He Was Trapped On Mount Everest Alone For Hours In Below Freezing Temperatures. No One Thought They’d Ever See Him Again

Getting Blinded

Apparently, Beck had undergone surgery just a year before the momentous climb, in order to correct his vision. According to him, “Halfway to the top, I realized with deep annoyance that I couldn’t see properly. I had had a cornea operation to correct near-sightedness. Unknown to me, a cornea thus altered will flatten at this altitude, rendering you effectively blind in poor light.”