Doug Hansen: The Mailman who Climbed Everest but TRAGICALLY died on the descent 

Mountain climbers are a strange breed..Thanks for the English subtitles

No grown up.should be influenced by anyone..but i feel Hansen influenced Hall to get him to the summit even tho he was 3 or 4 hours behind turn around time..RIP Hall & Hansen..

Thank you for this video, i didn't know Anatoli Bukreev photos were out there. Much has been made of Anatoli Bukreev climbing without oxygen, but to me the the buck stops with the expedition leaders who agreed to it. Just like Bukreev, Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa didn't use oxygen either, but they both carried oxygen in their packs up the mountain for the benefit of the expedition's customers. The most tragic part of this story to me is how poorly people were able to communicate because of the lack of radios. In Scott Fisher's camp, neither Bukreev nor Beidleman had one - only Lopsang and Pemba Sherpa had ones iirc, not sure about Ang Dorje. If scott wanted to tell them something he had to give his message to the basecamp Dr. Kate Hunt, who had to relay it to a sherpa at basecamp who could speak english well and give the gist of the message to the sherpas in nepali. It's interesting to me that in Bukreev's book, there is a bit of a cultural difference mentioned, where some in the radio chain seemed to give a slightly more positive view of the situation than it actually was. As it became clear, that Doug Hansen was in trouble, the base camp doctor Dr. Hunt had tried to order Pemba, one of two sherpas who didn't summit to bring some more oxygen up, but he refused. Likely a sensible decision, pemba was a cook at base camp for Scott's the last expedition and he never had ascended higher than camp 4. As Bukreev got back to camp 4, he wasn't told there was oxygen needed up there urgently. Was Pemba too embarrassed, not wanting to lose face and mention the message he had received? It's possible this didn't matter much, since nobody seemed to want to go out during that time, even Bukreev needed some rest and perhaps the weather conditions were already difficult. The reason for the ropes not being fixed comes clear in the debriefing tapes, which are printed in 'the climb'. A member of the Yugoslav expedition had told Lopsang, that the ropes had already been fixed. In that context Lopsangs actions make more sense, since he knew it was important to Fischer to get Sandy Pittman up there. Also what happened to the "three is the maximum" rule for oxygen? Sandy was given 5 canisters that day. In Krakauer's book Ang Dorje is quoted to say "it's Lopsang job". Im not sure whether the reason for this is some kind of seniority thing between sherpas, or if he didn't want to fix the ropes with together with Krakauer or Beidleman or even couldn't for lack of rope. Lopsang, was very accomplished for how young he was, but Ang Dorje was older. Scott made Lopsang Sirdar (head sherpa). Lopsang Jangbu was an absolute hero, who tried to get Fischer down for nearly five hours. His accounts of Fischer are harrowing, in the throes of illness Fischer wanted to jump off the mountain, or ski down. I think that later on, Scott had been critical of his sherpa team over the radio, which makes sense, as Scott and Anatoli had previously talked a little about whom to keep for the next expedition and whom not. Doug having throat surgery weeks before departure also sounds like a terrible decision, i didn't even know that. How are you supposed to stay in the shape of your life if you can't exercise because you are recovering. Beck Weathers had a similar situation with his eye surgery and being blind because of it, but at least he had a good reason for it. Using normal glasses under the alpine goggles would have been bad as well.

It's criminal really that these guide companies are leading these relatively inexperienced "climbers" up Everest like cattle and they have no way of taking care of themselves or others when things go bad. Until Dick Bass paid guides to take him up Everest during his 7 summits quest, all climbers were experts by the time they got to Everest and could handle anything that happened.

Doug and Rob are responsible for the deaths that day. Rob broke his turn around time rule. And Doug kept going up even knowing he had no strength left. Rob abandoned his clients to focus on Doug.

Rob was a great guy. Determined to get his client on the summit. Awful they both lost their lives with that determination. Great job putting this video together! 👍

I think they should have left Hanson on the Summit.

So sad that Hansen wouldn’t turn around, even though he was ill and climbing so slowly. And Rob should have turned him around at 2, a tough decision that could have save at least 2 lives, probably more. Awful that Rob lost his life, when he clearly could have made it back safely if not for Doug. After Doug slipped and fell off the mountain, i wonder if Rob just felt so guilty that he gave up? His pregnant wife tired to get him to save himself, but he didn’t even move for hours. So many other things went wrong that day too.

