Word: summiteer
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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When the leaders of the G-8 countries descend on the Baltic seaside resort of Heiligendamm in eastern Germany on June 6-8 for their annual summit, they will be visiting a part of the world where eight of nine countries are growing faster than the E.U. average; where several, including Latvia, which last year expanded 11.9%, are topping the European table; and where trade is expected to soar 50% by 2020. The port at Hamburg, just west of Heiligendamm, has seen a 40% increase in cargo shipped through the Baltic Sea in each of the past three years...
...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, a U.S. postal worker who had failed in a previous climb. Also on hand was an American group led by guide Scott Fischer and teams from Japan...
...those who decided to go, the climb to the top began not from the lower campsite but from the last of four ascending camps, just 3,000 ft. below the summit. Teams preparing to make their final climb usually bivouac there for a few days to allow their systems to become acclimatized to the wispy mountain air. Other teams slowly ascend through Camps 1 through 3 until they too are ready for the final push. On the night of May 10, the filmmakers slept at Camp 2, a mile below the summit, while the 33 other climbers trekked out into...
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...
...four guides died on Mount Everest. Weathers lost his nose, which was surgically rebuilt, as well as his hands, which can never be replaced. For several days, the weary filmmakers did little more than knock about base camp. Finally, on May 23, they made their trip to the summit and finished their filming. On the way, they passed the frozen bodies of Fischer and Hall. While Fischer was still exposed to the elements, the upper half of Hall's body had drifted over. Breashears and Viesturs paused to spend some time with each of them, sitting beside them...