"There are many questions, but I cannot answer because I'm not a businessman, I am a climber." -- Anatoli Boukreev
Anatoli Nikoliavich Boukreev, , (January 16, 1958 - December 25, 1997) was a Kazakhstani (USSR/Kazakhstan) climber who made ascents of seven of the 8,000 metre peaks without supplemental oxygen. In total he made 18 successful ascents on peaks above 8000 m (1989 - 1997). Boukreev was lost under an avalanche on Annapurna. The direct transliteration of his Russian name is Anatolij Nikolaevich Bukreev.
Boukreev was relatively unknown, though well accomplished, in the international climbing community until the 1996 spring climbing season on Mount Everest, when eight people died in one of the biggest tragedies in the climbing history of Mount Everest. The event was chronicled in the best-selling books Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer and The Climb by Boukreev (among others).
"A review of summit day photographs will show that I was clothed in the latest, highest quality, high altitude gear, comparable, if not better, than that worn by the other members of our expedition.""Climbing is what I do.""Concerned that others were not coming onto the summit and because I had no radio link to those below me, I began to wonder if there were difficulties down the mountain. I made the decision to descend.""I am not sure the others are as committed as Rob Hall and Scott Fischer. I think there is more business now, and I know it will be impossible to stop this Everest business.""I don't know what being an Everest guide means. I am a coach, not a guide.""I explained I wanted to descend as quickly as possible to camp IV in order to warm myself and gather a supply of hot drink and oxygen in the event I might need to go back up the mountain to assist descending climbers.""I offer my expertise and experience for hire in order to help a group of people reach the summit.""I respect Everest very much.""I said to Scott that the ascent seemed to be going slowly and that I was concerned descending climbers could possibly run out of oxygen before their return to camp IV.""I think that people ran out of oxygen and don't really know what happened up there, maybe some of them just made things up because they weren't sure what had happened.""I told them, you can succeed - it's not likely the first time, maybe 25 per cent, but you CAN succeed. You can also die. By April 16 they had already been to camp III, well ahead of most teams.""I travel to Jakarta, I see what an important country it is. I've been working with them for a year.""I want this book to be facts, to be important, to be history.""People respected my experience, they hire me, they pay me what I am worth to coach their team.""This year my role is clear: I am a coach, a coach to sportsmen.""What we can do now is contribute to a clearer understanding of what happened that day on Everest in the hope that the lessons to be learned will reduce the risk for others who, like us, take on the challenge of the mountains."
Boukreev was born on January 16, 1958 in Korkino, U.S.S.R in the Chelyabinsk Oblast. After completing high school in 1975, he attended Chelyabinsk University for Pedagogy in the Russian SFSR, where he majored in physics and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in 1979. At the same time, he also completed a coaching program for cross-country skiing.
After graduation, the 21-year-old dreamed of real mountains. Boukreev moved to Alma-Ata, the capital of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic located at ridge Tian Shan. Since 1985 supporting a combined team of Kazakhstan on mountaineering, in 1991 after the breakup of the USSR he accepted Kazakhstan Republic citizenship.
Boukreev became widely known as the lead climbing guide for the Mountain Madness expedition headed by Scott Fischer, in May 1996. The expedition was one of several attempting to summit Everest on the same day, which resulted in numerous deaths; Boukreev rescued a number of climbers stranded in the ensuing disaster.
In the winter of 1997, Boukreev was attempting to climb the south face of Annapurna I () along with Simone Moro, an accomplished Italian mountaineer. They were accompanied by Dimitri Sobolev, a cinematographer from Kazakhstan, who was documenting the attempt. On December 25 around noon, Boukreev and Moro were fixing ropes in a couloir at around the level. Suddenly, a cornice broke loose from a ridge not visible from the climbing route. The resulting avalanche knocked Moro down the mountain where he landed just above their tent at Camp I . Fortuitously, Moro had somehow stayed near the top of the avalanche debris and managed to dig himself out after a few minutes. Unable to see or hear any signs of Boukreev or Sobolev, Moro descended to Annapurna base camp where he was flown by helicopter back to Kathmandu for surgery on his hands, which had been ripped down to the tendons during the fall.
News of the accident reached New Mexico on December 26. Linda Wylie, Boukreev's girlfriend, left for Nepal on December 28. Several attempts were made to reach the avalanche site by helicopter but inclement weather in late December prevented search teams from reaching Camp I. There was some hope that perhaps Boukreev and Sobolev had managed to reach Camp I. However, on January 3, 1998, searchers were finally able to reach Camp I and an empty tent. Linda Wylie subsequently issued a somber statement from Kathmandu:
At the site of Annapurna base-camp there is a memorial chorten to Boukreev including a quotation of his:
