The Storm That Changed Everything
In May 1996, Dr. Beck Weathers joined an expedition led by Rob Hall of Adventure Consultants to climb Mount Everest. Weathers had recently undergone radial keratotomy eye surgery, and at high altitude he realized that the procedure left him nearly blind.
On May 10, during the summit push, Hall advised him to wait on the Balcony at 27,000 feet until Hall could escort him back down. Hall never returned. A powerful blizzard swept across the mountain, leaving Weathers and others disoriented in whiteout conditions.
Lost in the Blizzard
As exhaustion set in, Weathers was guided by Michael Groom, but the storm forced climbers into confusion. Unable to find Camp IV, several climbers were left exposed. When Anatoli Boukreev of Scott Fischer’s expedition rescued some, Weathers had already wandered off into the storm.
The next morning, climber Stuart Hutchison and Sherpas found Weathers and Yasuko Namba alive but barely responsive. Believing they could not survive, the team left them behind.
Against All Odds
Hours later, Weathers stunned everyone by regaining consciousness. Despite severe hypothermia, he managed to walk back to Camp IV under his own power. Fellow climbers were shocked—his face and hands were blackened with frostbite, and his nose and hands looked lifeless.
He spent another freezing night alone in a tent, unable to eat or move properly, yet survived again. The following day, climbers found him coherent and still fighting to stay alive.
A Rare Rescue and Aftermath
Weathers was eventually assisted to a lower camp, where he became part of one of the highest-altitude helicopter evacuations ever attempted. His injuries were catastrophic: his right arm was amputated below the elbow, all fingers and thumb on his left hand were removed, and parts of both feet were lost.
His nose was amputated and later rebuilt using tissue from his ear and forehead. Despite these ordeals, Weathers continued his medical career and wrote a memoir, Left for Dead: My Journey Home from Everest (2000). He lives in Dallas, Texas, where he has practiced medicine and shared his story publicly.
High on Everest in May 1996, Beck Weathers went blind in thin air, was left for dead in a blizzard, and abandoned twice.
Yet he staggered back from the ice, survived a night alone above 26,000 feet, and became part of a dramatic high altitude rescue…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/ursl6ZiOEl
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) August 17, 2025