Deadliest Day on Everest

As his surname suggests, Jules Mountain is a man destined to scale the heights. After battling cancer and emerging with a new lease of life, he takes on the epic challenge of reaching the top of Mount Everest. But when an enormous earthquake causes the slopes to crumble around him, Jules is once again left staring death in the face… A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. Written by Nicole Edmunds | Produced by Ed Baranski | Assistant Producer: Luke Lonergan | Exec produced by Joel Duddell | Sound design by Tom Pink, Matt Peaty | Assembly edit by Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Ralph Tittley For ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you’d like to put forward for the show, let us know. Drop us an email at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:30Speaker 01

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• 1:03John Hopkins?

  It's the afternoon of April 25, 2015. Seventeen and a half thousand feet above sea level, on the Himalayan border between Nepal and Tibet, lies Everest Base Camp. The enormous, bright white glacier is dotted with dozens of orange, blue, and green tents, all held down by ropes which creak and sway in the brisk breeze.

• 1:28John Hopkins?

  Surrounding the tents are hundreds of flags from all over the world, adding patriotic splashes of color to this monochromatic landmass. As an icy gust of wind blows through the camp, 49-year-old Jules Mountain emerges from the mess tent. He isn't feeling his best. Head still reeling from a party at camp last night, Jules tucks his gloved hands into the pockets of his jacket and buries his face in his thermal buff.

• 1:58John Hopkins?

  He wades through the snow, taking quick, shallow gulps of oxygen with every labored step, until he reaches his own two-man tent.

• 2:09John Hopkins?

  As he's settling down on the cold floor to undo his snow boots, he feels the ground beneath him shift.

• 2:19Speaker 03

  All of a sudden, the ground just moved up a meter. I was like, whoa! And then it went to the left and it went to the right. And I sort of felt, what the hell? I thought, that can't be alcohol. It felt like somebody pushed my back.

• 2:34John Hopkins?

  Jules throws his hands down to steady himself. He waits a few seconds for the shaking to stop, his heart rate rising and his breath quickening. But instead of ceasing, the vibrations grow more violent. There is a loud rumble, like an approaching thunderstorm.

• 2:52Speaker 03

  I got out of the tent, I'm in my socks, and I'm looking around, and oh my gosh! The whole sky, the whole sky is just filled with the snow, and it's all coming towards us.

• 3:03John Hopkins?

  In every direction, there is a wall of white. There's no telling where the ground ends or the sky starts. The mountainside is on the move, crumbling before his eyes. With every second that passes, the rumble increases as the colossal mound of snow picks up speed and hurtles towards base camp.

• 3:22Speaker 03

  It's all billowing round, flowing. The whole sky, everything I can see is full of snow, and it's hurtling towards us. And I'm thinking, what do I do? What do we do? I'm about to die.

• 3:40John Hopkins?

  Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations, people suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

• 4:03John Hopkins?

  In this episode, we meet Jules Mountain. As his surname suggests, Jules is a man destined to scale the heights. And in 2015, the 49-year-old sets off on an expedition to conquer the greatest height of all: Mount Everest. But a few days after reaching base camp, an enormous earthquake in Kathmandu triggers an avalanche in the Himalayas, sending hundreds of tons of snow cascading from Everest's summit.

• 4:31Speaker 03

  I had no idea what it was. I had, it was like, is this the Third World War? Is this Armageddon? Is this the end of the world? You imagine you're sitting here now, and all of a sudden, in front of you, the sky just fills with the snow. And it's so big, it's so big.

• 4:43John Hopkins?

  With the snowy juggernaut plummeting towards him, and seconds to react, there's nowhere to hide.

• 4:48Speaker 03

  I thought, well, what do I do? And I'm looking at the two Polish climbers, because they're standing outside their tents looking at it. And I saw him dive into his tent, I thought that's the thing to do. So at the last minute, I just dived into my tent and covered my head. And next thing... All hell broke loose.

• 5:03John Hopkins?

  I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is Real Survival Stories.

• 5:34John Hopkins?

  It's February 2015, in the east of France, near the Italian and Swiss borders. Surrounded by the picturesque peaks of Chamonix, 49-year-old Jules Mountain is relaxing with his friends in a lively bar. It's been a long, tiring day in the mountains for Jules, leading tourists up and down the slopes as part of the ski club of Great Britain.

• 5:57John Hopkins?

  As the sun sets and the empty beer glasses pile higher on the table, he and his friends exchange their best stories of adventure and misadventure in the mountains. Jules has a number up his sleeve, having skied with the club for many years. There is one man here whose tales trump even his.

• 6:17John Hopkins?

  A friend of a friend, the man explains that he's a skier, climber, and adventure enthusiast, whose many accolades include reaching the summit of Everest.

