Word: peaks
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...bulk of the strikes involved what are known as Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks, in which computers flood targeted websites with an overwhelming number of requests for information, bringing the sites' underlying networks of servers and routers to a standstill. The scope and coordination were staggering. At the peak of activity on May 10, hundreds of thousands of computers from around the world (likely tricked by malicious downloaded software) were bombarding Estonian targets with thousands of times the normal flow of data...
Despite this fearsome history, Everest is big business these days. Tibet and China, recognizing a moneymaking natural resource when they see one, have thrown the peak open to tourism. Expeditions charge climbers, often unskilled, up to $65,000 to be walked to the top. In the spring of 1996, 14 groups from 11 countries swarmed Everest's lower campsite, digging in 17,600 ft. above sea level in preparation for an attempt on the summit. Among the expeditions was a 26-member New Zealand team, headed by Hall, that included Krakauer, Dallas pathologist Beck Weathers and Doug Hansen...
When the sun rose the next day, word came down that the climbers had made surprisingly good progress during the night. While some had turned back early, at least 20 were pressing on toward the summit. Breashears grabbed a telescope from his equipment tent, trained it on the peak and saw that the report was true. In his eyepiece was a flyspeck line of climbers inching up the last 1,000 ft. of Everest's five-mile rock pile...
Turning from the telescope, Breashears flashed a smile to Viesturs. But his relief was short-lived. At noon, he checked the peak once more, and was stunned to see that the group hadn't moved. He checked again at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Each time the climbers looked stuck. "This was way too late to be up that high," Breashears says. "They'd be fatigued, out of oxygen and descending in the dark. Things did not look good...
...bank of huge, bruise-colored clouds rolling up the mountain. Clouds like that were almost certainly carrying a storm, and this storm appeared to be climbing fast. Before long, a high-altitude blizzard would lash one camp after another, until it finally reached the unprotected climbers clinging to the peak...