Everest True Story: What Really Happened During The 1996 Disaster

Summary

• 1996 marked the deadliest year on Everest at that time, with 12 climbers lost, sparking a tragic reminder of the mountain’s inherent risks.
• The 1996 Everest Disaster recreated in the film highlighted the awe and horror faced by climbers trapped in the deadly storm.
• Experienced climbers faced insurmountable elements during the tragic expedition, with blizzards, delays, and technical mistakes leading to deaths.

2015’s Everest was based on the true-life Mount Everest Disaster of 1996, recreating the overwhelming challenges faced by the real climbers who were trapped on that mountain almost thirty years ago. One of the single deadliest days in the recorded history of the world’s tallest peak, the film recounts the expedition taken on by two groups of mountaineers that ended in death for eight climbers, including the two experienced leaders of the expeditions, Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) and Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal).

The fates of Everest‘s real-life inspiration served as a tragic reminder of the inherent risk in attempting to scale something like Mount Everest, and 2015’s Everest highlights the awe and horror one encounters on such a journey. The tragic events that befell the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster were recreated in Everest with notable consistency and accuracy, although some elements of the story were tweaked for the big screen. Here’s the true story behind Everest and how it compares to real life.

How Many Climbers Died During 1996’s Mount Everest Disaster

1996 Marked The Deadliest Year On Everest At That Time

12 climbers were lost on Everest throughout the entire 1996 Spring Season, with five of them depicted in the movie. This makes it one of the deadliest single seasons in the history of Everest expeditions. Eight of these deaths happened during the Disaster itself, which occurred on May 10 and 11. The Adventure Consultants expedition suffered four casualties, including team leader Rob Hall. The Mountain Madness team only lost one member, their team leader, Scott Fischer. Meanwhile, a simultaneous Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition suffered three deaths from climbers who approached the summit from the North face.

The deaths of Andy Harris and Doug Hansen remain mysteries, as their bodies were never recovered.

There were a total of 33 climbers on May 10 spread out across four separate expeditions — including Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness, which directly inspired the film. The deaths of Andy Harris and Doug Hansen remain mysteries, as their bodies were never recovered. Instead, their deaths were dramatized in Everest — Hansen plunges off the side of a cliff while Harris suffers from the effects of hypothermia.

How Long Was The May 1996 Mount Everest Expedition

Four Days Passed Between The Beginning Of The Trek And The Last Survivor Being Rescued

The 1996 Mount Everest Expedition took place on May 10, 1996. The trek began at midnight and was intended to be concluded by 2:00 PM local time — which is considered to be the cutoff for climbers to turn around and safely return to Base Camp. However, delays in the climb and increasingly harsh weather slowed the ascent and resulted in the expeditions being stuck on the mountain as the blizzard intensified. Some of the climbers didn’t even reach the peak of the mountain until well after 5:00 local time.

Many climbers were forced to endure the blizzard overnight. Some, like Andy Harris and Doug Hansen, were lost in the storm. Yasuko Namba, Rob Hall, and Scott Fischer were forced to be left behind by the other survivors after their health deteriorated to the point where rescue would be impossible. Fischer was the final confirmed death of the expedition, as his frozen body was discovered on the evening of May 11 by his teammate Anatoli Boukreev. The final survivors finally made it to Base Camp on May 14, including the severely injured but miraculously alive Beck Weathers.

What Caused May 1996’s Mount Everest Deaths

Even Experienced Climbers In The Group Were Unable To Overcome The Elements

The most obvious cause of the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster was a massive blizzard that bore down upon the mountain during the expedition. The storm brought more snow than any of the respective parties had expected earlier than they had planned, trapping them close to the summit as the snow fully settled in around them. This buried the ropes that had been established as a pathway back down the mountain, reducing the clear path back through the storm.

Guides failed to set up fixed ropes for other climbers, and the health of some of the climbers caused delays that led to the expedition being caught by the full brunt of the blizzard.

This made escape next to impossible even for the more seasoned climbers in the respective groups, like Yasuko Namba (who died from exposure on May 11). Further complicating matters were several technical mistakes. Guides failed to set up fixed ropes for other climbers, and the health of some of the climbers caused delays that led to the expedition being caught by the full brunt of the blizzard. There was also a lack of oxygen canisters, which impacted the health of the climbers as they tried to descend.

1996’s Everest disaster was the biggest tragedy on the mountain until a 2014 avalanche.

