Everest 1996
Boukreev became widely known as the lead climbing guide for the Mountain Madness expedition headed by Scott Fischer in May 1996. The expedition was one of several attempting to summit Everest on the same day (May 10). Soon after summitting on May 10 a disastrous blizzard struck, stranding many climbers near the peak overnight, and by May 11, eight climbers from three different expeditions had perished. Boukreev rescued three climbers stranded in the disaster above 8000 m, and all six of the climbing clients on the Mountain Madness expedition survived the ordeal.
Galen Rowell described Boukreev's rescue efforts in the Wall Street Journal as:
| “ | One of the most amazing rescues in mountaineering history performed single-handedly a few hours after climbing Everest without oxygen... | ” |
However, author Jon Krakauer was generally critical of Boukreev in his book, Into Thin Air. Subsequently, Boukreev was contacted by various media for a response, and also wrote his own account of the events on Everest in The Climb, a book co-written with Gary Weston DeWalt.
The core of the controversy was Boukreev's decision to attempt the summit without supplementary oxygen and to descend to the camp ahead of his clients in the face of approaching darkness and blizzard. He was one of the first to reach the summit on the day of the disaster and stayed at or near the summit for nearly 1.5 hours helping others with their summit efforts, before returning to his tent by 5 PM on May 10, well ahead of the later summitters on his team.
Boukreev's supporters point to the fact that his return to camp allowed him enough rest that, when the blizzard had subsided around midnight, he was able to mount a rescue attempt and to lead several climbers still stranded on the mountain back to the safety of the camp. Boukreev's detractors say that had he simply stayed with the clients, he would have been in better position to assist them down the mountain, though it should be noted that every one of Boukreev's clients survived, including the three (Pittman, Fox, Madsen) that he rescued on May 11 after he had rested and overcome hypoxia. The only client deaths that day were suffered by the Adventure Consultants expedition, led by guide Rob Hall, who lost his own life when he did choose to stay and help a client complete a late summit rather than helping the client descend and replenish.
In a response to "Into Thin Air" Simone Moro had the following to say to Jon Krakauer:
| “ | You do not understand what kind of person Anatoli really was. You are American, he was Russian. You're a newcomer to the Eight-thousanders, he at this level was the best of all time. You are a normal mountaineer, he was a great athlete and an animal of survival. Thou hast economic security, instead he has known true hunger ... I think you're like one of those who, after reading a medical book, claims to teach one of the most skilled surgeons in the world like being a doctor ... if you really want to pass judgment on the decisions taken by Anatoli in 1996, remember this: NO client of his expedition died." | ” |
Before returning to the States after the events on Everest in 1996, Boukreev climbed the 8,516 metres (27,940 ft) Lhotse, which is in proximity to Everest. He decided on the solo ascent because he hoped that in the process of climbing it he might find some inner clarity to what had just transpired on Everest.
Read more about this topic: Anatoli Boukreev