Original subtitles

My name is Jon Krakauer.

I went on an expedition

to write about climbing Mount Everest.

On May 10th, I arrived on top of the mountain,

but the summit came at a terrible cost.

In the spring of 1996,

two of the world's greatest climbers,

Scott Fischer and Rob Hall,

led this expedition to the top of the world.

Both men had summited Everest before,

but this time, they went as competitors,

leading nonprofessional climbers

who paid as much as $65,000 each

to be guided to the top.

There was a businesswoman from Japan, Yasuko Naamba.

A mailman from Seattle, Doug Hansen.

Two ski instructors from Aspen,

Tim Madsen and Charlotte Fox.

A dentist from Colorado, Dale Kruse.

A wealthy New York socialite, Sandy Hill Pittman.

And a pathologist from Texas, Beck Weathers.

A sudden storm rolled up from the bottom of Mount Everest.

By the time it reached the top,

five climbers, who I'd come to call friends,

were dead.

Scott Fischer and Rob Hall went as business rivals,

each trying to get as many of their clients

to the top as possible

and win the lion's share

of the lucrative Everest market.

I went as a journalist

to write about the wisdom of guiding

rich novices up Everest,

once the province of elite climbers.

Only later would I discover

that I really went for the

same reason as all the others:

To stand on the highest point on Earth.

Everest arouses a powerful desire.

To those who don't feel it, it cannot be explained.

I told myself I was here to write a magazine article,

but already Everest was exerting its pull on me,

already the fever was building.

I'm Rob Hall. I wanna make sure

you know who your guides are. This is Andy Harris.

Hi.

Mike Groom.

Hi there.

Hey, Mike.

And our lead climbing Sherpa,

Ang Dorje.

Okay.

I'd like to begin by introducing my fellow guides.

To my right, Neal Beidleman.

Hi, everybody.

If you need anything at all, please feel free to ask him.

And him is the one and only Anatoli Boukreev.

And my lead climbing Sherpa, Lopsang.

Hi.

Tomorrow, we begin a 10-day hike into base camp Everest.

Now, base camp is 17,600 feet.

Then Camp I, 19,500 feet.

It's early in the game,

but already there's a third less oxygen than at sea level.

So we'll lay in again and let our bodies adjust.

Then we go up to Camp II.

Now, Camp II is 21,600 feet,

which is when you have to start worrying about edema,

both cerebral and pulmonary.

It's where your brain can swell up

like an overinflated balloon

and your lungs fill up with so much liquid

you literally drown.

Camp III at 24,000 feet.

Now your body is inhaling four times faster than normal

and still not getting enough oxygen.

Your digestive tract's gonna wanna call it quits,

leaving your body so hungry for nutrients

it will literally start to eat itself.

And then it's Camp IV,

26,000 feet.

Welcome to the death zone,

where bad things can happen very, very quickly.

You're gonna feel sluggish, careless, cold.

Now, you're gonna spend a few hours at Camp IV.

From this point onwards,

nobody on this team travels without oxygen. Is that clear?

No arguments.

The push for the summit starts in the middle of the night.

We go up to the south cove,

the balcony, the south summit,

the Hillary Step, which is the only point

of technical climbing on the whole ascent,

and then the top of the world.

Now, the most important rule:

If you are not on the summit by 2 p.m., you turn around.

I have seen too many climbers get killed

after reaching the top too late in the day.

They run out of gas

and they get nailed by the conditions on the descent.

So this rule is hard and fast.

No matter where you are at 2 p.m., you turn around.

Unless you're a hundred feet from the summit,

you can run up, tag it.

You of all people know the answer to that one, Dougie.

Even if you're 50 feet from the summit, you go down.

You know that.

Please. I'll take another. Thank you.

Hey, Doug?

Uh, Jon Krakauer, right?

What was that all about?

I was in Rob's group last year.

Turned me around about 300 feet from the summit.

So you'll make it this year.

Have to.

That's something, isn't it?

Come on.

Bit of a letdown, isn't it?

Excuse me.

Over 200 climbers got permits this season.

There's only two weeks when we can climb her.

So we're gonna have to go up pretty much the same time.

I was thrilled to finally be

at the foot of the great mountain.