• 6:26Speaker 03

  We're chatting about Everest. I said, "Are you going this year?" He said, "Yeah, yeah." He said, "It's, you know, April and May." And then before I'd even thought about it, I just said to him casually, I said, "Oh, can I come?"

• 6:38Speaker 03

  And as the words came out of my mouth, I thought, "Oh my God, I thought, 'Jules, what have you just said?'" I knew if he said yes, I'd have to go.

• 6:46John Hopkins?

  Summiting the world's tallest and most famous peak is a challenge that's been on Jules' bucket list for as long as he can remember. Ever since childhood, he's been drawn to the rugged beauty of the mountains.

• 6:59Speaker 03

  Best day for me in the world is go out in the mountains and pick a route away from the ski lifts, away from the madding crowds, look out over the mountains. It's so beautiful. It's all white. It's so peaceful. And sit there and have a nice sandwich and a cup of tea, you know, and then get ready to ski down and then just have a great ski and some great powder. That is, there's no day better than that. You know, that is it for me. That is perfect.

• 7:24John Hopkins?

  His love for the outdoors resulted in him taking a job with the Ski Club of Great Britain. For years, he spent the seasons leading tourists up snow-capped peaks, across icy glaciers, and through Arctic forests. He became adept at balancing leisure, work, and family, as he raised two young daughters and founded and built his own business.

• 7:47John Hopkins?

  Hoping to sell his company one day and enjoy the fruits of his labors, it seemed like everything was on track, until catastrophe struck.

• 7:59John Hopkins?

  In 2007, aged 41, Jules was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

• 8:07Speaker 03

  It's like a tidal wave comes over you, you know, it's like bash. Am I gonna die tomorrow? Am I gonna die next week? I've got two young daughters. Am I gonna see them grow up? All the plays here to you, you don't want in your head. You know, if you're getting your arm, cut your arm off. Getting your leg, cut your leg off. Getting your head, not so good, really. Cut the head off, it's a bit terminal.

• 8:26John Hopkins?

  The odds of surviving the cancer was slim. Within a week of the diagnosis, Jules was wheeled into hospital as medics prepared him for a lengthy operation to remove the tumor.

• 8:38John Hopkins?

  Even if the surgery was successful, there was a good chance he'd never regain his normal life. There was the possibility that his voice box may become so damaged in the process that he'd never be able to speak again.

• 8:50John Hopkins?

  After a grueling seven and a half hours on the operating table, Jules woke up.

• 8:59Speaker 03

  You wake up and you can't move your mouth and all your eyes dropped. Everything's dropped on this side of your face. And it's like you've done five rounds of Mike Tyson. But my brain didn't know what was going on. My brain was like, what's happening? You know, I've gone to sleep, I've woken up and I'm just in screaming pain. Everything aches like mad. And then I got an itch and I knew the itch was on my ear and I couldn't find my ear. I couldn't, I'm like, where's my ear? I couldn't actually locate anything on this side of the face because they'd reconnected all the nerves, but they were all wrong.

• 9:30John Hopkins?

  Thankfully though, despite the discomfort, the surgery was a success. The tumor had been removed and his speech was unaffected. But this was far from the end of the journey.

• 9:42John Hopkins?

  While adjusting to the cocktail of drugs flowing through his veins, Jules suffered an anaphylactic shock just days after the operation.

• 9:51John Hopkins?

  His brother was by his bedside at the time and alerted the nurses.

• 9:55Speaker 03

  The next thing, the bells go off, you know, and they bring the crash team in. The registrar leans over me, he said, "I may have to cut you open down the sternum. It'll be very messy, so I can get my handle and massage your heart." Next thing, they stick an oxygen mask on me, they roll me over, stick a bloody great needle in my backside, start pumping me full of stuff. And they got it under control, no need to slice me open. And then I said to my brother, "Don't leave me, don't leave me." I said, "You can't leave me," you know. And they brought a camp bed in, he slept there for the whole night, held my hand all night, and slept in a camp bed next to me. And even now, even now, when I think about that, it makes me quite emotional, actually. I just thought I don't want to die alone.

• 10:34John Hopkins?

  Jules recovered from this close shave, but soon he had another obstacle to overcome.

• 10:40John Hopkins?

  Over the next four months, he was going to have to undergo six rounds of chemotherapy.

• 10:44Speaker 03

  Six is hell, because everyone you have, you get worse. You get weaker, you get weaker, you get more ill, and you feel more sick. So it's a brutal process, but it gives you the best chance of survival.

• 10:58John Hopkins?

  Four slow, painful months passed as Jules grappled with his new reality. Half of his time was spent in lawyers' offices, drawing up deals to sell his business. Otherwise, he was in London's University College Hospital, where nurses took countless samples of blood and doctors pumped his body full of drugs.

• 11:18John Hopkins?

  Finally, the treatment came to an end.

