Elsewhere, at the point where the ropes vanished, Chhiring found "Little" Pasang Bhote, who'd been working for the Koreans. He’d lost his ice axe, leaving him unable to continue without the ropes. Chirring tied in with Pasang and the two men kicked steps downward with only Chhiring's axe to anchor them. "Either we live together or we die together," said Chhiring.

Skog and Naesse, meanwhile, had made it through the Bottleneck and reached camp four around 11 P.M. Chhiring, Pasang, Pemba, van de Gevel, and two of the Koreans made it back to camp sometime after midnight. Those in camp could still count nine headlamps above the Bottleneck.

The highest three of those lights belonged to van Rooijen, McDonnell, and Confortola. They'd lost the route above the Traverse because the bamboo wands that should've marked the line—like breadcrumbs—had never been planted. Confortola used his sat phone to call the president of an Italian mountaineering club, who advised him to bivouac rather than risk walking off the edge of the glacier in the dark. Then the phone battery died.

Van Rooijen was determined to keep descending, so Confortola dug only two seats in the snow—one for McDonnell, a jovial, bearded climber he’d taken to calling Jesus, and one for himself. "Stick with me," he told McDonnell. They shouted at one another to stay awake, fearing that if they fell asleep, they'd fall off the mountain. Van Rooijen continued looking for a way down but eventually planted himself nearby.

By the time the sky lightened at dawn, van Rooijen was gone. Confortola and McDonnell began making their way down but soon came upon three Korean climbers—Park Kyeong-Hyo, Kim Hyo-Gyeong, and Hwang Dong-Jin—all dangling from the same rope.

"All three of them were upside down, hanging," recalls Confortola. "They were still alive, but two of them were in very critical condition."

One of the Koreans could speak but had lost his boot. Confortola put one of his gloves over the climber's exposed foot, and McDonnell held the man up while Confortola tried to lift his teammates. They spent three and half hours trying to free the Koreans but gave up when the glacier let loose nearby and reminded them of their perilous location. McDonnell, perhaps confused by the lack of oxygen, climbed back up the slope toward the summit. Confortola shouted to his friend but couldn't get his attention. Then he heard an avalanche and recognized two yellow boots in the slide.

"They were Jesus's boots," says Confortola. "He was in pieces." Confortola continued down the mountain alone.

Hours later, Pemba, climbing up from camp four, found Confortola asleep in the snow below the Bottleneck and woke him. The Italian was barely on his feet when the serac calved again. An oxygen bottle, knocked loose from above, whacked Confortola's head, nearly knocking him off the mountain.

"But Pemba covered me like I was his baby," recalls Confortola.

Whether in the same icefall or in one just before, Jumich Bhote and "Big" Pasang Bhote, Sherpas and brothers working for the Korean team, were both killed. Jumich had summitted the night before but had been delayed by the icefall. Pasang, who had not been part of the summit party, had climbed up to help with the rescue. Confortola and Pemba could see body parts protruding from the debris on their way back to camp four.

WILCO VAN ROOIJEN WAS ALIVE. He'd gotten up while it was still dark and somehow survived his solo descent. It was light out, but he was snowblind and had no idea where he was. He didn't have a radio and his stricken eyes couldn't read the display of his sat phone to call for help, though he could trace the pattern of his home phone number on the keyboard. His wife, Heleen, who was caring for their nine-month-old son, picked up back in Holland. She then called base camp, where the message was relayed up to Pemba and van de Gevel in camp four: Van Rooijen was still out there—somewhere.

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Michael Kodas is the author of author of High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed.

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