26,000 Feet Up
His guide was afraid for Beck because of his eyesight, but Beck wasn’t worried. Nighttime was approaching quickly, and it made it that much harder to reach the top of Everest. With with the altitude being so high, the high altitude of the mountain was already causing harm to an already exhausted body, and his eyesight issue was making things worse. He knew that the next day would bring the sun back, allowing him to have better vision. So when his guide told him to wait it out, even until the next day if he could, Beck conceded. He was waiting on what climbers called the ‘Balcony,’ which was only 1,500 feet below the summit of Mount Everest.