• 11:23Speaker 03

  It worked, it worked, you know, I'm very grateful. And I wanted to prove to myself that I was still as capable, after chemo and the surgery, as I was before.

• 11:34John Hopkins?

  Surviving cancer gave Jules a renewed vigour. He vowed to come back stronger and make the most of every opportunity.

• 11:43John Hopkins?

  So when, eight years later, in February 2015, while on a skiing trip in Chamonix, Jules meets a man in a bar who is heading to Everest. He takes his chance.

• 11:55Speaker 03

  I just said to him casually, I said, "Oh, can I come?" He looks at me and he goes, "Yeah, I said you've seen the reasonable experience of the mountains." He said, "You do the guiding and, you know, a bit of climbing." And he goes, "He said, "Yeah, I think it'll be all right. Yeah, you can come." And I was like, "Oh, my gosh, what have I done? Everest, you know, it's monumental stuff. That is right up here." But I said, "There's no buts. You want to do it or you don't. It's simple. You know, it's simple." And trust me, when you've had cancer, you tend to take every opportunity that arises because you never know when it's going to come back and it's going to bite you. So take the opportunity when you get the chance.

• 12:36Speaker 00

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• 13:37John Hopkins?

  There's just one catch. Most people train for around four years before attempting to summit Everest.

• 13:44John Hopkins?

  But this trip begins in April. Jules has eight weeks.

• 13:49John Hopkins?

  The clock is ticking, but he remains determined and crams as much preparation into the two-month window as possible. He purchases the necessary kit, secures the expensive permit, and spends time on the slopes of the Alps to get in some much-needed climbing practice and altitude training.

• 14:07John Hopkins?

  When April arrives, Jules says an emotional goodbye to his partner and two young daughters, aware that he won't be seeing them now for eight weeks. Then, passport in hand and bags full of climbing gear, he boards the plane from London to Kathmandu.

• 14:27John Hopkins?

  On arrival in Nepal, Jules travels to the hotel where he meets the rest of the expedition team. All in all, there are sixteen climbers in his group, a motley, international crew.

• 14:39John Hopkins?

  The prospect of spending the next two months with this gang is exciting and a little intimidating.

• 14:47Speaker 03

  I turned up in Kathmandu, turned up at the hotel, and we had a meeting that night with everybody. And this guy walks in the room, and he's big, a muscly, American guy. And he's got these tattoos, he's got a bald head, and he's got tattoos of like Incas, you know, all over him. I'm like, oh my gosh. And he was just big and muscly and terrifying. And I thought, wow, I'm gonna be the little tiny guy at the bottom here. There were two Polish guys there, and again, they were bald-headed, and they were really wiry, and they were wearing special clothing, you know, climbing clothing. And they just looked like they've climbed the whole their lives, and they were born for climbing, you know.

• 15:29John Hopkins?

  But the climbers are friendly and welcome Jules into the group. Like him, most of the others have hired Sherpas to accompany them on the trip, highly skilled guides native to Nepal who know Everest well. The Sherpas will prepare the route, fix ropes in place, and transport the necessary gear up the slopes.

• 15:49John Hopkins?

  The following day, once the climbers and Sherpas are acquainted with one another, the team flies from Kathmandu to the little rural town of Lukla. Sitting nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, its colorful houses are shrouded in the shadows of the mountains.

• 16:06John Hopkins?

  And it's from here that the long climb up Everest begins.

• 16:11Speaker 03

  The trek from Lukla to base camp is literally like a walk in the Alps. And there's a trail, and there's some incredible suspension bridges that they built across the valleys. And there are yaks with us, you know, the big cow-looking things. So you have two bags, two expedition bags. One bag's full of your climbing equipment, that goes straight up to base camp. The other bag has all your sort of day gear in it. And then any electronics gear, like your mobile phone or your laptop or whatever you want with you. That's in your own backpack.

• 16:40John Hopkins?

  Over the course of 10 days, the team hike up the Himalayas. They make slow but solid progress, passing key points on the Everest map. The bustling mountainside town of Namche Bazaar, the holy monasteries of Tengboche, and the Sherpa village Dingboche with its wide, green-roofed homes. It's an ethereal journey through some of the remotest settlements on Earth, all surrounded by the glorious mountain range.

• 17:09John Hopkins?

  The altitude slowly increases, and by the time they reach the frozen lakebed of Gorokshep, they're standing nearly 17,000 feet above sea level.

• 17:19John Hopkins?

  With each stage of their ascent, the air becomes thinner as the oxygen supply dwindles. Altitude sickness becomes a growing danger, as does the ever-dropping temperature.

• 17:30Speaker 03

  So every night, you know, going to sleep in your tent is like getting into a freezer and hoping you wake up in the morning. It is hell on earth, it's horrible. I remember the first night in that tent, I thought, oh my gosh, this really is horrific. And I got in the tent, and I'm freezing cold. So I'm still got my trousers on, I've still got my jumper, my t-shirt, my gloves on, I've got a beanie hat on. And I took that off, and I realised the next day what a big mistake that was. You want to sleep with your beanie hat on, because it is so bloody cold.

