5 Great Climbers Whose Lives the Mountain Took

Five of the greatest climbers of their generation. Five people who rose higher than almost anyone on the planet. Günther Messner stood with his brother on the summit of Nanga Parbat — the first traverse in history — and never came back from the descent. Yasuko Namba became the first Japanese woman to finish the Seven Summits and froze to death three hundred meters from the tent. Benoît Chamoux was closer than anyone to completing the crown of fourteen eight-thousanders — and vanished at 8,300 meters on Kangchenjunga. Scott Adamson, one of the strongest climbers of his generation, disappeared with his partner on an unclimbed wall of the Ogre in the Karakoram. Walter Bonatti carried oxygen to 8,100 meters for someone else's summit, spent a night in the death zone with no tent — and survived, only to be called a thief by his own country for half a century. Five lives, five mountains, one and the same scene: a human being pushed to the limit, and an altitude that doesn't forgive. Timestamps: 00:00 — Chapter 1: Günther Messner, Nanga Parbat (1970) 25:53 — Chapter 2: Yasuko Namba, Everest (1996) 47:05 — Chapter 3: Benoît Chamoux, Kangchenjunga (1995) 1:10:46 — Chapter 4: Scott Adamson, Ogre II (2016) 1:36:58 — Chapter 5: Walter Bonatti, K2 (1954)