Free A Day to Die For: 1996: Everest's Worst Disaster - One Survivor's Personal Journey to Uncover the Truth by Graham Ratcliffe Page B
Authors: Graham Ratcliffe
began reporting for Reuters. It wasn’t long before she became recognised as the unofficial chronicler of Himalayan expeditions. Although she has never climbed a single mountain herself, Liz has meticulously recorded the details of every expedition ever since. She rapidly earned a reputation for rigorous interviewing, mercilessly weeding out those who made false claims. Standing about 5 ft tall, wearing dark-rimmed glasses and with permed hair, she was a lady who could make mountaineers more than twice her size and less than half her age squirm uncomfortably if they weren’t telling the truth. For those who were, Elizabeth Hawley was an absolute delight.
‘Graham, could you join us for a moment?’ asked Henry.
Sitting down beside them, I was introduced to Elizabeth Hawley for the first time. I’d not met her when I’d been here in 1993.
Henry had been discussing with Liz the climbers from his team that had summited from the north side that spring. They’d been about to start on the day Anatoli, Nikolai and I had made our attempt when I’d walked through the door.
‘On 17 May, Graham, Anatoli and Nikolai reached the top,’ Henry continued.
Liz at this point was writing the details down. Well aware of Anatoli’s reputation as a strong and fast climber, she replied, ‘Anatoli got there first. Who was second?’
‘Graham got to the top first, Anatoli was second, then Nikolai,’ was Henry’s correction.
Liz lifted her head slightly and looked over the top of her glasses at Henry. Then she turned and focused on me for my reaction.
‘I got to the summit about an hour before Anatoli’ – her stare had required a response.
Feeling almost embarrassed about this fact, I blurted out what felt like an excuse, ‘I was using oxygen, Anatoli was not.’
Liz continued to look at me for a moment, made a slight noise that indicated her surprise and then continued to make her notes.
‘Graham was first, then Anatoli, followed by Nikolai,’ she repeated back.
Once Liz had collected the remaining information she needed with regard to the other ascents from our team, she stood up and thanked us for our time.
This was the busiest period for her as teams began to arrive back in Kathmandu. Her difficulty was she had to catch them all before they departed the country; otherwise, her undertaking became far more problematic.
Within a matter of days, the time came for Catherine and me to fly home. Leaving the Gauri Shankar at 5.30 a.m., we were driven in the hotel minibus along deserted streets. Numerous dogs slept by the roadside. Cows grazed on piles of rubbish that steamed in the cool morning air. It was a stark contrast to the daytime chaos.
Once through airport security and check-in, we made our way via passport control to the departure lounge. It was while seated here that we heard a scream of delight from across the expanse of the seating area. Lizzy had spotted us. About 30 feet behind her was Tom. On witnessing her joy, his face mellowed with a smile. From that moment on, we became good friends. He was starting to recover from his recent disappointment. Tom would go on to organise his own expedition in 1998, achieving his goal, to great international acclaim, of making the first disabled ascent of Everest.
Of the other climbers on our expedition in 1995, there was a notable ascent by Crag Jones and Michael Jörgensen. On reaching the summit, they made the first Welsh and Danish ascents of Everest respectively. What made their achievement all the more remarkable was that they had done this after being pinned down by very strong winds for three days at the top camp, 27,200 feet. The two Brazilians, Mozart Catao and Waldemar Niclevicz, also summited, as did Polish climber Ryszard Pawlowski.
Eight out of our eleven-strong team reached the summit and there were no injuries. Prior to 1995, little more than 50 climbers had reached the summit of Everest via the North Ridge route in its entire history. This made our
‘Graham, could you join us for a moment?’ asked Henry.
Sitting down beside them, I was introduced to Elizabeth Hawley for the first time. I’d not met her when I’d been here in 1993.
Henry had been discussing with Liz the climbers from his team that had summited from the north side that spring. They’d been about to start on the day Anatoli, Nikolai and I had made our attempt when I’d walked through the door.
‘On 17 May, Graham, Anatoli and Nikolai reached the top,’ Henry continued.
Liz at this point was writing the details down. Well aware of Anatoli’s reputation as a strong and fast climber, she replied, ‘Anatoli got there first. Who was second?’
‘Graham got to the top first, Anatoli was second, then Nikolai,’ was Henry’s correction.
Liz lifted her head slightly and looked over the top of her glasses at Henry. Then she turned and focused on me for my reaction.
‘I got to the summit about an hour before Anatoli’ – her stare had required a response.
Feeling almost embarrassed about this fact, I blurted out what felt like an excuse, ‘I was using oxygen, Anatoli was not.’
Liz continued to look at me for a moment, made a slight noise that indicated her surprise and then continued to make her notes.
‘Graham was first, then Anatoli, followed by Nikolai,’ she repeated back.
Once Liz had collected the remaining information she needed with regard to the other ascents from our team, she stood up and thanked us for our time.
This was the busiest period for her as teams began to arrive back in Kathmandu. Her difficulty was she had to catch them all before they departed the country; otherwise, her undertaking became far more problematic.
Within a matter of days, the time came for Catherine and me to fly home. Leaving the Gauri Shankar at 5.30 a.m., we were driven in the hotel minibus along deserted streets. Numerous dogs slept by the roadside. Cows grazed on piles of rubbish that steamed in the cool morning air. It was a stark contrast to the daytime chaos.
Once through airport security and check-in, we made our way via passport control to the departure lounge. It was while seated here that we heard a scream of delight from across the expanse of the seating area. Lizzy had spotted us. About 30 feet behind her was Tom. On witnessing her joy, his face mellowed with a smile. From that moment on, we became good friends. He was starting to recover from his recent disappointment. Tom would go on to organise his own expedition in 1998, achieving his goal, to great international acclaim, of making the first disabled ascent of Everest.
Of the other climbers on our expedition in 1995, there was a notable ascent by Crag Jones and Michael Jörgensen. On reaching the summit, they made the first Welsh and Danish ascents of Everest respectively. What made their achievement all the more remarkable was that they had done this after being pinned down by very strong winds for three days at the top camp, 27,200 feet. The two Brazilians, Mozart Catao and Waldemar Niclevicz, also summited, as did Polish climber Ryszard Pawlowski.
Eight out of our eleven-strong team reached the summit and there were no injuries. Prior to 1995, little more than 50 climbers had reached the summit of Everest via the North Ridge route in its entire history. This made our
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