• 18:02John Hopkins?

  Finally, after more than a week of trekking through the day and freezing through the night, the team arrives at the first major checkpoint of their trip: Everest Base Camp.

• 18:17John Hopkins?

  The climbers begin setting up their tents. The sprawling white glacier is a polka dot pattern of colourful fabric and flags. Gigantic peaks enclose the camp, at once inspiring and imposing.

• 18:33John Hopkins?

  From here, the team eases into a pleasant rhythm.

• 18:39Speaker 03

  We got settled into base camp and it was great. We were all very excited to pick base camp. I remember the first morning, they ding the bell, ding ding ding ding ding, they bring you a cup of tea and your temperature's lovely. Ding the old bell, sort of say time to get up. The sun comes up at about eight o'clock. Once the sun's up, it's quite pleasant. I mean, you've still got a jacket on, but it is quite pleasant, you know. And then go to the mess tent. Eating times are very important because eating times when everyone gets together.

• 19:07John Hopkins?

  Over time, the camaraderie of the group grows stronger, an important factor as the conditions become increasingly intense. The next few days are all about adjusting to the altitude. Base camp is seventeen and a half thousand feet above sea level, meaning oxygen is in short supply. Every step up requires six breaths. Each movement is as slow as walking through water, and head rushes and dizziness become part of daily life. Jules cannot simply power on to the top from here. He needs to complete shorter climbs to tackle the summit in increments, constantly returning to camp to recharge.

• 19:47Speaker 03

  Every time you go higher, your body produces lots of red blood cells, you oxygenate and you acclimatise. The body adjusts to a higher altitude, but then you spend several days back at base camp to relax. So, eat well, rest well, sleep well. Eat well, rest well, sleep well. Eat well. That's what they were saying to us all the time. So there's no rush.

• 20:13John Hopkins?

  It's the morning of April the 25th, 2015. As the pale sun rises in the sky, casting weak yellow beams through the thick snow clouds, Jules wakes up inside his tent.

• 20:28John Hopkins?

  As usual, he is shivering. Inside the cocoon of his sleeping bag, his ice-cold hands are tucked into his pockets. Each breath he takes emits an icy cold cloud. But this morning, it's not just the temperature that's testing Jules. He and his expeditionary group hearted hard last night to let off some steam.

• 20:52John Hopkins?

  And now the cocktail of alcohol and altitude is made for an unpleasant hangover.

• 20:58John Hopkins?

  Taking things even slower than usual, Jules rules out climbing today. Not that he'll miss much. The sky is already overcast and dark, rendering visibility poor. So, heaving himself to his feet, he gets up and heads to the mess tent to get some food in it.

• 21:20John Hopkins?

  In the early afternoon, having spent some time with his fellow climbers, Jules returns to his tent to relax and to try to keep warm. But as he's zipping up the flap to keep the heat in and the snow out, he suddenly feels something strange.

• 21:38John Hopkins?

  A small hum at first, a vibration.

• 21:43John Hopkins?

  And then, unmistakably, the ground starts to tremble.

• 21:51Speaker 03

  All of a sudden, the ground just moved up a meter.

• 21:56Speaker 03

  The ground was like, "Whoa!" And then it shone to the left, and it shone to the right. And I sort of thought, "What the hell?" I thought. "That can't be alcohol." I felt, it felt like somebody pushed in my back.

• 22:09John Hopkins?

  Jules is violently thrown forwards towards the front of his tent.

• 22:14John Hopkins?

  The ground shifts this way and that, rocking him sideways, as though he's on a fairground ride. The air outside is pierced with screams and shouts from his fellow campers.

• 22:25John Hopkins?

  Amongst the panicked voices, there's also the crash of heavy objects. Metal scrapes against metal, heavy thuds hit the snow, and fabric tears as base camp is ripped apart.

• 22:37John Hopkins?

  And still the shaking continues. Jules tries to steady himself, tensing every muscle in his body as he reaches for the tent's zip. Despite the violent tremors, he manages to open the flap and slowly clambers out onto the snow-covered ground.

• 22:53Speaker 03

  I go out the tent, under my socks, and I'm looking around. And everyone's looking to the left, so I'm looking to the left, and oh my gosh. The whole sky, the whole sky is just filled full of snow, and it's all coming towards us. It's all billowing round and flowing, the whole sky, everything I can see is full of snow, and it's hurtling towards us. And I'm thinking, what do I, what do I do? What do I do? I'm about to die. I'm about to die. I'm looking, I'm looking, I'm thinking, can I run? You know, I'm on the glacier, it's all ice, I've got my socks on, I've got no shoes on, no time for my shoes on, I thought, well, what do I do?