But my excitement blinded me to obvious signs.

Signs that would have warned me of the tragedy to come.

There were teams from many different nations on Everest.

Some less experienced than others.

The Taiwanese, for example.

I'll help.

Oh, it takes-- It's upside down. See? This.

Upside down. This one too. See?

Man, you don't belong on this mountain.

Because there's so many people on the mountain this year,

most of whom are incompetent,

Scott and I have decided

to coordinate our efforts for this climb.

We think in terms of safety,

it's the wisest course of action.

Yeah. Lopsang, you and Ang Dorje

are gonna head up the Sherpas.

And we are gonna aim for a May 10 bid for the summit.

Oh, right.

Let me emphasize this, though.

One in four climbers who make the top

get killed on the descent.

That's because they've used up all their energy.

On the way down, they get sloppy

and start making mistakes.

And at the risk of sounding unpopular,

I've said it before, I'm gonna say it again,

my team have a turnaround time.

I don't care where you are on the mountain,

at 2 p.m., you must, you absolutely must turn around.

Even if you're a hundred feet from the summit, you go down.

You do not wanna be caught on the face in the night.

No one can survive a bivouac on Everest.

Is that clear?

Listen, Scott. Yeah?

What's your turnaround time gonna be?

Oh, I don't really believe in being that rigid.

I think it's, uh, important for people

to establish their own rhythm with the mountain,

you know what I mean?

Yeah, I do.

You could just put that right in there. Thanks.

You do realize how important this is, right?

Is she the golden goose?

I never let you down, Scott. Never.

This is special network correspondent

Sandy Hill Pittman

at base camp Everest.

After having climbed six of the world's seven peaks,

I am now making my third climb on Everest.

This time, I hope to make it to the top,

attempting to report to all of you

step by step here on the Internet.

Neal, can you hear me? Come in.

Scott, I can barely hear you.

Yeah, Neal, I can sort of hear you a little bit.

Can you hear me?

It's a piece of crap.

Okay, quick word about oxygen.

From Camp IV, this keeps you alive.

This knob is the regulator.

Turn it clockwise, increases the flow of oxygen.

Counterclockwise, you get less.

And this bouncing bubble in the tube here

indicates that there is still oxygen in the container

but not how much.

Okay, regulator, flow.

Remember, without oxygen, your brain will be reduced

to the level of a 6-year-old, so use it judiciously.

Because once this bubble drops, you're out.

No more oxygen.

I tell you, Scott.

I cannot climb with the oxygen.

Two times already, I summit Everest without oxygen.

Come on, Anatoli.

Oxygen is no good for my power.

You want me to be a good guide?

Then let me climb my own way.

Anatoli, I'm not worried about you.

I'm worried about the clients.

Come to climb Everest, they must climb on their own.

I guide, not a babysitter.

I'm not talking about being a babysitter.

I'm talking about being a professional.

For me to be professional, I must climb on my own.

Fine. Go for it.

We would stay in base camp for three weeks

getting acclimated.

From there, .. it was five days to the summit.

Already altitude sickness was taking its toll.

Climbing Everest is a war of attrition.

You all right, Dale?

Once you get sick, you never get better.

Come on.

Say, doc,

have you got anything you could

give Dale for that cough?

Son, I'm a pathologist. All my patients are dead.

Hey.

Yeah, I know.

Some of her wealthy friends flew in from New York

and had lunch with her in that village we passed.

A luncheon, huh? Yeah.

That's good.

Oh, come on.

She's gotta be able to do her thing, right?

What's her thing? Her publicity thing.

If I get her to the top,

that's really good for me. What are you writing?

Oh, just that. She's your ride, man.

She's feeding you to the Internet.

Just like you're feeding Rob toOutside magazine.

I mean, come on, we all want a piece of the Everest business.

We all wanna be a little bit famous, right?

So Sandy is my ticket and you're Rob's.

Eliza.

No.

What about Jane?

Just nice, simple Jane.

Think about that one for a little while.

Remember, it's still nine weeks

till you're gonna have the baby.

It's too much like Jan.

Easy to remember.

I wish I was with you.

Yeah, so do I.

You be careful.

As always, darling.

