-
Jon accepts a place on Rob's expedition
Jon accepts a place on Rob Hall's Everest expedition -
Jon arrives in Kathmandu
Jon arrives in Kathmandu -
Adventure Consultants leave Kathmandu
members of the Adventure Consultants (Rob Hall) expedition leave Kathmandu -
trek towards Base Camp
team resumes trek towards Base Camp -
Tengboche (Buddhist monastery) visit
Jon, Lou, and Doug visit Tengboche -
reach Lobuje
team reaches lower end of Khumba Glacier (16 000 ft); Jon begins to feel effects of the altitude (light-headed, constantly fighting for breath) -
Tenzing falls 150 ft into a crevasse
-
Rob & Mike hurry to Base Camp to coordinate Tenzing's rescue
Rob & Mike head to Base Camp to coordinate Tenzing's rescue; John, Lou, and Andy have some kind of intestinal ailment; Helen has an altitude-induced headache; Jon has a bad cough -
team leaves Lobuje
team leaves Lobuje at 9:00am -
team reaches Phantom Alley
team reaches Phantom Alley by mid-afternoon -
team reaches Base Camp
team reaches Base Camp (17 600 ft) -
Period: to
team members are suffering from ailments
Jon has vertigo, insomnia, feels like he is suffocating, has no appetite, and cuts & bruises aren't healing; Andy, Mike, Caroline, Lou, Stuart, and John have gastrointestinal distress; Helen and Doug have severe headaches -
Jon's 42 birthday
Jon turns 42; team prepares their climbing equipment -
teams heads towards Camp One
team heads towards Camp One; Jon reaches the top of the Khumba Icefall around 8:30am; team turns around to go back to Base Camp at 10:00 am; Rob, Frank, John, Doug, and Jon are the only ones who made it to Camp One -
team's 2nd trip to Camp One
-
team heads for Camp Two (21 300 ft)
-
Jon sees two dead bodies
Jon comes across two dead bodies; Jon suffers severe headache and has no appetite -
team returns to Base Camp
-
Andy & Jon visit South African compound
-
Ngawang comes down with HAPE at Camp Two
Ngawang comes down with HAPE in Camp Two; Schoening & Madsen start bringing him down while Neal and some Sherpas head up from Base Camp; Neal brings Ngawang back to Base Camp -
Dr. Litch arrives to look at Ngawang
-
Ngawang evacuated to Periche
-
Ngawang evacuted from Pheriche to Kathmandu
Ngawang evacuated by helicopter to Kathmandu -
team leaves for Camp Two (from Base Camp)
team leaves Base Camp for Camp Two; 1-2 members of each expedition were to put up ropes on the Lhotse Face (not completed) -
team leaves for Camp Three (24 000 ft)
team leaves Camp Two for Camp Three; Rob orders team to return to Camp Two because of a storm -
teams leaves for Camp Three again
team leaves for Camp Three again (after the storm); Jon arrives at Camp Three in the late morning -
team goes from Camp Three to Camp Two
-
team goes from Camp Two to Base Camp (acclimatization finished)
-
Jon suffering
Jon has lost 20 lbs; he has little subcutaneous fat and a torn thoractic cartilage from his cough -
4:30am - team leaves Base Camp
-
10:30am - Jon & Andy arrive at Camp Two
-
rest day for the team
Scott Fischer (Mountain Madness) appears anxious and extremely tired -
Adventure Consultants & Mountain Madness leave Camp Two
both teams leave Camp Two; boulder falls & smashes into Andy's chest; teams arrive at Camp Three; Lou & Frank were very slow; teams are given oxygen -
Chen Yu-Nan falls 70 ft down the Lhotse Face
Chen Yu-Nan falls down the Lhotse Face; rest of the Taiwanese team leave him in a tent while they depart for the South Col; Chen is escorted to Camp Two; Breashears contacts Makalu on the radio to tell him that Chen has died -
teams head for Camp Four
teams head for Camp Four; Bruce Harrod (South African team) is in trouble (extremely hypothermic) -
12:00am - teams leave for summit
Adventure Consultants & Mountain Madness teams leave for the summit -
Frank turns back & Doug tries to
Frank decides something doesn't feel right and turns back to Camp Four; Doug tries to turn back but Rob Hall persuades him to continue climbing -
3:45am - Mike, Ang Dorje & Jon have to wait for others
Mike tells Ang Dorje and Jon that they are too far ahead of the others and have to wait; able to resume moving at 4:15am -
5:30am - Ang Dorje & Jon reach the crest of the Southeast Ridge (27 600 ft)
