Tom Hornbein
Encyclopedia
Thomas "Tom" Hornbein is a well-known American mountaineer
.
Born in St. Louis
, Missouri
, Hornbein developed an interest in geology
as a teenager. His study of geology led to a fascination with mountains. Eventually he also became interested in medicine
; he studied and worked as an anesthesiologist
. He studied human physiological
limits and performance at high altitude. He was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine
in Seattle, Washington from 1978 to 1993. His life was a link of medicine and mountaineering.
Hornbein was an early Boulder
, CO area climber on the Flatirons
.
When Hornbein and his partner Willi Unsoeld attempted to climb Mount Everest
in 1963 as part of the American Everest Expedition. Jim Whittaker
and Nawang Gombu
Sherpa from this expedition had summitted on May 1, 1963. Hornbein and Unsoeld were the first to attempt an ascent of the daunting West Ridge. Previously, ascents of the mountain had been made only via the South Col and Southeast Ridge or the North Col and Northeast Ridge. Their plan was to climb up the West Ridge and down the Southeast Ridge/South Col route. This would make theirs the first traverse of an 8000-meter peak.
On May 22, 1963 at 6:50 a.m. they left their final camp and started the climb, 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.
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 frost bite 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 of 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 arising."
Hornbein named the Hornbein Couloir
, a gap/track in the utmost upper part of the north wall, which Hornbein and Unsoeld passed. 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."
In the year 2002 Hornbein, 72 yrs old, was still active as a Professor of Anesthesiology and as a mountaineer. In 2006, he moved from the Seattle area to Estes Park, CO
, where he lives with his wife, Kathy Mikesell Hornbein, a retired pediatrician and young adult novelist. They climb regularly in the Colorado Rockies.
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
.
Born in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Hornbein developed an interest in geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
as a teenager. His study of geology led to a fascination with mountains. Eventually he also became interested in medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
; he studied and worked as an anesthesiologist
Anesthesiologist
An anesthesiologist or anaesthetist is a physician trained in anesthesia and peri-operative medicine....
. He studied human physiological
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
limits and performance at high altitude. He was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine
The University of Washington School of Medicine is a public medical school located in Seattle, Washington.-Overview:UWSOM is a graduate school affiliated with the University of Washington, and is the only medical school in the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho...
in Seattle, Washington from 1978 to 1993. His life was a link of medicine and mountaineering.
Hornbein was an early Boulder
Boulder
In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm diameter. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive....
, CO area climber on the Flatirons
Flatirons
The Flatirons are rock formations near Boulder, Colorado consisting of flatirons. There are five large, numbered Flatirons ranging from north to south along the east slope of Green Mountain, and the term "The Flatirons" sometimes refers to these five alone...
.
When Hornbein and his partner Willi Unsoeld attempted to climb Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
in 1963 as part of the American Everest Expedition. Jim Whittaker
Jim Whittaker
James W. Whittaker, also known as Jim Whittaker is an American mountaineer.As a member of the American Mount Everest Expedition 1963 led by Norman Dyhrenfurth, he was the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He summited on May 1, 1963 with the Sherpa Nawang Gombu...
and Nawang Gombu
Nawang Gombu
Nawang Gombu was a Sherpa mountaineer.Gombu was born in Minzu, Tibet. He was the youngest Sherpa to reach 26,000 ft. In 1964, he became the first Indian and the third man in the world to summit Nanda Devi...
Sherpa from this expedition had summitted on May 1, 1963. Hornbein and Unsoeld were the first to attempt an ascent of the daunting West Ridge. Previously, ascents of the mountain had been made only via the South Col and Southeast Ridge or the North Col and Northeast Ridge. Their plan was to climb up the West Ridge and down the Southeast Ridge/South Col route. This would make theirs the first traverse of an 8000-meter peak.
On May 22, 1963 at 6:50 a.m. they left their final camp and started the climb, 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
Barry Bishop (mountaineer)
Barry Chapman Bishop was an American mountaineer, scientist, photographer and scholar. With teammates Jim Whittaker, Lute Jerstad, Willi Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein, he was a member of the first American team to summit Mount Everest, on May 22, 1963...
and Lute Jerstad
Lute Jerstad
Luther G. Jerstad was an American mountaineer and mountain guide who was a member of the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition. He reached the summit of Mount Everest by the South Col route on May 22, 1963 with Barry Bishop. Three weeks earlier, on May 1, Jim Whittaker and Sherpa mountaineer...
. 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.
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 frost bite 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
Lhotse
Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain on Earth and is connected to Everest via the South Col. In addition to the main summit at 8,516 metres above sea level, Lhotse Middle is and Lhotse Shar is...
Mountain was lurking there, half to see, half to assume, and below of 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 arising."
Hornbein named the Hornbein Couloir
Hornbein Couloir
The Hornbein Couloir is a steep gorge high on the northern side of Mount Everest in Tibet, that lies west of the summit pyramid and extends to about 150 metres below the summit itself.Its companion to the east of the summit is the Norton Couloir....
, a gap/track in the utmost upper part of the north wall, which Hornbein and Unsoeld passed. In his book Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster is a 1997 bestselling non-fiction book written by Jon Krakauer. It details the author's presence at Mount Everest during the 1996 Mount Everest disaster when eight climbers were killed and several others were stranded by a 'rogue storm'...
, Jon Krakauer
Jon Krakauer
Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer, primarily known for his writing about the outdoors and mountain-climbing...
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."
In the year 2002 Hornbein, 72 yrs old, was still active as a Professor of Anesthesiology and as a mountaineer. In 2006, he moved from the Seattle area to Estes Park, CO
Estes Park, Colorado
Estes Park is a town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. A popular summer resort and the location of the headquarters for Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park lies along the Big Thompson River. Estes Park had a population of 5,858 at the 2010 census...
, where he lives with his wife, Kathy Mikesell Hornbein, a retired pediatrician and young adult novelist. They climb regularly in the Colorado Rockies.