Against The Odds Wondery

In May 1996, two expert mountaineers and their clients set off to climb the world’s tallest peak — Mount Everest. Many of the clients have no high altitude experience and have paid upwards of $65,000 to be guided up the mountain by competing companies: Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness. As the two expeditions prepare to make their summit attempt, hurricane-force winds threaten to end their climb. Leaders, Rob Hall and Scott Fisher, must make a decision: turn around, or keep pushing for the top?

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As the climbers make their final push for the summit, time is of the essence. They must make it to the top before 2 p.m. to ensure they get back to camp before dark. But due to delays, most of them don’t reach the summit until late in the afternoon, and by then, everyone is exhausted and oxygen is running low. Worst of all, a severe storm is moving in fast. As daylight fades, climbers must hurry or they’ll be trapped in the Death Zone.

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As the climbers descend from the summit, it becomes a race against time to get back to camp before dark. But a severe blizzard slows their progress to a crawl, and altitude sickness starts to take hold. Some climbers get stuck in the upper reaches of the mountain, while others get lost not far from camp. As darkness falls, the stranded face the terrifying reality of spending the night outside, where oxygen deprivation and hypothermia could easily take their lives.

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After a severe blizzard engulfs Mount Everest on May 10th, fifteen people are left stranded on the mountain, unable to find their way back to camp, or too weak to even try. In the early hours of May 11th, rescue efforts are launched to save people before they succumb to altitude sickness or hypothermia. Climbers, and friends down below, must face the sad reality that the odds of them surviving are slim. But, due to heroic acts, not all is lost.

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When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summited Mount Everest in 1953, high-altitude climbing was only done by the most elite mountaineers. But that changed in the early 1990s, when veteran climbers began leading amateur clients up the world’s tallest mountain for a hefty fee. Today, journalist Will Cockrell joins Host Cassie De Pecol to talk about the history of the Everest guiding industry – from the early Western-led companies to the Nepali-owned ventures today. Cockrell is the author of Everest, Inc.: The Renegades and Rogues who Built an Industry at the Top of the World.

In July 1879, 33 men set sail aboard USS Jeannette on a two-year mission to become the first humans to reach the North Pole. Though many other expeditions have failed, Captain George De Long is confident that a warm northbound current will give them enough momentum to escape getting stuck in the treacherous arctic pack ice. But not long after the journey begins, De Long and his crew realize their journey will be far more daunting than they could have ever imagined.

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