I love you.

You too.

Man. Scott, what's in that bag?

I don't know. She's got a satellite dish, computers.

Heh. All sorts of equipment.

I don't know what she's got in there.

That's crazy. Look at them. The weight will kill him.

I learned that the Sherpas believe

that when you climb Everest,

you're climbing into the house of God.

I knew that Fischer and Hall.. had a slightly different view.

Success this year was important for business.

It would bring more and more paying clients

in the years to come.

But in the end,

it is Everest who decides who climbs

and who does not.

Yasuko.

Boyfriend?

Husband.

Husband.

Yasuko climb.

He cook, uh, clean clothes.

Your husband takes care of the house while you climb.

Yes, yes.

He's my wife. He, he.

You're very lucky.

My wife never saw it that way.

Excuse?

You know, climbing cost me my marriage.

You know, the mountain?

It's ruining my life.

If we'd been paying attention,

there were signs that Everest was not pleased

with what was happening on her flanks.

But already the fever had diminished our ability

to heed the warnings.

We were in the Khumbu Ice Fall

where crevasses suddenly open wide

and swallow their victims

and where more climbers had lost their lives

than anywhere else on Everest.

Wait until I've anchored the line and I'm ready.

Ready.

Hey, free the rope!

Yasuko, you were supposed to wait.

Beidleman, I've got her!

Okay!

I told her to wait until the rope was anchored.

Okay. It's all right. It's all right.

You're okay. You're okay.

All right. Okay. Come on.

Where the hell you been? Sleeping.

You slept in? It happens, Scott.

Not when you're working for me, it doesn't happen,

when you're supposed to be guiding.

Scott-- Don't "Scott" me.

You're a screwup and a royal pain in the ass.

I'm paying you to work. You understand work?

Or is that word nonexistent in Russia?

I already told you, I'm not from Russia.

I'm from the republic of Kazakhstan.

You're from nowhere, Anatoli,

and you're never gonna work for me again.

You don't mean that, Scott. It's the altitude.

I don't believe this.

What?

Look, Sandy Pittman has a visitor.

Ang Dorje, something wrong?

Jon, is Sandy married to that man?

Uh, I don't think so.

From what I hear, she's going through

a divorce or something.

Jon, it's not proper.

What?

For a man and a woman to be together on this mountain

when they're not married.

Very disrespectful.

I don't know what to say.

Americans look at these things differently.

We're not in America, Jon.

Scott. Ang Dorje,

I can't tell her what she can and can't do.

Besides, other people are doing the same thing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Base camp is one thing.

Past base camp is another. It's forbidden.

Scott, you're not listening to me.

No, no, I'm listening.

It's just I can't run my outfit

based on some superstition.

Mother goddess of the earth

will become very angry, Scott.

The Sherpas made me feel uneasy

with their talk of Everest taking her revenge.

I was uncertain that the others

in the group felt the same way.

Like Beck,

whose fears were hidden beneath

his laid-back Texas drawl.

You hurt as much as I do?

Yeah. I just keep telling myself it's worth it.

It's worth it because it's Everest.

Race you to the top.

Hey, it's the Taiwanese.

What the hell are they doing here?

It's getting too damn crowded on this route.

They agreed not to start climbing till tomorrow.

Hey, Krakauer. Hey, man.

Hey, the ice is too slick for those boot liners.

Boots! Get your boots on!

Hey, hey! Boots!

I had never been on a climb where anyone had been killed.

I had yet to learn that year after year on Everest,

climbers pay for their arrogance with their lives.

You only hope that when tragedy strikes,

it happens to someone else.

Okay. Come on.

Easy, Dale. Easy.

The Sherpas will break trail and climb ahead.

Lopsang and Ang Dorje will begin to fix the ropes.

Now, fixed ropes are the key to bagging this summit.

Without them, we'll get a logjam on the route,

and we'll lose time. If we lose time, we'll lose

our window of opportunity. Everyone clear on this?

Yes, chief.

Lopsang?

Yes, yes.

Ang Dorje?

Understand.

All right.

Those of you in my group,

don't forget you've been supplied

with loaded syringes of Decadron,

which reduces swelling of the brain

in case you get edema.

