Tom Hornbein
This biography needs additional citations for verification. (May 2023) |
Thomas F. Hornbein | |
---|---|
Born | Anesthesiologist | November 6, 1930
Known for | Pioneering West Ridge ascent of Mount Everest |
Spouse | Kathryn Mikesell |
Thomas Hornbein (November 6, 1930 – May 6, 2023) was an American
Biography
Born in
Hornbein was an early area climber of Boulder, Colorado in the Flatirons.
Hornbein and his partners
On May 22, 1963, at 6:50 a.m. they left their final camp and started the climb (Emerson stayed at the high camp due to altitude sickness), and even though progress was very slow made it to the summit at 6:15 that night. They found themselves hours behind the generally accepted schedule and after spending 20 minutes at the top they began the descent. Shortly after they started Unsoeld ran out of oxygen.
At 9:30 they came upon two other Americans from the same expedition, Barry Bishop and Lute Jerstad. Bishop and Jerstad had reached the summit earlier in the day using the South Col route and by this time were exhausted and nearly out of oxygen. The four climbers joined together on the descent and continued to make very slow progress until they felt it was too dangerous and stopped sometime after midnight.[5]
They huddled together until 4:00 a.m. and started down again, meeting expedition members carrying extra tanks of oxygen. They made it to camp to find Unsoeld’s feet hard and frostbitten. Barry Bishop and Lute Jerstad also suffered from frostbite and Bishop and Unsoeld lost toes as a result.
Hornbein wrote about this night event in his book Everest: The West Ridge: "The night was overwhelming empty. The black silhouette of the Lhotse Mountain was lurking there, half to see, half to assume, and below us. In general, there was nothing – simply nothing. We hung in a timeless gap, pained by an intensive cold air – and had the idea not to be able to do anything but to shiver and to wait for the sun rising."[6]
Hornbein named the Hornbein Couloir, a steep gully which he and Unsoeld climbed in the uppermost part of the north wall. In his book Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer writes that "Hornbein's and Unsoeld's ascent was--and continues to be--deservedly hailed as one of the great feats in the annals of mountaineering."[7]
In the year 2002 Hornbein, 72 years old, was still active as a Professor of Anesthesiology and as a mountaineer. In 2006, he moved from the Seattle area to Estes Park, Colorado, where he lived with his wife, Kathy Mikesell Hornbein, a retired pediatrician and young adult novelist. They climbed regularly in the Colorado Rockies.
Death
Thomas Hornbein died at his home in Estes Park, Colorado, on May 6, 2023, at the age of 92.[8]
Awards
On April 14, 2018, Hornbein was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by The Mountaineers (club), a Seattle-based mountaineering club and publisher of mountaineering books.[9]
Book
- Hornbein, Thomas F. (July 1998). Everest: The West Ridge. Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-616-2.
References
- ISBN 9780965319911.
- ^ Kobalenko, Jerry (January 16, 2019). "Legends Series: Interview with Tom Hornbein » Explorersweb". Explorersweb. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- ^ "Hornbein (Thomas) Papers". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
- ISBN 0-7139-1108-5. pp 363-392
- ^ Ullman, James Ramsey. (1963) Americans on Everest. J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia
- ^ Hornbein, Thomas F. (July 1998). Everest: The West Ridge. Mountaineers Books.
- Outside Online. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
- ^ "Everest Legend Tom Hornbein Dies" Gripped Magazine. Retrieved May 9, 2023
- ^ Dunau, Peter (2018). "To Everest and Beyond - Tom Hornbein Reflects on Life and Mountains". Retrieved April 28, 2018.
External links
- Thomas Hornbein Papers MSS 669. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.