Fischer buried on Everest as the team regroups

Anatoli Boukreev

Anatoli Boukreev, one of the lead guides for Scott Fischer's expedition, returned to base camp today after laying Fischer to rest high on the shoulders of Mount Everest in a mountainside burial.

Boukreev had tried many times to reach Fischer on Saturday and Sunday, but was turned back by the fierce weather, said Karen Dickinson, a partner in Fischer's Seattle-based expedition company, Mountain Madness.

"Anatoli was the one who confirmed that Scott was dead and he took care of Scott's body. Shrouded him in his own gear, wrapped him up, and bundled him up with a rope and then moved the body off the trail so he is not a milestone on the route, out of sight," she said.

The decision to leave Fischer on the mountain, rather than bring the body down for burial elsewhere, was an easy decision for his family. "There is no better place for Scott to be right now," Dickinson said.

On Tuesday, the entire base camp assembled for a Buddhist memorial service for the eight climbers who died over the weekend on Everest.

"It was pretty moving. As hard as it is for us here [back home], you can imagine how much harder it is for all the people who have been living and climbing with these people for two months," Dickinson said.

She is particularly concerned about the team's lead Nepalese climber, Lobsang Sherpa. It was Lobsang who helped Fischer, clearly ailing, down from the summit until he collapsed above Camp IV, she said.

The 23-year-old climbing phenomenon remained on the mountain most of Friday night with Fischer before realizing the danger and futility of his vigil, Dickinson said. He descended to the camp to rest and recover, and thereby avoided the fate of Rob Hall, who died that same night while lying down with one of his climbers.

"He really adored Scott and was being mentored by him. And for him to have to make this choice was really unfortunate, and I'm worried about him," Dickinson said.

Charlotte Fox

The other members of the Fischer team--Klev Schoening, Pete Schoening, Lene Gammelgaard, Tim Madsen, Charlotte Fox, Sandy Pittman, Martin Adams, and guides Boukreev and Neal Beidleman--are in decent physical condition, she said, "but it's just hard right now. All day they are looking up at the mountain, seeing where Scott is and where all of this happened. So it's particularly hard on them."

As a result, the team will leave tomorrow morning for Pheriche, according to Beidleman, the new team leader who will remain behind for two or three days with Boukreev to break camp.

"They will head to where the grass is green, the food a little different, and definitely a change of scenery. They'll be able to stay in tea houses, and have different things to see and think about," Dickinson said.

The team has really pulled together and is intensely committed to remaining together, although Fox will fly by helicopter to Kathmandu rather than strain her frostbitten feet.

The rest of the team will join Fox in Kathmandu on May 20 or 21. And then the entire team will fly back to the United States. A memorial service is being planned in Seattle for next month.

"There has been a lot of this 'now what' question lately. The 'now what' question comes up over and over again. Now what? Well, we'll continue on, climbing mountains," she said.

This story compiled by Outside Online staff.