Frontline: Storm Over Everest

Tuesday, May 13 at 9 p.m.

In May 1996, world-renowned climber and filmmaker David Breashears was making his third ascent up Mount Everest, leading an IMAX film team, when a swift and ferocious storm unexpectedly hit the mountain, trapping three exhausted climbing teams near the top of the world’s highest peak. In the Frontline special presentation Storm Over Everest, airing Tuesday, May 13 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV 21 (cable 11) and WXXI-HD (cable 1011 and DT 21.1), Breashears returns to summit Everest and to reflect on the fateful storm that resulted in the deaths of five climbers on the south side of the mountain.

Combining breathtaking original cinematography with dramatic recreations of the storm conditions of May 1996, the two-hour, high-definition documentary transports viewers to the slopes of Mount Everest. Interviews with climbers who survived the harrowing ordeal record the events — and the decisions that were made — that resulted in seasoned mountaineers losing their lives alongside less experienced climbers drawn to the mystique of Mount Everest.

In Storm Over Everest, survivors recount the progress of three separate expeditions up the South Col of Mount Everest — and the near-intoxication some climbers felt as they approached the prized summit on May 10, 1996.

“You’ve gone so far up the mountain, you’ve come so far from home and you spent six months preparing for this goal,” climber Charlotte Fox says. “There’s no way you’re going to turn around unless things are really going south.”

Go south they did, and quickly. As victorious climbers celebrated on the summit and waited — perhaps too long — for the rest of their parties, an intense storm roared across Mount Everest, transforming what had been a beautiful day of mountain climbing into the ultimate struggle for survival.

“Within the space of five minutes, it changed from really a good day with a little bit of wind to desperate conditions, something I’d never experienced the ferocity of before,” climber John Taske says.

The expeditions began a frantic descent toward the safety of camp, even as their two experienced guides remained high on the mountain assisting other climbers. Hurricane-strength winds reached 80 miles an hour, and temperatures plummeted to 30 below zero. Then, darkness fell. The climbers found themselves hopelessly lost in an unrelenting blizzard — blinded by the wind-blasted ice and unable to find their way back to high camp.

Storm Over Everest recounts the pivotal 48 hours, when those in the wind-battered tents wrestled with whether to risk additional lives by attempting to rescue the missing climbers. Taske reflects on a life-or-death decision made in the chaos of the storm — ultimately to leave two climbers where they lay, frozen and barely conscious, one of whom had gone blind. “The decision to leave [them] where they were was not really a difficult decision …” he says. “Here were these other people exposed to phenomenal winds, at least 80 miles an hour, 20, 30 below zero at night. We thought it was kinder to leave them rather than cause them pain, even in a semiconscious state, by dragging them over to where we were. They were basically dead.”

In the end, some climbers would miraculously find their way back to camp. Others would be rescued by the heroic efforts of those who risked their own lives by venturing out in the storm to lead them to safety. Five climbers — two of them expedition leaders — would not return.

For more information, visit www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline.

Pictured: In one of Scott Fischer's last photos, climbers from three separate teams crowd the base of the Hillary Step, waiting to ascend en route to the summit hours before the storm hits, May 10, 1996.
Photo Credit: ©1996 Woodfin Camp/Scott Fischer