Thanks for bringing us Everest stories..you do awesome job and always well done ❤

I enjoy your videos. Your honest and thoughtful narration brings life back to those who braved the mountains but are no longer able to tell us their own stories. Your ability to tell these stories gives me the opportunity to see beyond their tragic ends; to see their determination and bravery and the sacrifices they were willing to make to follow their dreams. You honor their memory.

Judgement was obviously impaired by the altitude and emotion..

Thank you for posting this. I hadn't seen anything about Mr. Hansen, but knew he was a very important part of the story. I also appreciate your adding the subtitles in, it does help to understand fully what you are saying. Great channel, and thank you again for telling this, mostly unknown side of this horrible tragedy.

Not to judge here .. but if you have family / kids at home … stay away from Everest … RIP

Tragic story, beautifully narrated. Thank you.

Thankyou for this beautifully done

Hope the climb was worth it.

Sad but I’m glad these people make their dream before they pass away at least.

No one's life should be worth climbing any mountain, i dont even know why people would risk it . And they pay so much money to go meet their death .

"He died doing what he loved"..if you love suffocating, freezing and terrified

Rob Hall always religiously stuck to his 2 p.m. turnaround time until that day.

Some people have a stronger death wish than others.

You should try your own backround music....I couldn't listen to a different voice that I associate with that particular music. Sorry

Great job.

Live by the sword die by the sword

#7. 00min be quite helpful if u show heights of those lower ridges to the valleys to give us an idea of scale. Another well researched vid showing risks & rewards of climbing 🌟

❤❤❤❤

If you reach the summit don't make it down alive, it doesn't count as successful trip.

A lot of chatter about ego, but I don’t think many understand the effect of altitude sickness and lack of oxygen even when connected to a tank and breathing it in. The brain is affected, poor or no decisions made, swelling of the brain and behaviour such as jumping to camp, taking gloves of and unzipping your jacket. Coughing and eyesight issues. All indications of altitude and insufficient oxygen. RIP all who have died on this majestic mountain, including the Sherpas.

Stupidity. How many signs do you need to tell you, it's not safe for you to climb. Instead of listening to your gut feeling, you went with your ego. Not only did you lose your life, but you also were responsible for the lost life of another man, who was trying his best to save him. For the most part ego is responsible for the bulk of the deaths at Mounts Everest. Leave the mountain alone and cherish your family and friends more than your ego. There's no shame in that, but common sense prevails. But not everyone has common sense.

Hanson had no business being on Mt Everest. His whole climb was based on luck but his luck ran out when that storm came in and started to kick some ass . That storm exposed everybody's weaknesses. Especially Hanson's . He should of known that the year before that he should of been dead and Rob Hall the hero saved his ass. The following year Hanson had to pay for his negligence and he took Rob Hall with him . A man that was about to become a dad for the first time and Hanson and his selfish acts took that away from Rob. He should of told Rob go ahead and save yourself and then comeback for me because both of us dieing doesn't make any sense. Please Rob do it for your unborn baby that is really going to need you. Hopefully that would of propell Rob Hall to do the right thing and save himself.

I can commiserate with the feeling that it’s a waste to go so far and put so much effort into an activity and leave it incomplete……..but attempting is a laurel in itself.

When are they going to set some hard and fast rules? Everyone should have a Sherpa. By camp 4 if they aren’t doing well they are done. Set up a doctor/doctors at camps 3 and 4 for a health check. Set a time to be at the summit or you turn around. No exceptions.

You climb MT Everest never conquer it.

You know considering that Rob Hall was supposed to be the adult in the room, I can say that he got them both killed, but I definitely blame Doug Hansen too.

I was about to watch this but can't handle the narration. Had to read the subtitles at times because I couldn't understand what he was saying. No offence.

Doug Hansen got Rob Hall killed because he refused to quit even though he had no business being on that mountain to begin with. He's the one I have the least amount of sympathy for.

Rob Hall's widow should have sued Hanson's estate. Frankly, Hall should have let him go on up the mountain without him. I do not feel one ounce of sympathy for Hansen. He basically murdered Hall. And Krahauer is a menace.

Had to listen to this sentence 5 times before I understood it: (2:02) Hansen couldn't think of a second attempt as the fee to ascent Everest under Hall's supervision was too much. Should be: Hansen couldn't attempt a second ascent, because under Hall's leadership the fee was too high. (This should be spoken clearly, without slurring the words as your narrator does.) Combination of an unclear speaking voice and unclear writing.

get a different narrator. Narrator need not be a great mountain climber, but instead must speak clearly, as this is his purpose.