Into Thin Air: Death on Everest Page #2

I'm worried about the clients.

Tell them, to climb Everest,

they must climb on their own.

I guide, not a baby-sitter.

I'm not talking about

being a baby-sitter.

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.

Yeah, I know.

Some of her wealthy friends

flew in from New York...

and had lunch with her.

A luncheon, huh?

That's good.

Oh, come on. She has got to be

able to do her thing. Right?

- What is her thing?

- The publicity thing.

If I get her to the top of the mountain,

that's good for me.

- What are you writing?

- Just that. She's your ride, man.

She's feeding you to the Internet.

Just like you're feeding Rob

to ''Outside'' magazine.

We all want a piece

of the Everest business.

We all want to be famous, right?

So Sandy's my ticket...

and you're Rob's.

- Eliza.

- No.

What aboutJane?

Just nice, simpleJane.

Think about that one

for a little while.

It's still nine weeks

till you're going to have the baby.

It's too much likeJan.

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.

What's in that pack?

She's got a satellite dish,

computers.

I don't know what she's got.

That's crazy.

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.

You're very lucky.

My wife never saw it that way.

Excuse?

Climbing...

cost me my marriage.

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 opened wide

and swallowed their victims...

and where more climbers had died

than anywhere else on Everest.

Wait until I've anchored the line

and I'm ready.

Ready.

Hey! Hey!

Whoa!

- Free the rope!

- Yasuko, you were supposed to wait!

Beidleman, I've got her!

I told her to wait

until the rope was anchored.

It's all right. You're okay.

- Where the hell you been?

- Sleeping.

- You slept in?

- It happens, Scott.

Not when you're working for me,

when you're supposed to be guiding.

- Scott--

- Don't "Scott" me.

You're a screwup and a pain in the ass!

I'm paying you to work.

You understand "work"

or is that word nonexistent in Russia?

I told you, I'm not from Russia.

I'm from Kazakhstan.

You're from nowhere, Anatoli, and you're

never going to work for me again.

You don't mean that.

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?

I don't think so.

From what I hear,

she's going through a divorce.

It's not proper.

What?

For 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.

Ang Dorje, I can't tell her...

what she can and can't do.

Besides, other people

are doing the same thing.

Base camp is one thing.

Past base camp is another.

It's forbidden.

- You're not listening to me.

- I'm listening.

I can't run my outft

based on some superstition.

Mother Goddess of the Earth

will become very angry.

The Sherpas made me feel uneasy with

their talk of Everest taking 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?

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!

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.

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 understand?

Yes, yes.

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.

If we get a logjam on that mountain,

you know rescue is almost impossible.

At that altitude, we might as well

be on the moon.

I like to let my people

make their own decisions.

Things can happen

very fast up there.

That's how people die, Scott.

Not my crew.

We're invincible!

Come on, Dale.

Time to take you down.

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.

That's it. Come on.

- I got him.

- You're not going to wear yourself out?

Not going to happen.

We should have been worried.

At 24,000 feet,

Scott didn't understand...

that he had squandered reserves

of strength that he would need later.

Now that Rob and Scott had merged

their two teams into one...

our fates were tied together.

Buddy, you all right?

- 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've got to learn how to delegate.

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