Beck Weathers

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Beck Weathers (born December 1946) is an American pathologist from Texas. He is best known for his role in the 1996 Everest Disaster that has been the subject of many books and film, most notably Into Thin Air and Everest. During that climb, he was left for dead, exposed to the elements on the South Col, where he suffered severe frost bite. He recovered enough to walk alone and unassisted to nearby Camp IV. He was later helped to walk on frozen feet to a lower camp, where he was the subject of one of the highest-altitude helicopter rescues ever performed. Following his helicopter evacuation from the Western Cwm, Beck had his right arm amputated halfway below the elbow. All four fingers and the thumb on his left hand were removed; his nose was amputated and reconstructed with tissue from his ear and forehead and parts of both feet to his injuries. He continues to practice medicine, and deliver motivational speeches from Dallas.

He has said that his trouble on the mountain began when he was blinded by the effects of high altitude on his eyes that had been altered by radial keratotomy surgery, the effects of altitude upon which was at the time unknown to science. After he admitted his disability to his paid guide, Rob Hall, he waited for Hall to guide him back down the mountain, instead of descending with other guides or clients. Hall perished further up the mountain before he could return to Beck's position. This delay caused Beck to become stranded in a late afternoon blizzard, which ended in tragedy for some, and hardship for the entire party.

Beck spent a whole night in an open bivouac in a terrible blizzard with both hands and his face exposed. His fellow climbers said that his frozen hand and nose looked and felt as if they were made of porcelain, and they did not expect him to survive. With that assumption, they only tried to make him comfortable until he died, but he survived another freezing night alone in a tent unable to drink, eat, or keep himself covered with the sleeping bags he was provided. His cries for help could not be heard above the blizzard, and his companions were surprised to find him alive and coherent on the following day.

Weathers authored a book about his experience, Left For Dead, which was first published in 2000.

[edit] External links

• National Geographic - profile of Weathers and other survivors, with audio interviews

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