But remember, you don't use it unless you have to, all right?

And don't get killed.

You won't get invited back on any more climbs.

Easy does it.

Now lock it out down below.

If we get a logjam on that mountain,

rescue's almost impossible. You know that.

At that altitude, we might as well be on the moon.

Well, I like to let my people make their own decisions.

Things can happen very fast up there.

That's how people die, Scott.

Not in my crew.

We're invincible.

Come on, Dale.

Time to take you down.

No.

You got all the signs of cerebral edema.

Just let me rest. Can't do that.

You shouldn't do this alone.

I need you to stay here with the clients, Beidleman.

You too, Lopsang.

Get your feet under you, Dale.

Come on. Give me your arm. Other arm. Other arm.

That's it. Come on. All right, I got him.

You're not worried about wearing yourself out?

Not gonna happen.

But we should have been worried.

At 24,000 feet, Scott didn't understand

that he had just squandered reserves of strength

that he would desperately need later.

Now that Rob and Scott

had merged their two teams into one,

our fates were tied together.

All right, buddy, you all right, huh?

What's that?

I'm sorry.

For what?

For folding.

Come on. Get your feet under you.

Damn.

You okay, Scott? Never better.

You've been gone eight hours. You look exhausted, mate.

You gotta learn how to delegate.

Listen, Dale Kruse is the best friend I've ever had.

You would have done the same thing.

You make it okay? I'm fine.

How is Dale? Alive.

Any problems, Scott?

No.

Looking strong, Andy.

Peaking at the right time.

Yeah, no worries.

You know,

I should think we're gonna knock this big bastard off.

You don't look very happy.

You run your crew as you see fit.

And here comes the "but."

But Lopsang cannot perform

and carry 80 pounds of Sandy Pittman's gear.

He says he can.

He'll say anything you wanna hear, Scott. You're his hero.

What do you want me to do, huh?

I've got a paying client who's got a job to do.

She needs the equipment.

It's dangerous.

I know what I'm doing.

Do you?

Yeah.

What happens if Lopsang folds?

What happens if he can't fix the ropes?

It's not gonna happen.

Look, I'm telling you, mate. Dump the blasted equipment.

Can't.

Can't or won't?

Leave it, Lopsang.

Beck, what time you got?

Up you go, Krakauer.

Everest cannot be beaten into submission.

You have to humor the mountain,

then sneak to the summit when it's not looking.

By now, the altitude was a malevolent force,

a vise squeezing tighter and tighter

on my lungs and brain.

We all had intense headaches that wouldn't quit.

It felt like someone had driven a nail into our skulls.

Attempting to climb Everest

.. is a completely irrational act.

Hey, why don't you stop and rest?

Excuse?

Stop. Just rest. Sit down.

I am 47 years old.

I'll be oldest woman

to climb Everest.

I must.

Must.

As you ascend into thin air,

you discover that humans are not meant to be here.

The wreckage of those who had come before us

was everywhere.

A mailman from Seattle.

A couple from Aspen.

A businesswoman from Japan.

A New York socialite.

And a freelance writer.

We are all equal in the Death Zone.

Confused as children,

drowning in our own juices.

Doug.

How's the barometer?

Holding steady.

We leave at midnight.

Climb all night,

get to the summit,

summit by 2 p.m. turnaround time.

I hate this.

The altitude?

The mountain.

What it's making me do.

You're doing it, Doug,

not the mountain.

No.

The mountain's got a hold of me.

All right, Beck?

Yeah, Andy. Let's go.

Yasuko, your torch.

Okay. Arigato. Thank you.

You okay, Scott?

Yeah. Absolutely.

All right.

Time to go.

We called ourselves a team, but above 26,000 feet,

there was no such thing.

From this point on,

it was each climber for himself.

I put my pen and notebook away long ago.

Now, like the others,

my thoughts were focused on the summit.

The last thing I wanted

was.. to get stuck in the Death Zone

at 28,000 feet,

cruising altitude of a 747.

Jon!

Jon, wait.

Wait!

Rest. We must rest. Okay.

It's Pittman.

She's being short-roped by Lopsang.

That's it.

Rob.

Wait up.

What's wrong?

It's my eyes.