• 23:29John Hopkins?

  Jules stands, mouth agape, rooted to the spot. Little does he know that one hundred miles away in Kathmandu, there has been a massive earthquake.

• 23:40John Hopkins?

  And the resultant shockwaves are causing the Himalayan slopes to collapse.

• 23:46John Hopkins?

  Jules looks all around him, but everywhere is the same. Every inch is covered in a giant blanket of fast-moving ice, rock, and snow.

• 23:55Speaker 03

  I had no idea what it was. I had, it was like, is this the Third World War, is this Armageddon, is this the end of the world? You know, you imagine you're sitting here now, and all of a sudden in front of you, the sky just fills with the snow. And it's all just coming towards you, and it's so big, it's so big. You know, the ground shakes, and then, when I say the whole sky, everything you can see, you look out the window now, everything you can see, as high as you can see up to the clouds, is just full of snow. And it's all billowing, it's rolling like this, and it's coming towards you.

• 24:25John Hopkins?

  There is no escaping this immense icy tidal wave. And then Jules notices the two Polish climbers from his expedition group in the near distance. Panic is etched on their faces too. But they suddenly burst into action, diving headfirst back inside their tent. Without wasting any more time, Jules does the same.

• 24:47Speaker 03

  I just dived into my tent and covered my head, and next thing, all hell broke loose and I'm buried alive in my tent.

• 24:59John Hopkins?

  Within seconds, the freezing barrage is upon him. Tons and tons of snow flatten his tent and trap him in an icy grave. Thick layers pile above, squeezing the space, blocking out the light.

• 25:15John Hopkins?

  Jules lies flat on his face, arms protecting his head, eyes clenched shut.

• 25:22John Hopkins?

  The patter of snow grows softer, more muffled. But it's not a sign of the avalanche slowing. Rather, it's that the powder is piling higher around him, burying him deeper and deeper.

• 25:36John Hopkins?

  Seconds stretch into minutes. There's no room to move, barely any to breathe.

• 25:43Speaker 03

  I'm buried, I'm buried alive in my tent, and I'm sort of thinking, what, what the hell is, you know, what, what's going on?

• 25:50John Hopkins?

  Suddenly, everything goes quiet.

• 25:55John Hopkins?

  For a few moments, Jules stays still, his breath shallow. Then he decides to wriggle around to see if he can move at all. He finds he is able to adjust his position ever so slightly. Unbelievably, he doesn't seem to be injured in any way.

• 26:17John Hopkins?

  Gently, slowly, he shimmies his body around and reaches for the zip on the front of his tent.

• 26:25Speaker 03

  There's snow everywhere. So I end up, and the craziest thing, I end up scrabbling through the snow. I'm trying to pull the snow off to get to my bags to find my phone and my laptop. Isn't that crazy? I've just nearly died and I'm looking for electronics because I think it mustn't get wet. So I'm trying to, I'm raking through all this snow and I'm trying to push the snow out of the tent, you know, I'm trying to shovel it all out soon.

• 26:46John Hopkins?

  Jules fingers claw at the dense, frigid mass all around him. He fights through the snow, moving as swiftly as he can, trying to escape before everything collapses.

• 26:58Speaker 03

  Luckily, I was able to push up out of the snow and lift myself up and get my head out of the snow. I came out my tent and we're all looking at each other like, what, what the hell? What's happened? You know, everyone's completely confused. No one really knows what the hell's going on.

• 27:18Speaker 00

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• 27:49Speaker 01

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• 28:25John Hopkins?

  As his eyes adjust to his surroundings, the extent of the damage becomes clear. It's like a bomb has exploded on the mountainside. Base camp is now a disaster zone.

• 28:37John Hopkins?

  The camp's two satellite dishes, their best means of communication, have been crushed beyond repair.

• 28:44John Hopkins?

  Tents and climbing gear lie strewn across the blanket of white as giant displaced rocks and boulders lie haphazardly across the camp.

• 28:54John Hopkins?

  Meanwhile, the toilet block has been utterly destroyed. Its poles pierced the canteen like spears.

• 29:03John Hopkins?

  Jules gingerly steps out of his tent to assess the situation more closely.

• 29:09John Hopkins?

  And that's when he sees it's not only equipment that has been affected.

• 29:14Speaker 03

  Looking over and I can see the cook, and he's standing there, and I've never seen it anywhere like this. He was caught outside in the blast. He's still alive, but there's nothing, he's got his glasses on. His glasses are completely frosted up, he's covered in snow. He's actually covered in snow. Luckily, none of the gent's toilet poles have gone through him. And I'm like, I rushed over to him, I'm like, are you alright, are you alright, alright? And he's just like, he's like this. He didn't move, couldn't say anything, he was absolutely so deeply in shock.