Rob orders Jon to stay there until the whole group has gathered at that point -
Jon passes Lopsang throwing up
Lopsang had been carrying Sandy Pittman's satellite phone (80lbs) and then he was short-roping Sandy -
bottleneck while waiting for ropes to be fixed
no ropes have been fixed ahead of time so a bottleneck occurs at 28 000 ft; Neal helps to fix the ropes; Yasuko almost kills Neal (by accident through eagerness and inexperience; Mike intervenes just in time -
Taiwanese team is going slowly & holding others up
members of Hall's team have to constantly wait for the Taiwanese team because they are travelling very slowly -
11:00am - Jon reaches the South Summit
Jon finds an even worse bottleneck -
11:30am - Stuart, Lou & John decide to turn back
it is too far to the summit for them to reach it by teh designated turn-around time (1:00-2:00pm); Jon reaches the Hllary Step (he figures his oxygen will run out around 2:00pm) -
1:12pm - Jon & Andy reach the summit (29 028 ft)
Jon takes photos of Andy then they begin to descend; they pass Neal and Martin just below the summit; Jon notices wispy clouds in the valley to the south; they have to wait at the Hillary Step -
1:25pm - Neal & Martin arrive at the summit
Anatoli also reached the summit already -
1:45pm - Klev arrives at the summit
-
2:10pm - Sandy, Charlotte, Lopsang, Tim, Lene, Rob, Mike & Yasuko reach the summit
-
Jon & Andy check each others' oxygen at the Hillary Step
Andy accidently opens Jon's oxygen valve completely & Jon's oxygen runs out; Jon starts becoming hypoxic -
Jon spends an hour at the Hillary Step with no supplemental oxygen
Jon spends more than an hour at 28 900 ft without supplemental oxygen; Jon asks Andy to bring him a fresh canister after noticing Andy sorting through a pile of oxygen bottles at the South Summit; Andy says they are all empty; Mike ends up giving Jon his oxygen bottle -
at least 6 full bottles of oxygen at the South Summit
there were at least 6 full bottles of oxygen at the South Summit; Andy refused to believe it though; Andy's regulator may have been clogged with ice which would explain his "lack of lucidity" -
3:10pm - Neal heads down with Sandy, Lene, Charlotte & Tim
-
3:30pm - Jon & Mike grab new bottles of oxygen
Jon & Mike look at each other after Andy is telling them there is no oxygen available; they grab a couple full bottles and begin heading down the mountain -
3:40pm - Scott arrives at the summit
-
3:55pm - Jon & Mike wait for Yasuko
clouds worsen, snow begins to fall, conditions worsen - Jon & Mike wait for Yasuko at the bottom of the rock steps on the Southeast Ridge; Mike is looking after Yasuko; Rob & Andy are looking after Doug; Scott & Lopsang start descending the mountain -
4:00pm - Makalu, Rob & Doug arrive at the summit
-
4:45pm - Jon reaches the Balcony
Jon encounters Beck; Beck is shivering uncontrollably and can't see; he had promised Rob he would wait there for Rob to return; Jon asks Beck to come down with him but Beck refuses -
4:53pm - Cotter (at Base Camp) tells Rob to leave Doug and come down
Rob refuses to leave Doug -
4:30pm & 4:41pm - Rob radios that he & Doug are in trouble
Rob & Doug urgently need oxygen; Andy has incorrectly told Rob that the bottles at the South Summit are empty; Mike tries to correct this but his radio is malfunctioning -
5:00pm - Neal descends the Ridge
Mike & Yasuko arrive at the Balcony; Martin is disoriented and badly off-route; Mike finds Beck and starts belaying Beck down; Mike is finally able to tell Rob that there is oxygen at the South Summit; Sandy collapes & Charlotte gives her a shot of Dex; Neal orders Lene to exchange oxygen bottles with Sandy; Jon has trouble figuring out the correct route down because the wind has erased all the tracks; large crashes of thunder -
5:15pm - Lopsang runs into Andy at teh South Summit
Andy pleades with Lopsang to help him take oxygen up to Rob and Doug; Lopsang refuses; this is the last time Rob & Doug are seen (they were at the top of the Hillary Step) -
5:30pm - last time Andy is seen alive
Lopsang sees Andy heading toward Rob & Doug; Scott is struggling on the Southeast Ridge; Tim notices how tired Scott appeared -
