Taiwanese climber relates his 63-hour Everest ordeal

The 47-year-old Gau Ming-ho--known in mountaineering circles as Makalu Gao--is now recovering in Kathmandu. His hands are frostbitten, his feet are in bandages, and his nose is blackened by the bitter cold.

An army helicopter on Monday made the highest emergency rescue ever, plucking Gau and American climber Seaborn Beck Weathers from Camp I at 19,100 feet.

Eight other climbers from three expeditions, including Scott Fischer of the United States, died after a fierce blizzard hit the mountain Friday during their descent from the summit.

Gau's frostbite was more serious than Weathers', doctors said. Both men were recovering at their hotels after treatment at a Kathmandu clinic run by Americans.

"I am OK," he said, sitting up in bed during an interview at his hotel. "But I feel very, very weak."

The Taipei photographer said he reached the Everest summit at 3 p.m. on Friday, but the fierce blizzard blocked his descent to the base camp.

"I got stuck up at 8,500 meters [27,625 feet] and could manage to get only up to 8,300 meters [26,975 feet] where I spent the night of May 10," he said, speaking softly.

When he awoke, Gau said he found his limbs were so stiff that he could not use his walkie-talkie. "When I got up, I was confused and I lost sense of time. My fingers were frozen," he said.

Sherpas searching for climbers, including Fischer, found the two men unconscious and barely alive. They managed to revive only Gau and were forced to leave Fischer connected to the safety rope where they found the pair. Sherpas and other climbers, including Ed Viesturs, were still puzzled about what led the two men to be together.

"My guess would be that Scott perhaps was helping him down. That's the only thing I can think of. We heard that they were roped together. We heard that they weren't roped together. I really don't know. There are so many different stories going around camp," Viesturs said in an interview with Outside Online.

"I was feeling very weak and I could not stand up," Gau explained.

Another Sherpa later helped him move from South Col to Camp II, where two doctors who were part of an American team administered medical aid.

Weathers, a 49-year-old pathologist from Dallas, is recovering from frostbite on his hands, nose, and cheeks.

Doctors at the clinic where the two mountaineers were admitted said Weathers had developed eye problems while climbing because of an eye operation that can give rise to complications at high altitudes.

They said he was unable to focus properly on his feet while climbing, which prevented him from reaching the 29,028-foot summit. Weathers told doctors he did not scale the peak.

The American climber plans to leave for the United States on Wednesday with his brother, who has already arrived in Kathmandu.

Gau, who is returning to Taipei on Wednesday, also plans to travel to Anchorage, Alaska, for frostbite treatment. He later plans to go to Tokyo for plastic surgery for his nose.

Asked whether he would continue climbing, the Taiwanese climber answered: "Sure. Why not?"

This story compiled by Outside Online staff.