r some unknowable reason a light went on in Beck’s inanimate brain and he floated back into consciousness. Beck was blind in his right eye and able to focus his left within a radius of only three feet, he started walking into the wind, knowing that the camp was that way. Had he been mistaken, he would have fallen down the Kangshung face, a fall of 7,000ft, only 30ft in the opposite direction. About 90 minutes later he encountered some “smooth, bluish looking rocks”, which turned out to be Camp Four. Following his helicopter evacuation, Beck had his right arm amputated below the elbow. All four fingers and his thumb on his left hand were removed. His nose was amputated and reconstructed with tissue from his ear and forehead. Although a record number of people died in the spring climbing season on Everest in 1996, only one in six of the climbers who passed base camp died. Compared to the average ratio of 1 in 4, that makes 1996 a safer than average year. ...