I can hardly see.

What?

I had eye surgery a few years ago.

I believe the altitude's causing this as a side effect.

A little late in the day to be telling me that.

Well, I didn't know.

You're a doctor. Of course you knew.

Rob, I didn't know.

I would not lie to you.

Look, I think about a half an hour, it will clear up, huh?

You stay here.

Rob, I'm ready to roll.

Hey, no arguments, mate.

You don't move.

You stay here and you wait for me.

I'll be back for you.

I'm sorry.

No worries, mate.

Come on.

Now promise me, you'll stay here.

Promise me, Beck.

Cross my heart and hope to die.

We'll be back, Beck.

Hey, Krakauer!

What? Yeah.

What's Ang Dorje doing all alone at the base of the step?

The last obstacle before the summit

was the infamous Hillary Step,

the steepest and most treacherous pitch

on the entire mountain.

A group this big had no hope of climbing it

without fixed lines.

Ropes anchored into the mountain beforehand

by Sherpas Ang Dorje and Lopsang.

Ang Dorje,

ropes.

Where's the fixed ropes?

Cannot fix rope alone, Jon.

Lopsang, I wait for-- For him, but he's too sick.

Carry too much.

Not enough oxygen,

and pull up woman part way up the mountain.

What's wrong?

Where are the ropes?

Ang Dorje couldn't do it alone.

Let's do it ourselves.

We're burning daylight.

Two hours.

All we got is two hours.

We'll get them fixed, Jon.

One, two, three.

No problem.

Andy,

we have to fix the ropes.

It's fixed!

I won't have enough oxygen to get down.

This is bad.

It's real bad.

Come on, Krakauer!

It's straight to the summit from here!

All right. Let's do it.

You guys better get moving.

Some climbers are getting closer.

We go.

Ready to go.

As I approached the summit,

there was room in my oxygen-starved mind

for only a single thought.

Putting one foot in front of the other.

At this altitude, it's the same for everybody.

Anatoli Boukreev,

one of the world's strongest climbers.

Or Andy Harris,

a guide on Everest for the first time.

Our brains were functioning on the level of reptiles.

Our bodies were as ravaged as the terminally ill.

Krakauer.

Take a picture.

Yeah.

This is for the people of my homeland.

Where are your clients?

They are fine.

They come.

Hey, Andy.

You okay?

Andy,

you okay?

Only halfway, mate.

Halfway.

Got to get down yet.

Oh, God.

Too many climbers. I'll never get down.

Krakauer, what's wrong?

It's a traffic jam.

We can't get down.

The rope is our only way down.

Twenty minutes till turnaround.

They'll never make it to the summit.

Andy,

I'm using up my oxygen too fast.

Turn it down.

Okay.

You turned my gas down, right?

Yeah, I got it.

Better. This feels good.

Looking good, Pittman.

Keep coming.

Doug!

It's turnaround time, mate.

Not again.

No, Rob.

Please. Don't do this to me.

Hey, listen to me-- For God's sake.

Come on, Rob.

Let me finish this thing once and for all here.

Hey, I'm responsible for you.

You're the one who talked me

into coming back this year, right?

You promised me I'd make it to the top.

I never promised.

Why still go to the summit?

Andy, it's clear. We can get down now.

Let's go.

Let's go.

I ca--

I can't breathe!

It's empty!

Keep it together.

Desperate for air,

dizzy, terrified of blacking out

and tumbling into Tibet,

I carefully made my way down

to the oxygen drop.

As soon as I got there, I saw that something was very wrong

with Andy Harris.

I need oxygen.

They're all-- They're all empty.

It's impossible.

I'm telling you, mate. They're all empty.

They're all--

Andy.

Andy, this is full.

They're all empty.

No. Feel the weight!

Feel it. The weight.

They're empty, mate. All of them.

Andy, you're not right in the head.

You turned my gas up the wrong way on the step.

I'm telling you, these are full.

Hey, Doug.

Hey, looks like we're gonna get hosed.

Storm's coming.

I'm a mailman, Krakauer.

Neither snow nor rain,

nor heat,

nor gloom of night...

Rob, thank--

Thanks for getting me to the summit.

