Death on Dhaulagiri

Ever since 1965, the tiny Himalayan nation of Nepal had ruled its lofty, snowcapped peaks off-limits to foreign mountaineers. Plagued by an oversupply of inexperienced climbers--and by Chinese Communist protests to the effect that all would-be conquerors of Mount Everest were in reality foreign spies--the Nepalese decided that the foreign-exchange earnings and publicity were not worth the trouble. Last year, however, they changed their minds. One of the first groups of mountaineers to take advantage of the opportunity was an eleven-man American expedition headed by Boyd N. Everett Jr., 35, of New York City. The group's target: Dhaulagiri I, a rugged peak that soars 26,795 ft., the world's sixth highest mountain.

Everett, an experienced climber and the first American to scale the four major peaks of North America, had one serious gap in his expertise: he had never climbed in the Himalayas. Neither had the other U.S. members of his team, though all were skilled climbers. Everett was determined to scale Dhaulagiri I by its knifelike southeast ridge, a route never before attempted. He was racing a deadline: because the arrival of monsoon rains in early June would make further climbing immensely risky, the climb had to be accomplished in April and May. The team gathered in Katmandu early last month, flew to the hill town of Pokhara, then hiked toward Dhaulagiri. By mid-April, they had established their first camp, at 12,400 ft., and were pressing on toward their next camp. Then came the first mishap: Deputy Leader William A. Read, of Moose, Wyo., was suddenly blinded in the right eye by pulmonary edema, which sometimes strikes men who go too high too fast. Read left to await evacuation by air.

One day last week, the team split up. Eight climbed to the 17,000-ft. level and began building a temporary bridge across a 10-ft. crevasse, while the others worked at base camp. At noon, the eight high on the mountain heard the terrifying rumble that signals an avalanche. Before they could take cover, it smashed down upon them, sweeping away five Americans, including Everett, and two Sherpa porters. The eighth man, Louis F. Reichardt, 27, of Palo Alto, Calif., was out of the slide's path and survived. He spent the next several hours searching for his companions. Late in the week, not a trace had been found. It was the worst mountaineering disaster in Nepal's history.

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