Episode 19: Neal Beidleman - Hero on Everest

Mill House Podcast

Mill House

Wilderness, Sports, Leisure, Education, Hobbies

5 • 973 Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2020

⏱️ 99 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Neal Beidleman is no ordinary man. Raised in Aspen, CO his heart had a big outdoor spirit. Pain became a close companion as he started chasing high mountain summits and running 100 mile races.His job is even abnormal - as an aerospace engineer he designs deployable antenna structures for NASA and holds over a dozen patents on designs and devises he has worked on over the years. This guy is what you call - brilliant.While working as a guide for Scott Fischer's 1996 Everest expedition which ended in tragedy, Neal was credited a large role in assisting clients off the mountain to safety. After summiting, a large rouge storm encased the top of Everest with plummeting temperatures, high winds, and zero visibility. The harrowing night had them exposed to the brunt of the storm without shelter at 26,000 feet. Eight people perished...Years later in 2011 and 2018 he successfully summited again, healing the deep wounds of the 96' tragedy.Today he still lives life to its fullest with more big mountain ascents in his near future.His photography has documented his stories which have appeared in National Geographic, TIME, Newsweek, Men's Journal, and the cover of Life Magazine.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Periodically in Millhouse, we are going to have guests that have life-changing historical stories,
0:08.0	such as the one today with Neil Biedleman, a hero during the infamous tragedy on Mount Everest in 1996.
0:15.0	Due to technicalities and a shift in protocol,
0:19.0	two teams were delayed in their departure off the summit.
0:23.8	The climbers became prisoners of a massive storm that encased them overnight.
0:29.1	Eight people died and more would have without kneel. A movie was produced and books were written
0:36.4	about what happened that night and by his own account this is his first full
0:41.0	story of that historical event.
0:44.0	We hope you enjoy.
0:47.0	We broke everything.
0:51.0	We broke lines, we broke cooks, we broke everything we broke lines we broke cooks we broke rods we broke our minds
0:57.0	we broke marriages we broke the whole thing
1:02.4	We came up with the idea of going out that night and chasing girls and
1:05.8	whoever had the biggest pair of pain he's when the pot. I knocked another arrow and
1:10.5	he turned around the other way and I shot him going through the other way.
1:13.4	So I double-lunged him both ways.
1:16.2	But it was nothing for us to paddle an air mattress out into government cut.
1:19.6	I got him on.
1:22.4	All right now, we're going to teach him a lot so. I'm just an old
1:26.7	guy that likes to fish and I'm not quitting yet. And he said, well who the
1:31.0	hell do you think you are Sue App? And I said that's, who the hell do you think you are, Sue App?
1:33.6	And I said, that's exactly who I am.
	...

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