Beck Weathers

Title: Pathologist and mountaineer

Lecture date: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16 at the Sports Arena

Mt. Everest, which is 29,029 feet tall, has taken the lives of 275 people.

One of the deadliest times in Mount Everest’s history was May 10 and 11, 1996, when eight people lost their lives on the mountain.

From that deadly tragedy emerged a miraculous story of a survivor: Dr. Beck Weathers.

Now 20 years after the disaster, Weathers will be speaking at HCC.

In 1996, Weathers was part of a group of climbers who attempted to climb Everest.  On their way down, a blizzard hit and they were trapped near the top.

After being temporarily blinded by the high altitude and falling into a hypothermic coma, Weathers’ fellow climbers left him, thinking he was too far gone.

Weathers spent 15 hours exposed in the blizzard. Somehow, the next day, he awoke and managed to get to an upper camp by himself.

He later had part of his frostbitten right arm amputated, as well some fingers, parts of his feet and his nose.

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