• 29:45John Hopkins?

  He gently guides the cook towards the mess tent, which somehow is still largely intact, and sits him down.

• 29:54John Hopkins?

  But there are others here who need help.

• 29:58John Hopkins?

  Jules jumps into action, racing around the camp. Wherever he looks, it's hysteria and horror.

• 30:07Speaker 03

  The first person I saw was this woman, and she's with her husband and another couple, they're in shorts and t-shirts. And she's like, we gotta go, we gotta go, we gotta go. I said, go where, go where? She said, we've gotta go, we've gotta go. I said, where are you going? And it was like this sheer panic of needing to get, get the hell out of the place where she perceived the danger was.

• 30:29John Hopkins?

  It's pandemonium.

• 30:32John Hopkins?

  Some people are trying to rush away from the glacier. Some are wailing in pain. And some stare blankly into the distance in complete shock at what's happened.

• 30:43John Hopkins?

  It's clear that someone needs to take charge to help the injured, organise a rescue mission and prevent the ensuing chaos from becoming even more deadly than the disaster itself. Unhurt, calm under pressure and a natural leader, Jules falls into the role.

• 31:01John Hopkins?

  He instructs people around him to move the injured into the mess tent where they can make cups of tea to keep them warm. Any spare blankets or clothes can be handed out too.

• 31:12John Hopkins?

  Trained in first aid, Jules is able to provide basic treatment himself.

• 31:18John Hopkins?

  Amid the chaos, one of the team has managed to retrieve their satellite phone. It's not the most reliable form of communication by any means, but at least it's something.

• 31:28John Hopkins?

  The stranded climbers gather around the phone as it crackles into life, holding their breath in anticipation.

• 31:36John Hopkins?

  And then, suddenly, through the static,

• 31:40John Hopkins?

  a voice croaks through the receiver.

• 31:45Speaker 03

  We started to get the information coming through. There'd been a massive earthquake. Lots of buildings were destroyed in Kathmandu. No flights were leaving Kathmandu. No flights were coming in, only emergency aid workers were coming in. And the earthquake had kicked off a massive avalanche that had wiped out a lot of base camp and killed a lot of people. Killed nineteen, twenty people died instantly. And then there were over a hundred people injured. Well, over a hundred people injured, some very badly.

• 32:17John Hopkins?

  For a while, the countless tasks keep Jules busy as he dashes about camp.

• 32:24John Hopkins?

  But as the minutes become hours, the bleak reality of the situation becomes too great to ignore.

• 32:32John Hopkins?

  Dozens of injured climbers from different countries and different expedition groups are stuck on Mount Everest, seventeen thousand feet up, with the air temperature dropping below freezing.

• 32:43John Hopkins?

  The mess tent is filling up with patients, with injuries ranging from severe bruising to deep lacerations and even in one case, a suspected broken neck.

• 32:54Speaker 03

  There was me and a Sherpa, so there was two of us on duty sort of all night, you know. That tent absolutely stank of blood. The vomit were bleeding badly, so let's try and get some fluids in from the hot soup, very thin soup, so they didn't choke. Try and survive the night, basically, with eighteen very sick people. If we can survive the night, then hopefully, hopefully some help will come in the morning.

• 33:28John Hopkins?

  It's the next day, April the 26th, around 6am.

• 33:33John Hopkins?

  Jules only managed to get to sleep a few hours ago, having spent much of the night tending to his stricken companions.

• 33:40John Hopkins?

  Exhausted from the traumatic events of yesterday, he is tucked up in his sleeping bag on a rocky patch of Everest base camp. As an icy, cold wind rustles the corners of his tent, he starts to wake up. And it's then that he hears an unexpected noise.

• 34:00John Hopkins?

  It sounds like the whirring of helicopter rotor blades, but that can't be the case. The weather was terrible last night, surely they won't have risked flying up here. Besides, the last Jules and his fellow survivors had heard all rescue resources were being directed to Kathmandu, not to the stranded climbers on Everest.

• 34:20John Hopkins?

  But as he stirs in his tent, the sound is unmistakable.

• 34:27Speaker 03

  To my absolute amazement, helicopters had come that morning at 6 o'clock, and they'd taken most of the people out of the hospital tent. They'd gone, they'd managed to ship them away. And, you know, I felt this huge sense of relief and a huge sense of guilt that I felt relief. You know, I felt really, really guilty about it.

• 34:46John Hopkins?

  With the most severely injured now being cared for away from the mountain, the burden on Jules lessens. But that's not to say the struggle is over. Firstly, he must help recover the bodies of those who have perished, before covering them respectfully with tapaulin. Then, his focus returns to those who have survived.

• 35:08John Hopkins?

  With so many camps and groups dotted up and down Everest, it's difficult to know who still needs help. Jules takes it on himself to trek around and investigate.

