams of climbers were at the base camp and more than 300 people were living there in tents. Rob Hall's Adventure Consultants, Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness, and David Breashears' Everest IMAX Filming Expedition were the three largest and most professional. The expeditions at the base camp all devised acclimatization plans which consisted of slow advances to higher elevations over a period of several weeks.
Sherpas and climbers participated in a Puja ritual to honor the mountain god and help ensure a safe and successful climb.
10 April When returning from acclimatization hikes, climbers customarily left their personal equipment at the edge of the Khumbu Glacier ten minutes walk above the base camp. Several items were stolen, including the crampons, an individualistic item of equipment, of Hall and Breashears. They were able to replace the crampons. The theft was unprecedented and the identity of the thief was never discovered. The incident aroused suspicion among the climbing teams who took precautions to prevent threat of their equipment and locked their tents.
13 April Krakauer made the observation that "none of us in Hall's group had a prayer of climbing Everest without considerable assistance from Hall, his guides, and the Sherpas."
16 April Climbers approached Everest in stages. For example, on this day Hall's group left base camp and climbed up to Camp I, . spent two nights there, then on 18 April climbed to Camp II, in elevation. On 21 April they returned to base camp to rest and prepare for another acclimatization hike.
22 April One of Hall's Sherpas, Ngawang Topche, became ill from High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) and had to be evacuated from base camp. He died a month later.
27 April In an episode titled Mountain without Mercy of the television program, Turning Point, broadcast in the United States on this date, Mountain Madness guide and owner Scott Fischer said, "We are building a yellow brick road to the top of Everest." It was Fischer's first year of guiding clients on Everest.
1 May The Danish climber Lene Gammelgaard wanted to attempt to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen. Fischer, who had initially been supportive, told her she had to use oxygen, saying that she had not been strong enough in the acclimatization climbs. She reluctantly agreed, but said that he had not observed her on the training climbs and that she had been slow because she was helping other climbers, especially Sandy Pittman.
6 May
The attempt on Everest began. After six weeks of acclimatization, Hall's and Fischer's clients left base camp and hiked upward over the Khumbu Icefall to Camp I, elevation . Climbing along with them was a Taiwanese team headed by Makalu Gau. The Khumbu Icefall is one of the most dangerous sections of the route up Everest because of many deep crevasses and overhanging seracs and frequent avalanches from the bordering glaciers. Fixed ropes and ladders across crevasses and up seracs facilitated the passage of the climbers.
Hall had fixed on 10 May as the day to summit Everest and aimed for that date. IMAX team member, Ed Viesturs, commented "maybe he fixed his sights a little too rigidly on an arbitrary calendar date."
Dale Kruse, one of Fischer's clients, had HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema) and was in danger of dying. Fischer decided that he would escort Kruse, a good friend, down to Base Camp instead of delegating the duty to a Sherpa. En route to base Camp, Fischer encountered Boukreev climbing alone. He reprimanded Boukreev asking why he was not with the clients. The descent to Base Camp and the climb back up to Camp I exhausted Fischer.
Another Fischer client, a renowned mountaineer, Pete Schoening, 68 years old, decided that he would quit the climb and return to Base Camp.
7 May After accompanying Kruse to base camp, Fischer returned to Camp I. Krakauer noticed that he looked anxious and extremely tired after the journey down the mountain and up again. Hall, Fischer, their clients, and the Taiwanese team hiked from Camp I to Camp II, elevation .
8 May