5:36pm & 5:57pm - Cotter tells Rob to leave Doug and return
Rob refuses to leave Doug -
6:00pm - full scale blizzard
Jon runs out of oxygen; Lopsang catches up with Scott; Scott complains about being really sick; Makalu and his two Sherpas overtake Scott and Lopsang -
6:30pm - Jon is within 200 vertical feet of Camp Four
tents are only intermittently visible; Jon thinks he sees Andy who turns away and moves over the ice slope; Jon thinks he then sees Andy within 60 ft of the tents -
7:00pm - Jon arrives into Camp Four
Jon is exhausted and collapses into his tent -
7:30pm - 19 people stranded on the mountain
Neal leads the group to the South Col; only 3-4 people have working headlamps now; Charlotte is relying on Tim for help; Yasuko & Beck are unable to walk without support; they are unable to find the tents -
8:00pm - Scott & Lopsang encounter Makalu by himself
Scott can no longer walk and tells Lopsang to continue on; Lopsang initially refuses and stays with them for an hour; finally Lopsang heads down; Lopsang gets off-course and has to correct himself -
10:00pm - Neal's group has strayed off-course
Neal's group has unwittingly strayed to the easternmost edge of the Col (by an 7000 ft drop down the Kangshung Face); group huddles to keep warm; Sandy is hysterical -
7:30pm - Anatoli leaves Camp Four to look for climbers
Anatoli has no luck and turns around at 9:00pm because of the weather -
10:30pm
Stuart tries to wake Jon to ask Jon to go outside with him to bang on pots and shine lights in the hope of guiding lost climbers; Jon is too weak and incoherent -
10:30pm - members of the group leave to find Camp Four
Klev thinks he knows where the group is in relation to Camp Four; Neal, Klev, Lene, Mike, and two Sherpas stumble off to get help; Tim volunteers to stay with the 4 incapacitated people -
1:45am - 2 Japanese climbers & 3 Sherpas set out for the summit
-
6:45pm - Yasuko's oxygen runs out
Yasuko refuses to take off her mask so it is gradually suffocating her; Beck can no longer walk on his own; Neal catches up with them and sees Mike struggling with Yasuko and Beck; Mike deals with Beck and Neal deals with Yasuko -
12:45am - Neal's small group finds Anatoli
Anatoli goes out looking for the rest of the group; Tim is unconscious; Charlotte and Beck are utterly helpless; Yasuko appears dead; Anatoli helps Charlotte back to Camp Four then returns for Sandy and Tim; Yasuko is dead and Beck was considered a lost cause -
2:46am - Cotter hears a transmission from Rob Hall
Rob is heard saying something like, "Keep moving! Keep going!" -
4:30am - Anatoli comes back with last of the group
-
4:43am - Rob talks to Base Camp
Rob is at the South Summit; Doug nor Andy are with him anymore; Rob says his legs no longer work -
5:00am - Base Camp patches a call to Jan (Rob's wife)
Rob and Jan are able to talk for the last time -
5:31am - Rob takes Dex
-
6:00am - Cotter talks to Rob
Cotter asks Rob if the sun has reached him yet; Rob says almost; Stuart manages to wake Jon and tells Jon that Andy is not in his tent; Jon tries to retrace Andy's steps and discovers tracks that indicate Andy may have fallen down the Lhotse Face -
8:43am - Rob is still obsessing over Andy's whereabouts
-
9:00am - Rob was finally breathing supplemental oxygen again
Rob had spent 16+ hours abover 28 700 ft without supplemental oxygen; Rob says he is about to descend -
7:30am - Jon returns to Camp Four after looking for Andy
Jon spends an hour looking for Andy Harris -
8:00am - Jon checks in with his teammates at Camp Four
Lou was delirious and snow-blind; Frank was in a state of shock; John & Mike appeared unconscious; Jon is unable to find any full or partially full oxygen canisters -
Stuart steps in to fill the leadership gap
Stuart does his best to rise to the occasion; he organizes a team of four Sherpas to find the bodies of Beck and Yasuko -
Sherpas find Beck and Yasuko
both bodies were partially buried; only their hands and feet are sticking out; Stuart chips a 3" chunk of ice from over the face of the first body and finds Yasuko; Yasuko is still breathing; Beck is discovered to still be alive too; Sherpas told Stuart to leave Beck and Yasuko as they would die before anyone could get them to Base Camp -
