Editing Mount Everest (section)

===1996 disaster===
{{main|1996 Mount Everest disaster}}
On 10 and 11 May 1996, eight climbers died after several guided expeditions were caught in a blizzard high up on the mountain during a summit attempt on 10 May. During the 1996 season, 15 people died while climbing on Mount Everest. These were the highest death tolls for a single weather event, and for a single season, until the sixteen deaths in the [[2014 Mount Everest avalanche]]. The guiding disaster gained wide publicity and raised questions about the commercialisation of climbing and the safety of guiding clients on Mount Everest.

Journalist [[Jon Krakauer]], on assignment from ''[[Outside (magazine)|Outside]]'' magazine, was in one of the affected guided parties, and afterward published the bestseller ''[[Into Thin Air]]'', which related his experience. Krakauer was critical of guide [[Anatoli Boukreev]] in his recollection of the expedition.<ref name="Washington Post">{{cite news |last1=Baechtel |first1=Mark |title=Review: Above the Clouds: The Diaries of a High-Altitude Mountaineer |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/11/18/for-anyone-with-even-a-passing/a4f154e5-c22b-4fc9-bea3-93c794d34814/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=16 April 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412050721/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/11/18/for-anyone-with-even-a-passing/a4f154e5-c22b-4fc9-bea3-93c794d34814/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Russia Beyond" /> A year later, Boukreev co-authored ''[[The Climb (book)|The Climb]]'', in part as a rebuttal of Krakauer's portrayal.<ref name="New York Times Review The Climb">{{cite news |last=Parfit |first=Michael |title=Breathless |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/07/reviews/971207.07parfitt.html |work=[[New York Times]] |date=7 December 1997 |access-date=16 April 2021 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416171415/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/07/reviews/971207.07parfitt.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The dispute sparked a debate within the climbing community.<!-- sentence regarding Krakauer as a personna non grata removed until someone cites a source --> Boukreev was later awarded The American Alpine Club's David Sowles Award for his rescue efforts on the expedition.<ref name="Russia Beyond">{{cite web |last1=Zubacheva |first1=Ksenia |title=How a Russian rescued U.S. alpinists on top of Mt. Everest |url=https://www.rbth.com/history/327642-boukreev-everest-tragedy |website=Russia Beyond |date=21 February 2018 |access-date=21 February 2018 |archive-date=9 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409015544/https://www.rbth.com/history/327642-boukreev-everest-tragedy |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2004, physicist Kent Moore and surgeon John L. Semple, both researchers from the [[University of Toronto]], told ''[[New Scientist]]'' magazine that an analysis of weather conditions on 11 May suggested that weather caused oxygen levels to plunge about 14 per cent.<ref name="NewScientist">{{cite journal| title = The day the sky fell on Everest| journal = New Scientist| issue = 2449| page = 15| date = 29 May 2004| url = http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg18224492.200-the-day-the-sky-fell-on-everest.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070703183045/http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg18224492.200-the-day-the-sky-fell-on-everest.html| archive-date = 3 July 2007| access-date = 11 December 2006}}</ref><ref name="BioEd Online">{{cite web| url=http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=986| title=High winds suck oxygen from Everest. Predicting pressure lows could protect climbers| access-date=11 December 2006| last=Peplow| first=Mark| date=25 May 2004| publisher=BioEd Online| quote=Moore explains that these jet streaks can drag a huge draught of air up the side of the mountain, lowering the air pressure. He calculates that this typically reduces the partial pressure of oxygen in the air by about 6%, which translates to a 14% reduction in oxygen uptake for the climbers. Air at that altitude already contains only one third as much oxygen as sea-level air.| archive-date=4 October 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004221206/http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=986| url-status=live}}</ref>

One of the survivors was [[Beck Weathers]], left for dead about 275 metres (900 feet) from Camp 4 at 7,950 metres (26,085 feet). After spending a night on the mountain, Weathers managed to make it back to Camp 4 with massive frostbite and vision impaired due to snow blindness.<ref name="badassoftheweek.com">{{cite web|title=Beck Weathers|url=http://www.badassoftheweek.com/weathers.html|website=Badass of the Week|access-date=25 June 2016|archive-date=9 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409072833/http://www.badassoftheweek.com/weathers.html|url-status=live}}</ref> When he arrived at Camp 4, fellow climbers considered his condition terminal and left him in a tent to die overnight.<ref name="DMag">{{cite journal|last1=Weathers|first1=Beck|title=My Journey Home From Everest|journal=D Magazine|date=May 2000|url=http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2000/may/my-journey-home-from-everest/|access-date=31 January 2017|quote=They left me alone in [[Scott Fischer]]'s tent that night, expecting me to die. On a couple of occasions, I heard the others referring to "a dead guy" in the tent. Who could that be? I wondered as I slipped in and out of wakefulness.|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020002916/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2000/may/my-journey-home-from-everest/|url-status=live}}</ref> Weathers was lowered to Camp 2 and eventually a helicopter rescue was organised thanks to the Nepali Army.<ref name="badassoftheweek.com"/><ref name="DMag"/>

The storm's impact on climbers on the North Ridge of Everest, where several climbers also died, was detailed in a first-hand account by British filmmaker and writer [[Matt Dickinson]] in his book ''The Other Side of Everest''. Sixteen-year-old Mark Pfetzer was on the climb and wrote about it in his account, ''Within Reach: My Everest Story''.

The 2015 feature film ''[[Everest (2015 film)|Everest]]'', directed by [[Baltasar Kormákur]], is based on the events of this guiding disaster.<ref name=Baltasar>{{cite news|last=Hopewell|first=John|title='2 Guns' Helmer Kormakur Set to Climb 'Everest'|url=https://variety.com/2013/film/international/2-guns-kormakur-set-to-climb-everest-1200574821/|access-date=17 January 2014|newspaper=Variety|date=6 August 2013|archive-date=1 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201091929/http://variety.com/2013/film/international/2-guns-kormakur-set-to-climb-everest-1200574821/|url-status=live}}</ref>