Every Survivor Of The 1996 Mount Everest Disaster (& How They Survived)

Michael Groom

Michael Grooms is an experienced Australian-born mountaineer played by Thomas M. Wright in Everest. Groom had previously scaled Mount Everest before the fateful 1996 expedition. He became the fourth person in history to reach the summits of the five highest peaks in the world — Makalu, Lhotse, Kangchenjunga, K2, and Everest — without the use of an oxygen tank. He also completed the Seven Summits, which means reaching the highest peaks on each continent around the world. Groom’s career as a climber nearly ended when he lost part of his foot to frostbite when climbing Kangchenjunga.

Groom was the only Adventure Consultants guide to survive the journey. Groom lived by remaining with the rest of the Adventure Consultants team and moving down the mountain on May 12. Following the 1996 expedition, Groom wrote a biography in 1997 in which he detailed his survival. He was also awarded with the Medal of the Order of Australia for “service to mountaineering” in 2000.

Frank Fischbeck

Frank Fischbeck, played by Todd Boyce in Everest. Fischbeck was a climber who had previously attempted to scale the mountain. Fischbeck survived the 1996 disaster by weathering the blizzard overnight with the other survivors. Part of the reason Fischbeck was able to survive was because he was one of the people who decided to admit defeat in the climb earlier and turned back before several of the others.

According to Medium, Fischbeck had spent $70,000 for the expedition, but while the decision to abandon his dreams of reaching the summit must have been a difficult one, it is a decision that likely saved his life.

Stuart Hutchison

A Toronto-based cardiologist played by Demetri Goritsas in Everest, Hutchinson was one of the few Adventure Consultants clients with extensive mountain climbing experience before the 1996 disaster. Stuart survived by remaining with the rest of the Adventure Consultants’ survivors during the storm. In his book, Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest, fellow survivor Beck Weathers revealed that Hutchison accompanied a group of sherpas to go in search of Weathers and other survivors.

When they found them, they were unresponsive and thought to be dead. Hutchison explained to Outside that he has remained relatively quiet on the subject of the fateful expedition out of respect for the families of those who died.

Lou Kasischke

Portrayed by Mark Derwin in Everest, Lou Kasischke was a climber who had previously scaled six of the Seven Summits. However, he was among the survivors who turned back from the Everest Summit on May 11 and subsequently survived the expedition by huddling up with other survivors. Years later, Kasischke would recount his experiences in the book After the Wind. Kasischke praised the movie, Everest, for its accuracy in depicting the horrors of that experience, while also admitting that he regrets having gone up the mountain in the first place (via Forbes).

Jon Krakauer

A skilled climber and reporter for Outside magazine, Jon Krakauer was played by Michael Kelly in Everest. Krakauer was among the final survivors of the Expedition to escape the mountain. He was actually successful in reaching the summit and made it back to the camp. Krakauer’s recounting of the event in his book Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster won major acclaim upon its release in 1997. Krakauer is likely more famous as a writer than as a mountaineer, having also written the acclaimed non-fiction books Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven.

John Taske

The oldest climber in the Adventure Consultants party, Taske was 56 when the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster occurred. Tim Dantay played John Taske in Everest. Alongside Krakauer, Weathers, and Hutchinson, Taske was one of the final people to return to Base Camp safely, huddling together for warmth while descending the mountain.

Beck Weathers

Josh Brolin plays Beck Weathers in Everest. A Texas-born pathologist, Weathers was severely affected by the climb after the high altitude and increased ultraviolet radiation left him blinded. Weathers almost perished from exposure and suffered intense frostbite. Despite the fears of his fellow mountaineers, Weathers was able to walk through the cold to trek down the mountain, at which time he was evacuated to a hospital via helicopter.

Weathers released his biography
Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest
in 2000 and still practices medicine and works as a motivational speaker.

Among Weathers’ physical injuries caused by the freezing temperatures he was exposed to, his right arm was amputated below his elbow, he lost all fingers on his left hand, and his nose had to be removed and reconstructed. Weathers released his biography Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest in 2000 and still practices medicine and works as a motivational speaker.

Neal Beidleman

Neal Beidleman was one of the expedition guides in Everest and is played by Tom Goodman-Hill. After the descent fatally inflicted Fischer, the real Beidleman helped keep much of the remaining expedition together. Beidleman was able to lead the party back to Base Camp. Beidleman emerged as one of the heroes of the Everest disaster with his decision-making being credited with saving the lives of several of the less-experienced climbers while also saving his own life.

Anatoli Boukreev

A Russian-born climber played by Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Boukreev was a guide who eventually led multiple members of the party to safety down the mountain. Sadly, while he was able to survive the Everest disaster and save a number of lives in the process, the following year, Boukreev was killed during an avalanche while scaling the Annapurna mountain. In 2002, Boukreev’s memoir Above the Clouds: The Diaries of a High-Altitude Mountaineer was published posthumously.