Neal starts getting Mountain Madness group to descend
Neal wanted the group to leave immediately; he felt staying at 26 000 ft any longer than necessary was asking for trouble -
IMAX team sees Fischer's team at Camp Three
Breashears thinks the members of Mountain Madness look like they were in a 5-month war when he sees them enter Camp Three; they all appeared to be in severe shock -
Rock hits a Sherpa on the Lhotse Face
jsut before dark, a rock hits a Sherpa on the head and knocks him unconscious; the Sherpa started sliding down the rope; Klev manages to stop the Sherpa's fall; a 2nd rock hits the Sherpa; Neal is able to lower him to the bottom of the Lhotse Face; Sherpa's carry him to Camp Two -
IMAX epedition suspends filiming
Breashears orders suspension of filming in order to direct all of the expedition's resources towards a rescue effort; radios Jon about spare batteries in the IMAX tents on the Col; offered 50 canisters of oxygen at the Col meant for their team; put his $5.5 million film project in jeopardy without hesitation -
4:35pm - Burleson notices someone walking towards Camp Four
Burleson (who had come up to Camp Four with Athans to distribute oxygen bottles) noticed someone coming into camp; bare right hand and grotesquely frostbitten outstretched like a mummy in a low-budget horror film; person turned out to be Beck -
Sherpas bring back Makalu
Sherpas had to leave Scott on a ledge at 27 200 ft but brought back Makalu -
5:00pm - Anatoli ends up to try to find Scott
Anatoli heads up alone to try to save Scott; he finds him at 7:00pm; Scott's oxygen is empty; his hands are completely bare; his down suit is unzipped and pulled off his shoulder; one arm was outside the clothing; Anatoli leaves Scott on the ledge -
7:00am - radio call between Base Camp & Rob Hall
Rob is calling for help; Jon is told that Beck and Yasuko are dead and that Scott is missing; IMAX team asks Ian Woodall (South African expedition) if they can use their higher powered radio so a rescue could be coordinated; Woodall refuses; Jon later finds out that he saw Martin Adams not Andy Harris -
Stuart's oxygen runs out
Jon gives Stuart his oxygen; Jon notices one unoccupied tent has blown completely off the Col; Ang Dorje is crying inconsolably over the loss of Rob -
8:30am - Mike starts getting the group to descend
believing Rob, Andy, Doug, Scott, Yasuko & Beck dead, Mike assembles Stuart, John, Lou, Frank, and Jon to descend; Jon volunteers to bring up the rear (due to the absence of another guide); Jon discovers Beck still alive in his tent; Jon, on the orders of Caroline, leaves Beck in the care of Pete and Todd -
1:30pm - team arrives in Camp Two
Jon arrives in Camp Two; the team's mess tent had been transformed into a makeshift field hospital -
3:00pm - Makalu is brought into his tent
Jon is drinking tea when six Sherpas bring Makalu into a tent; doctors begin working on him -
4:30pm - Breashears radios that they are coming down with Beck
Breashears and his companions were bringing Beck down alive; Jon starts climbing up to meet the rescue party; Beck is moving under his own power (although assisted with a short-rope) -
Jon scouts for a place for a helicopter
Cotter requests Jon to go to the tip of the Icefall to try to find a level area that could serve as a helicopter landing pad -
Arriving back at Base Camp
group arrives back at Base Camp; Cotter and Caroline meet Jon and the others at the edge of the glacier; Cotter hands Jon a beer, and Caroline gives Jon a hug; Jon breaks down and starts crying like a little boy -
Memorial Service
Neal presides over the memorial service at the Mountain Madness encampment -
Helicopter evacuates Charlotte and Mike
Charlotte and Mike are flown out by helicopter due to their badly frostbitten feet -
Lou, Stuart, Frank, Caroline & Jon leave Base Camp
-
group is flown from Pheriche to Syangboche (near Namche Bazaar)
group is then flown to Kathmandu; they are faced with a throng of reporters -
Jon flies back to the USA
Jon has two duffels of Doug's belongings to return to teh people who loved him; Jon is met at the airport in Seattle by Doug's children, his girlfriend and other friends and family