Everest Page #5

I don't like this.

Well, we don't go

if it doesn't calm.

I talk to Scott

when he comes here.

Okay.

Scott! Scott!

Toli?

Here!

Toli!

Where's Rob?

Where are they?

We go down!

No.

What's Rob's...

What's Rob's team doing?

He wants to see if this passes.

If he waits,

we wait.

Okay.

Hey, guys.

Come out and take a look.

At least somebody

up there loves us.

Nothing?

Where'd the storm go?

Exactly.

That's crazy.

You ready to saddle up?

Okay, everyone.

We got a window.

We don't know

how long it's gonna last,

but we're gonna go for it.

Be ready in half an hour.

We'll have

a 2:
00 p.m. turnaround,

let's climb this thing.

Okay.

So, today's the day, huh?

Yep.

Now or never.

Oh, boy.

Now the South Africans

were late out of Camp Three.

They never made

it into Camp Four.

Probably got caught up in it.

Maybe it blew through early.

Yeah, well, it hit us all night,

but now there's nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

So, it's definitely

worth a shot.

I'll radio out and

tell everyone the news.

Any messages?

Yeah, ring Jan and tell her

that we're heading out.

I'll call you,

Helen, in 12 hours

when we get to the summit.

Turnaround's 2:
00 p.m.

Good luck,

and Godspeed to you all.

Okay, thanks,

Helen. Bye-bye.

I'll see you guys up there.

- Take it easy, Scott.

- Let's do it.

Gonna get a couple hours of sleep,

and I'll be right behind you.

- Yeah, okay.

- See you at the top.

Have fun, Pittman.

You get some rest, okay?

See you there.

You got the ropes

for the Hillary Step?

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay. Yeah.

Can we go any faster?

Not a chance we can go faster here.

It's too difficult.

This could take a while.

We're losing time.

Beck. What's wrong?

I don't know.

I had an operation a couple years ago,

on my eyes.

That might be it.

- I don't know.

- Okay.

You guys go in front of us.

All right, Beck,

let's sit you down.

Beck. Look at me.

I need to send you

down with someone.

No, I don't wanna go down, Rob.

No, you gotta go down.

I don't wanna go down.

Okay.

Right, Beck, listen.

You can wait here for half an hour.

Beck, listen to me.

If it gets better by then

join in the queue

and keep going up.

But if it doesn't get better,

Beck, I'm sorry, mate, it's over.

Okay.

The Sherpas are

gonna go up and drop off

the extra oxygen

at the South Summit

then I'm gonna send one

of them down for you.

Is that clear?

Yeah? Mmm-hmm.

Okay, mate.

All right.

See you.

Sandy, do you want to go down?

What? No. No way.

Look, Lopsang,

I'm gonna make it to the top.

Do you understand?

Okay.

I'm not going back.

Okay?

Okay.

Where are the ropes?

There is no rope!

No rope.

Yeah, they

should have been fixed.

Do you have more in your pack?

Lopsang

has the rope. He's not here!

Harold. No ropes?

No.

Neal.

Hey, Rob.

Listen, we got

a problem, here, mate.

There's no fixed ropes on the

traverse to the Hillary Step, over.

Where's Ang Dorjee and Lopsang?

Yeah, I've got Ang Dorjee here,

but there's no sign of Lopsang.

So me, Neal, and Toli are gonna

have to set some new ones, over.

- Find them?

- Yeah.

Good.

Let's do it!

What's going on?

No fixed ropes.

What?

That's it.

One step at a time, Doug.

Come on, Dougie.

Deep breaths, Dougie.

Come on, mate,

keep it on, keep it on.

Deep breaths, Dougie, hang on.

Hang on.

You can do this, Dougie.

I know you can, pal.

Yeah.

I don't wanna see you back here

a third time, mate.

Huh?

John. You headed

back down?

There's a holdup.

There's no fixed ropes

above the South Summit.

Yeah, I know, mate,

but we're sorting

that situation out now.

Ran out of juice,

waiting. Cold.

I'm sorry, Rob.

It's your call, pal.

I don't wanna run

out of oxygen up there.

Sorry, Rob.

Yeah, bit of a setback.

Lou, Stuart, and John Taske

just turned back.

Just below the South Summit.

How are the conditions, so far?

Cold and windy.

Okay, let me know, Rob.

Okay, Helen,

thanks, bye-bye.

I hope we're not

looking at another year

with no clients at the top.

Well,

if they don't get a move on pretty soon

they're out of time,

aren't they?

Yeah.

And what's Jon gonna say

about that in his article?

It's Rob. Guys...

We just lost Lou,

Stu, and John Taske.

What's going on,

what's the holdup?

Yeah, mate, we're...

We still have Toli and Neal

at the top of the Step

fixing the ropes.

We're at the base

of the Step, over.

Rob, it's Mike.

How's Doug faring?

Doug's just behind me,

I left him behind to scoot forward.

Yeah, I got eyes

on you right now,

yep, that's me.

Let's move as...

As quickly as possible, over.

We'll start moving everybody up,

as soon as we get the all clear.

Rob to base, Rob to base,

how copy, Helen?

- You all right?

- Copy, Base Camp to Rob.

Have you heard from Scott?

Anyone managed to find out

where he is, over?

Whoo-ie!

Yo, dude!

Look, where are you, mate?

We got a real logjam,

here at the Hillary Step, over.

We're more than an hour behind!

Just chill.

People are just sitting here,

using up their oxygen.

Get here as soon as you can.

You feeling okay, Beck?

Yeah, I got a little

problem with my eyes.

You guys turned back?

There's a logjam below the Hillary Step.

It's crazy.

Come down with us.

Nah, I can't, promised

Rob I'd wait for him.

Your call.

I'm good.

See you down there.

Neal, ready!

Okay, Toli!

I'm done.

Off rope! Safe to climb!

Okay, we're climbing up!

Hey, Mike.

What?

You mind if I go first?

Why?

I'm running pretty low on O.

Rob, it's Mike, here.

We've had the all-clear

on this end.

I'm gonna stay here with Yasuko,

until we get a clear line.

I'll be here till I get a

visual on Doug, over and out.

Come here.

We did it!

You did it!

Yasuko.

Seven.

Seven.

Seven Summits.

Seven.

Come here. I'm so

proud of you, Yasuko.

So proud.

Thank you.

Rob to Base, Rob to Base.

Rob, this is Helen, hello?

Where are you?

I'm on the top of Everest,

Helen, we made it.

How copy us, over?

We copy you loud and clear, Rob.

It's wonderful to

hear your voice up there.

Who are you with, again, say?

At the moment,

I'm with Mike and Yasuko.

- Headed down, Rob.

- Now you have to go.

Rob.

See you. Thank you.

Jon K has already been and gone.

Doug is just

coming over the horizon.

And what about Beck?

Beck was having a problem

with his eyesight.

He waited on the southeast ridge,

on the Balcony

for the first people

that came back, over.

And I guess you'll be

leaving right away, yes?

We'll be off in a few minutes.

Just as soon as I see Doug,

we'll be heading

back down, over.

Right, understood.

Well, that's terrific, Rob.

We're all keeping

our fingers crossed for Doug.

Over and out, Helen.

Congratulations.

Welcome!

Yeah, Lopsy!

You did it!

Whoo-ie!

You look terrible.

My stomach's not so good, man.

See Doug?

Oh, yeah. He's way, way,

way back there, man.

Hey, Roberto.

Where are the rest of your guys?

'Cause I'm pretty

sure my whole team

made it up, yeah?

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