Charlotte Fox

Charlotte Fox is played by Amy Shindler in Everest. Fox was one of the mountaineers who huddled together for warmth the night of May 10 before heading down the mountain over the next few days. Fox would later tell PBS that Boukreev had helped guide her down the mountain and return to the safety of Base Camp. She was another experienced climber in the group who had also completed the Seven Summits. Sadly, she is another one of the survivors of the Everest disaster who has since passed away. Fox died in 2018 at the age of 61.

Lene Gammelgaard

Played by Charlotte Bøving in Everest, Lene Gammelgaard was 35 when she embarked on the Everest Expedition. She was also the first Scandinavian woman to reach the summit. She was among the first to reach Base Camp thanks to Beidleman and Boukreev. Like many of the survivors of the Everest disaster, Gammelgaard wrote a book recounting her experiences with 1998’s Climbing High. She also works as a motivational speaker.

Tim Madsen

A friend and training partner of Charlotte Fox, Tim Madsen was played by Simon Harrison in Everest. Madsen was an experienced climber who nevertheless didn’t initially acclimate to the high altitude of Everest. Madsen remained with the group during the descent and eventually made it back to Base Camp.

Ian Woodall

Ian Woodall was played by Justin Salinger in Everest. The British-born mountaineer had scaled Everest multiple times before embarking on a climb of the mountain in 1996. In real life, Woodall led his own expedition at the same time and was not directly involved in the events of the 2015 film. While there are plenty of varying accounts related the the Everest disaster, Jon Krakauer was very critical of Woodall in his book, Into Thin Air, including alleging that Woodall refused to let the Hall team use his more powerful radio to contact rescue services.

Sandy Hill

A California-born climber played by Vanessa Kirby in Everest, Sandy Hill was the second American woman to climb the Seven Summits. Reaching the summit, Hill was among the climbers who were forced to weather the blizzard while on the mountain. Surviving the climb down alongside the rest of her party, Hill became a vocal champion for Boukreev’s efforts. In 2011, Hill published a book, Mountain: Portraits of High Places, a collection of photography from several renowned nature photographers.

Pete Schoening

The oldest climber among either group, Pete Schoening was something of a climbing legend even before attempting Everest. Schoening arrived at the mountain with his nephew Klev, but did not scale the mountain. Instead, after detecting an irregular heartbeat, he elected to remain at Camp Three.

This meant Pete avoided the harshest turns of the weather during the following days. This was not the first fateful expedition Schoening was on as he was part of the American K2 expedition in 1953 in which his quick actions single-handedly saved the entire expedition. Schoening died in 2004 at the age of 77.

Klev Schoening

Klev Schoening is played by Chris Reilly in Everest. A former U.S. national downhill skier, Klev assisted Beidleman throughout the event and helped save the lives of the rest of his party.

Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa

Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa is played by Pemba Sherpa in Everest. Lopsang was a Sherpa on the Mountain Madness expedition who played a pivotal role in the survival of much of that group. Tragically, he died later that same year in another expedition to climb Everest.

Other Survivors

Some survivors and fatalities of the 1996 Everest Disaster weren’t featured in Everest. The survivors include Gau Ming-Ho, the leader of the Taiwanese expedition who was on the mountain at the same time as the storm and suffered similar injuries to Beck Weathers. Dale Kruse was a close friend of Scott Fischer who had returned to camp when the disaster struck and wasn’t near the peak during the brunt of the ordeal.

There were many Sherpas on the expedition as well. All of them survived the disaster, although one would later pass away from complications caused by the preparations for the event. One was even struck in the head with a rock during the descent in real life. According to reports from PBS, this Sherpa was saved through the efforts of Beidleman and Klev.

How The 1996 Deaths Changed Expeditions On Mount Everest

2015’s Everest Was Not The Only Adaptation Of The Tragedy

When it occurred in 1996, the Everest Disaster was the worst single event to befall explorers heading towards the peak of Mount Everest. Although it’s since been surpassed by two avalanches in the 21st century, it happened during the increasing commercialization of Everest expeditions. The event served as a warning to tourists who were increasingly flocking to the challenge presented by the mountain. This was spurred on by many of the survivors, who eventually wrote about their experiences in books.

The event would be reimagined across mediums, including on TV, in cinemas, and even serving as the inspiration for an opera. The 1996 Everest Disaster remains a major turning point in the history of one of the world’s most iconic physical challenges. Since then, expeditions have only grown, and more have perished along the way. None of this has deterred climbers though, who carry on in the footsteps of those before them on their path to see atop the world, no matter how horrifying stories like those depicted in Everest can be.

Source: PBS