I didn't have time to ask

why he and Doug were still going up the mountain

45 minutes after everybody.. was supposed to be going down.

When the group summited, they radioed base camp

and a flurry of faxes.. went out to friends and family

around the world,

announcing the expedition's triumphant success.

Hey, Scott!

Did you summit?

Yeah.

Hall and Hansen are still on their way up.

You look spent.

Don't you think you should turn back?

No, I'm just dragging ass for some reason.

When Rob and Doug got to the top,

it triggered a surge of intense elation.

But it was 4 p.m.,

two hours after Rob's

supposedly hard-and-fast turnaround time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rob. Thank you.

We're gonna go down.

There's a stor--

A storm coming.

We did-- We did it.

Didn't we?

We did it.

Rob!

No, it's Krakauer. What the hell you doing, Beck?

My eyes.

I can't see.

Let's go down to camp.

Any of our guides coming?

Mike Groom. He's behind me.

Rob would want me to wait for Mike.

He could short-rope me.

You're sure?

I promised Rob I'd wait for him.

All right.

Scott!

It's me. Beidleman.

Did you make it?

We did.

That's good.

Sandy.

I got you what you wanted, yes?

Scott, come down with us.

I'll be fine.

I'm fine.

Lopsang, come on.

I feel sick.

Scott, must breathe.

No, I can't breathe. I can't breathe.

Scott.

I feel so sick.

I feel so sick.

Only when I'd made it back to my tent

did I appreciate how wasted I really was.

I'd never pushed myself so close to the edge.

But now I was safe.

We'd climbed Everest.

In spite of everything, we had succeeded.

At least I thought we had.

Outside in the rising storm,

my friends were in a struggle for their lives.

After summiting,

Rob and Doug were now descending

to the Hillary Step.

The other climbers were scattered

all over the mountain.

Everest had reduced them

to lost and frightened children,

unable to tell where they were.

Everything erupted into anarchy and chaos.

Doug, you're out, mate. Don't worry.

Come on, breathe now, mate. Breathe.

That's it.

This is Hall.

I'm at the top of the step.

We need oxygen.

Where's the drop?

Rob, it's Andy.

It's gone, mate. It's all used up.

What?

Rob, it's gone.

That's not possible, right?

We have six cylin--

Six cylinders stashed.

No, they're gone.

Where are you?

I don't know, mate. I don't know.

Andy!

I'm gonna find you, mate.

Andy!

I'm gonna find you.

Answer me, Andy!

Hold on, mate.

I beat it.

I beat it.

What? What's that, mate?

I beat--

I beat Everest.

Hold on, Yasuko. I'm coming.

I'm okay.

Rob?

Rob, is that you?

No. No, it's Mike and Yasuko.

Beck, listen, you ought to get up.

Yeah.

All right. Come on. You've gotta move. Let's go.

I believe I will.

Mike!

Mike Groom, we lost you!

I picked up Beck.

Take Yasuko. She's had it.

Come on, sit down.

Hey, how are your guys doing?

Very rough.

Yeah, mine too.

Listen, we're never gonna make it back to camp.

We've got to try!

Yeah.

Let's stick together. Sure. Sure. But which way?

I'm not sure.

Higher on the mountain,

Lopsang lowered an exhausted Scott Fischer

past Rob Hall and his friend and client, Doug Hansen,

who was so sick from the altitude

that he could no longer move.

We had all reached the summit,

but there are no conquerors on Mount Everest.

Jon. Jon.

Where's Rob?

What? Isn't he back?

No. No.

He has to be. He has to.

The storm is still bad.

Yeah.

I climbed with 15 expeditions on Chomolungma, Jon.

Never, ever see storm come so fast...

...so evil.

We've gotta move.

Although we didn't talk about it,

we knew Rob Hall might as well have been on the moon.

In this kind of storm, at such an extreme altitude,

rescue was almost impossible.

We can't make it, Jon.

We can't get to Rob.

We have to try.

We can't get them.

Our friends are out there, and they're dying.

We can't go after them.

We must turn around now.

Scott! Scott Fischer!

Rob! Rob Hall!

Doug. Come on. Get up.

Come on. Get up and walk, you bloody punter.

You got children waiting for you.

