1996 Blizzard on Everest: The Rescue - David Brashears

On April 18, 2014, 16 Sherpas were killed in a tragic avalanche on Mount Everest, which is the deadliest day in the mountain's history. The previous mark for the mountain's highest death toll in a single accident happened in 1996, when eight climbers were trapped in a snowstorm and died. Climber and filmmaker David Brashears was on the mountain that day. He helped shepherd frostbitten and disoriented survivors high off the mountain in the storm's aftermath. Knowing that it would end his pursuit of the summit, and put the film in jeopard, Brashears gave much of his bottled oxygen to the effort to rescue the climbers trapped in the blizzard. He explains that today, Everest's base camp is a different place: it's crowded, there are dozens of teams all pushing through short weather windows to the summit. He explains the difference in Everest's culture between the way commercial outfitters pursue the summit today and back in the 1980's and 90's.