Hello People, and welcome to the BTS Shop!

Please note that 100% of your purchases help fund the BTS documentary and projects.

The first thing on offer is an ebook of my autobiography, The Wind in my Hair

Click on cover to buy ebook version!

A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE EVEREST 1996 DISASTER – VIDEO AND BOOK CHAPTER

“History teaches us that history teaches us nothing “ Georg Hegel

Everyone who is, or not, an “Everest Expert” has given his or her opinions and comments on what happened on Everest this season, and on how to avoid unnecessary deaths in the future. I am working on my own two bobs worth of advice video, which I will publish once I am happy with the content.

Sometimes it is good to go back in time, and verify that history really does not teach us much. I recorded, in a book chapter, ( The Wind in my Hair, 1998) and in a yet unseen video interview with one of the protagonists ( in May 1996) , how the tragedy unfolded, and why the rescue efforts were so random.

I was on the South Col, in 1996, oblivious to the drama happening outside our little expedition cocoon. Communications were appalling, help was not asked for when it could have been given.

Perhaps this offering will enlighten hopeful climbers, their families and friends, on what can go wrong, and on how fast a series of mistakes turns into a death row situation for unsuspecting clients, even on expensive, well resourced expeditions, employing top quality Western and Sherpa guides. There was a storm in 1996. The weather was by all accounts reasonably fair in 2016. And the expeditions concerned were allegedly  “way under resourced”, as a guide working on the mountain at the time told me.

If anything needs to be highlighted, it is the duty of care that leaders have towards their clients, and their employees. In 1996, two expedition leaders perished in the line of duty, captains going down with their ships.
I honour them, and the people who died then, those who died since, and recently; their families and friends. It is always harder for those alive.

You can read the chapter and watch the video HERE, for $4.99.