le even to speak. While I tried to recover after my fruitless search for Harris, Hutchinson organised a team of four Sherpas to locate the bodies of Weathers and Namba. The search party had set off before Hutchinson, who was so exhausted and befuddled he’d forgotten to put his boots on and had tried to leave camp in his smooth-soiled liners. The Sherpas soon found the two bodies on a slope of grey ice freckled with boulders. Both bodies were partially buried, their backpacks maybe 100ft away. Their faces and torsos were covered with snow; only their hands and feet sticking out. The wind was screaming across the Col. The first body turned out to be Namba, but Hutchinson couldn’t discern who it was until he chipped a three-inch carapace of ice from her face. Stunned, he discovered that she was still breathing. Both her gloves were gone, and her bare hands appeared to be frozen solid. Her eyes were dilated. The skin on her face was the colour of white porcelain. Hutchinson turned his attention to Beck, who lay 20ft away. Beck’s head was also caked in a thick layer of frost. Balls of ice the size of grapes were matted to his hair and eyelids. After clearing the ice from Beck’s face, Hutchinson realised he was still alive too. Beck was mumbling, but I couldn’t tell what he was trying to say. I tried to get him to sit up but he couldn’t. He was as close to death a person can be and still be breathing. One of the four Sherpas decided to leave Beck and Yasuko where they lay. Even if they survived long enough to be dragged back to Camp Four, they’d certainly die before they could be carried back down to base camp, and attempting a rescue would only endanger the lives of the other climbers, most who would have trouble getting down safely. Beck Weathers does not remember Hutchinson finding him and chipping ice from his face. He remained comatose for 12 hours. Then, late in the afternoon of the next day, fo...