You should go.

You should go.

Go.

You can't make it with me.

I-- I'm not leaving you here, mate.

You have no choice.

You gotta go, Rob.

You'll die too.

Neither of us is gonna--

Is gonna die.

My people do not die.

Scott, slow down!

Scott, please!

I...

I know how to get down.

Jump.

I'll just-- I'll just--

I'll just jump off this mountain.

That's what I'm gonna do.

I'm just gonna jump.

I'll just--

I'll just--

Hold on, Scott!

Hold on!

Help!

Oh, yeah.

Oh, Scott. Scott, please.

This is Lopsang.

Anyone.

Lopsang and Scott. We need help.

We're on the south summit.

Anyone.

Lopsang, it's Jon.

Some Sherpas are already on their way,

but the storm is so bad, it may take a while.

Come on, Doug.

I'm gonna miss you, brother. Doug.

Where are you?

Take it easy.

No!

It'll be easier. Doug, no!

Doug!

Wait!

No! Doug!

Rob!

Rob!

Hold on, mate.

Rob, it's Andy.

Andy.

Hold on, mate.

I've been lost.

Hold on, mate.

Andy!

I'm coming, mate. I'm coming.

Andy.

Rob.

Hey.

Come on, mate. Come on. I've gotta get you down.

No, I can't.

My legs. They're frozen.

Come on, mate. Work them.

Come on, mate.

Come on. Work them.

Come on.

Wait there.

Wait, where you going? No, no. Andy!

Where you going? Come back.

Don't go, Andy.

I'm gonna get help.

Hold on. Hold on.

Andy!

Andy!

Andy! Andy!

No.

Oh, no.

Oh. No. Andy.

No.

Andy.

Camp IV, anyone there?

This is Rob.

Camp IV, anyone there?

Rob?

I'm here.

Where, Rob? Where?

Just below-- Just below the step.

Where's Doug?

He's gone.

Doug's gone.

Damn it.

Andy was with you?

Yeah. He was here.

And now he's gone too.

Oh, God.

I should never have left them.

I need-- I need oxygen.

There are some O's

200 feet below you.

There were six cylinders.

Six? Six hundred feet?

No, 200 feet, 200 feet.

I don't believe I can make it.

You have to try, Rob.

There's something wrong with my legs.

Try. Rob, try.

You've gotta crawl if you have to.

Can you get to the O's?

Got to try.

Rob!

Got to try.

Can you get to the O's?

Got to try.

Rob!

While Rob was stranded near the summit,

most of the others had almost made it down to Camp IV.

But by now the wind chill was more than 100 below zero.

Just 200 yards from the safety of camp,

the weakest climbers brought the whole group to a halt.

Stars.

I see stars.

Is it clearing?

I can navigate by the stars.

Come on. Get up.

Let's go.

Come on.

Get up, Sandy. Come on.

It's no good.

Tim.

You go back. Get help.

I'll stay here with them.

No. Both of you go.

More chance of rescue that way.

I'll stay.

Tim, we're the guides.

You can't stay.

I'm not leaving Charlotte. You hear me?

Tim, listen to reason.

I'm not leaving!

Stay awake, Charlotte. I love you. Stay awake!

Get up, Yasuko!

I don't want to die! Don't leave me!

Calm down!

I don't want to die!

Sandy! Calm down!

I don't want to die here!

We're gonna bring help! Calm down!

Don't leave me!

We'll bring help!

I don't want--

No, don't leave.

Don't leave me!

I don't want to die!

Yasuko, you have to let go!

No! You can't go! Come back!

I don't wanna die!

Scott.

Scott, do you hear me?

I am...

...invincible.

We were reduced to banging pots

to guide the climbers home.

By now, Andy was dead.

Doug was dead.

Scott Fischer was probably dead.

When I tried to comprehend the enormity of this fact,

my mind refused to process it.

Rob!

Mike.

Come on. Get up.

Beidleman.

Come on.

Come on. We'll get you inside the tent.

There's a...

A group huddled

about 200, 250 yards due east.

If we don't bring them in, they're gonna die.

We have to go out and make a rescue.

I tried once already, but this time we can make it.

Charlotte! Pittman!

Tim!