• 35:19John Hopkins?

  It's while doing this that he discovers the camp of another expedition group: Adventure Consultants. Or rather, what's left of it.

• 35:31Speaker 03

  I went up to Adventure Consultants' camp. I was just absolutely gobsmacked. I mean, there was nothing left standing. The whole thing was completely flat. I mean, every tent, everything, whole. It was just, like, completely obliterated. There was nothing.

• 35:47John Hopkins?

  Half-buried possessions poke out of the snow here and there. Jules bends down to pick something up.

• 35:55Speaker 03

  I found somebody's driving licence. I thought, well, I'll take it back to our camp. There was a lady in our expedition, and she was a heart surgeon. And I showed her this driving licence, and she burst into tears. She said, "That's the guy that I was climbing in Yosemite with last summer, and he's dead."

• 36:15Speaker 03

  I said, "I'm so, so sorry. I am so, so sorry."

• 36:24John Hopkins?

  Though the wounded have been evacuated, it isn't quite so simple for Jules and his companions as just trekking back down the mountain. There are questions around how to descend safely in the wake of the disaster. And even if they can get down, would that even be sensible right now?

• 36:42Speaker 03

  We knew there's no point in going back to Camp Mandu. There's absolute chaos in Camp Mandu. Yeah, absolute chaos. There's people injured, hospitals absolutely full, rammed. So no point in going back to Camp Mandu.

• 36:52John Hopkins?

  Should they stay, or should they go?

• 37:01John Hopkins?

  Two days after the avalanche, conditions have settled somewhat. There have been no more tremors, the sky is starting to clear. Having done everything he can for those around him, despite everything, Jules finds his thoughts turning back to the original purpose that brought him here.

• 37:18Speaker 03

  Do we carry on and climb the mountain, or do we not climb the mountain? If we do climb the mountain, is that a disservice to the people who have died? Or if we don't climb the mountain, is that a disservice to them because if we make something of the expedition, they... You know, it's not that they haven't died in vain, but we've made the best of the season. It's in honouring them, you know? Which way is it? Which way, which way do you go? People may judge me for that, but it's very addictive. You know, I've left my two daughters behind, I'm away for eight weeks. You know, they're very precious to me. I did not want to come back again the following year and spend the other eight weeks doing this.

• 38:00John Hopkins?

  The group is divided. Some agree with Jules that, at this point now, there is a case to be made for attempting to summit. But understandably, others are unconvinced and just want to get home as fast as possible. And now, the clear skies mean a descent is certainly more feasible.

• 38:19John Hopkins?

  It's frustrating, having come so far and committed so much.

• 38:24Speaker 03

  It's such a dangerous mountain because, you know, you get summit fever. People go for the summit, they get close to summit, you get summit fever, you go for it, and that's why people die. Yeah, people die every year, lots of people die every year. And, and it is that summit fever, you get so close, you think, no, I'm gonna go.

• 38:40John Hopkins?

  But ultimately, as tempers flare, it's the group who want to leave who win the debate.

• 38:47John Hopkins?

  Jules and the others prepare for departure.

• 38:51Speaker 03

  We slept that night, on the next morning, eight o'clock, I was packing my kit up and off we go.

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• 39:33Speaker 01

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• 40:08John Hopkins?

  The descent will be long and draining. Jules estimates it will take him the best part of five days to navigate the icy trails.

• 40:17John Hopkins?

  With tensions running high, the climbers agree to descend at their own pace, independently.

• 40:24John Hopkins?

  So, rucksack packed and strapped to his shoulders, jacket zipped up, and hands squeezed into gloves, Jules casts a final glance around the debris-strewn base camp, its remaining flags fluttering sadly in the breeze.

• 40:40John Hopkins?

  With a deep sigh, he heads off down the mountain.

• 40:49John Hopkins?

  After half a day of walking, he reaches the nearby village of Gorokshep, the first of multiple planned stops. And it's here that his luck turns around. Over a meal, he gets talking to a Dutch climber who has special insurance covering the trip, which means there is a helicopter due to pick him up in a few hours. It's a chance for Jules to get home far quicker, and he takes it.

• 41:15Speaker 03

  Because when it's over, it's over. I just want to get home, you know, there's no chance now. I just want to get home and see my kids, you know, I got on the helicopter and went straight back to Kathmandu.

• 41:25John Hopkins?

  From Nepal's devastated capital, Jules eventually manages to get a plane back to England.

• 41:36John Hopkins?

  It's only when he finally makes it home and is reunited with his family that he has an opportunity to really take stock of what happened on Everest.

• 41:45Speaker 03

  It's not, I've been through an incredible experience. I felt very honoured, very honoured to have been there when the earthquake and avalanche happened and to have survived, to survive pretty much unscathed. I felt very honoured to have been there and to have experienced that, and it's an amazing story.

