night on May 10, 1996, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer gathered their teams from the tents at Camp IV on the South Col and started ascending the last 1000 meters of Mt. Everest. With every star in sight in the raven black sky, the weather looked promising for the grand finale. With two expeditions so close in line with each other, the climb was slowed a considerable amount of time. The supplemental oxygen provided for climbers was supposed last the climbers twelve hours, enough time to reach the summit and descend to the South Summit where another canister awaited them (DeWalt 150). By 2:00 P.M., only six climbers had reached the top of the world. That left twenty-seven climbers either on their way or headed back. By rule, whoever had not reached the top by then should have turned around or they would be descending in the dark with low oxygen. However, Hall continued to encourage the ones still climbing, while Fischer brought up the rear and did reach the summit until around 3:45 P.M. Over ten thousand feet below the climbers, those left at Base Camp noticed a serious problem. Paula Viesturs "saw a bank of huge, bruise-colored clouds rolling up the mountain. Clouds that were almost certainly carrying a storm" (Kluger). The clouds turned into a murderous blizzard, stranding 19 climbers above Camp IV. During the night Hall, Fisher, and one of Hall's clients died somewhere below the summit. Nearly three thousand feet below them and just 300 horizontal yards from camp, a snow-blinded group of eleven climbers had veered off course and huddled behind a rock to try and stay alive (Krakauer 207). Despite their efforts, three of those climbers died in the frozen snow. Although no one knows what entirely happened on that fateful day, “the highest one day death toll" in the history of climbing Mt. Everest, many have asked why so many lives were lost (Roberts 84). Some blame the commercialization of Mt. Everest others criticize the number of inexperienced climbers, while yet others point to the guides themselves.

"In the 44 years since New Zealander, Edmund Hillary, and a sherpa climber, Tenzing Norgay, first scaled the peak, more than 700 people have followed them to the top; at least 150 others have died in the attempt" (Kluger). Despite the outcome of the 1996 climbing season, Mt. Everest is still the most popular climb. Perhaps the only way to regulate who comes

Some topics in this essay:
Mt Everest, Fisher Hall's, South Summit, Mountain Madness, Adventure Consultants, Federal Express, Scott Fischer, Third Pole, Nepalese Krakauer, O'clock Rule, mt everest, rob hall, mountain madness, scott fischer, reach summit, rob hall scott, summit everest, hall scott, high-altitude climbing, adventure consultants, hall scott fischer, thousand feet below, doug hansen, experienced high-altitude climbing, climbing mt everest,