Charlotte!

Pittman! Beck!

It's Anatoli!

Charlotte!

Here! Here!

Charlotte! Pittman!

Over here!

Charlotte, stay awake!

Pittman, Anatoli's here.

Give her this.

Breathe, Charlotte. It's oxygen.

Breathe.

Beck. Can you hear me?

I think they're dead!

They're warm now.

Comfortable.

Let them be in peace.

Oh, God!

Tim! I know what I'm doing.

I have been through this many times before!

We can save Charlotte and Pittman.

Save the strongest.

That is the law of the mountains.

Yeah.

Despite their exhaustion,

Groom and Beidleman left Camp IV

to make one last attempt to rescue Rob Hall.

Rob!

Rob! It's Mike Groom and Neal Beidleman.

We're just above Camp IV.

Rob here, Mike.

Listen. We'll try and get to you, mate,

but it's looking pretty bad.

We'll never reach you in this storm.

It's all right, Mike.

It's all right.

We've gotta get back. We've gotta go. Come on.

Let's go.

Scott!

Please!

Breathe! Please!

He has very little pulse, Krakauer.

Very slow.

What do we do?

We can save the Taiwanese climber.

What about Scott?

Can't the two Sherpas get him down?

We can't carry Scott.

We can only save one.

If we try and save both,

we might all die.

Oh, God.

It is what Scott would tell us to do.

You know he would.

Damn it! Scott! You get up!

Get up! I know you can do it! Come on!

Scott, you get up!

Come on! Get up!

Please! Get up!

I know you can! Please!

This isn't happening. This isn't happening.

It isn't happening.

A name.

We have to think of a name.

Yes.

Yes, my darling.

Krakauer, this is Rob here.

Can you patch me through to my wife?

Do you have the oxygen?

The oxygen.

Just patch me through to Jan.

I need to talk to her

before it's too late.

Rob, listen.

Don't give up.

You're Rob Hall.

Not for much longer, mate.

Just...

Just patch me through.

His wife is on the line.

You're patched through.

Jan.

Can you hear me?

Rob?

Can you hear me? Can you hear me?

Yes. Yes, my darling.

Rob, you have to move.

You have to.

Please.

Please, Rob.

Get up and move, Rob.

Can you?

Can you, my darling?

There's something wrong with my legs.

I can't move them.

Rob, concentrate.

Rub your legs. Get the blood moving.

Name.

We have to pick a name.

Sarah.

What?

What about Sarah?

Yes.

Yes, it's beautiful.

Then it's settled.

Sarah Hall.

Oh, good.

I'm glad now, darling.

I'm looking forward to making you completely better

when you come home.

I just know you're going to be rescued.

Don't feel that you're alone.

I lo--

I love you.

Sleep well, my sweetheart.

Please.

Try--

Try not to worry too much, eh?

I love you, Rob.

I love you.

I love you.

Rob?

Rob!

Coming to Everest had been the worst mistake of my life.

The enormity of the tragedy,

the awful finality of it,

was beginning to sink in.

There was no way to fix this.

This wasn't some game.. that we could play over again.

Beidleman, you made it.

Anatoli.

Yeah?

We couldn't-- We couldn't get to Rob.

He was too high up.

What-- What about the others?

I brought Madsen, Fox and Pittman.

What about Beck?

What about Yasuko?

I couldn't help her, Neal.

I'm sorry.

Oh, my God.

Beck.

We thought you were dead. Beck.

My God, it's a miracle.

Beck!

Get up.

Easy! Watch his hands!

All right, mate. We've got you.

Gotta get him inside.

Okay.

Beck.

No! Come on, Beck.

No!

Goodbye, old friend.

Five of our friends are dead.

Hard to believe.

It's even harder to understand.

Why? What did they die for?

It's a question that gets asked a lot in climbing.

Perhaps we didn't treat this mountain

with the respect it deserves.

We believe with enough money,

with enough equipment, with enough determination,

we could conquer Chomolungma.

So now we mourn our friends:

Yasuko Naamba,

Andy Harris,

Doug Hansen,

Scott Fischer,

and Rob Hall.

They saw God's face.

I hope--

Oh, how I hope

that it was beautiful.