• 42:05John Hopkins?

  The avalanche of April the 25th will be called the deadliest day on Everest. The earthquake in Kathmandu reached 7.8 on the Richter scale. Reports vary, but around 9,000 people were killed, including approximately 20 on Everest. It's estimated that there were a total of 140 climbers stranded up the mountain in the days following, including Jules and his expedition crew. Due to the unprecedented scale of catastrophe, Everest is closed for the rest of the 2015 season.

• 42:40Speaker 03

  And the Nepalese government was so worried, 25% of its tourist income comes from Everest, they were so worried about the impact of this, they thought potentially no one will ever climb Everest ever again.

• 42:56John Hopkins?

  On a personal level, for many reasons, it seems Jules's dream is over.

• 43:02John Hopkins?

  Until it isn't.

• 43:06John Hopkins?

  Later that year, he receives some unexpected news. The Nepalese government announces they are extending Everest permits for another two years, so that people who were unable to complete their expeditions the first time now have another shot. Jules wastes no time.

• 43:24Speaker 03

  I thought, "I'm in remission from cancer, which could come back at any time. I can't wait two years. I can't wait to 2017, because I may not be alive then, so it's got to be 2016. Of course I want to do it, it's so addictive, honestly, honestly, it's so addictive. You can't explain to somebody, you go and you don't succeed. I would have had to keep going back until I'd either killed myself trying it, or I'd done it.

• 43:49John Hopkins?

  And so Jules returns to Everest in the spring of 2016. He joins a different expedition group, made up of Nepalese climbers, with whom he traces the same steps, ledges, ladders, and slopes. As he ticks off the familiar locations on the Everest map, he remembers those who lost their lives a year earlier. Along the trail, memorials are laid for the deceased.

• 44:14Speaker 03

  A lot of the people are still, the bodies are still there on Everest, they're still there. They can't get them down, you know. And I remember looking at it, and there was this woman, and it said, it said, "Loving mother and wife of", and it listed the husband and the three children down below it. And it said, you know, "You lived your dreams", really nice inscription. 2015. She died at base camp, she was one of the 20 people that had died. I remember that really shocked me, that really brought home to me how lucky I was to be alive.

• 44:52John Hopkins?

  Jules pushes on, up into the thin, freezing air. Until finally, a year later than planned, he reaches the summit.

• 45:09John Hopkins?

  Standing over twenty-nine thousand feet up, he has a view of the world. And he won't let anything bring him down.

• 45:19Speaker 03

  I get to the summit, some miserable git on the summit. I get there and there's some guys sitting there, and I say, "Is this the summit?" And they go, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." But bloody fog's coming, can't see the bloody view, you know, this is crap. And I thought, "Oh, you miserable idiot." I'm in Everest, the first thing you say to me, "It is crap." I couldn't believe it, I was like, "What? I'm fine, I'm on top of the world, I'm so happy, I can go back and tell my daughters, I'm really happy." I'm there with this miserable idiot. I couldn't believe it, I'm like, "No, come on, come on, this is it, I made it, yeah."

• 45:56John Hopkins?

  But even after this triumph, Jules receives a stark reminder of the perils of Everest. Suddenly his breath gets short, and he starts experiencing tunnel vision. Thankfully, an altruistic Sherpa is nearby and can provide him with oxygen.

• 46:14John Hopkins?

  A year on from surviving one tragedy on Everest, Jules very nearly falls to another.

• 46:20Speaker 03

  I was that close to death in 2016, it really was, it was like, if that Sherpa hadn't come, I would have, I would still be up there now, frozen to death.

• 46:32John Hopkins?

  When Jules returns to England in the summer of 2016, after climbing the world's highest mountain, he is able to truly celebrate. After overcoming cancer, he once vowed to prove that he was just as strong, if not stronger than before. Having battled through two very different kinds of survival story, he does his best to embody a mindful and positive approach to life.

• 46:56Speaker 03

  Now it's very much, yes. My answer to everything is yes. I don't want to be on my deathbed thinking about my bucket list that I haven't done. I want to be on my deathbed thinking I've lived a full life and I've done lots of really interesting things that I can tell my daughters about, and I hope that inspires them. Life is short, you never know how short it's gonna be, you get an opportunity, take it.

• 47:26John Hopkins?

  Next time on Real Survival Stories.

• 47:30John Hopkins?

  We travel to a wild tropical outcrop off the northeast coast of Australia.

• 47:35John Hopkins?

  In April 1997, Warren McDonald is relaxing on Hinchinbrook Island when a chance encounter with a total stranger presents him with the opportunity of a lifetime. But one night, a bizarre accident changes everything. Smashed to pieces and immobilized, Warren has to pin all his hopes on a man he only met the day before. That's next time on Real Survival Stories.

• 48:07John Hopkins?

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• 48:42Speaker 01

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