The South Summit 26 May 1953

You are climbing with Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, the first summit team of the British Everest expedition.

Using experimental closed-circuit oxygen sets, the pair have reached the South Summit of Everest at about 1:15 p.m. The true summit lies ahead along a narrow, corniced ridge that no one has ever climbed.

Known information

Evans has had repeated trouble with his oxygen set during the climb, and they suspect a faulty canister.
They estimate it would take around three hours of step-cutting to reach the summit along the ridge.
Their remaining oxygen is expected to last only about two and a half hours.
A second team, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, is waiting lower on the mountain to make its own attempt.
Descending exhausted, late in the day and without oxygen at this altitude would be extremely dangerous.

Reveal what happened (spoilers: decide first)

Fact

What actually happened

Bourdillon and Evans turned back. (Turn back now)

Bourdillon and Evans decided they could not reach the summit and return safely, and descended, exhausted, to the South Col. Three days later, on 29 May 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest, the first people known to have done so, and both teams returned safely.

Important

Possible consequences · Analysis and speculation, not fact

With limited oxygen and three hours of climbing still ahead, most accounts suggest a summit push would have left the pair descending in the dark or out of oxygen, with a high chance of not returning. Success was not impossible, but it would have been a gamble.

History does not reveal what would definitely have happened under the other choice. Many factors could have changed the outcome.

Context · Why it was decided this way

Expedition leader John Hunt had planned the first assault partly to test the closed-circuit oxygen system and to push the route as high as possible. The first team’s climb to the South Summit gave the second team valuable information about the final ridge.

Mountaineers often cite the decision as an example of turning back in time. Both Bourdillon and Evans went on to further climbing careers.