Real Survival Stories - Deadliest Day on Everest

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

As his surname suggests, Jules Mountain is a man destined to scale the heights. After battling cancer and emerging with a new lease of life, he takes on the epic challenge of reaching the top of Mount Everest. But when an enormous earthquake causes the slopes to crumble around him, Jules is once again left staring death in the face…   A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins.   Written by Nicole Edmunds | Produced by Ed Baranski | Assistant Producer: Luke Lonergan | Exec produced by Joel Duddell | Sound design by Tom Pink, Matt Peaty | Assembly edit by Rob Plummer | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Ralph Tittley   For ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions   If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you’d like to put forward for the show, let us know. Drop us an email at [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi everyone. We have some exciting news. The Noiser Network is launching a book series with Harper Collins. And guess what? The first one is available to pre-order today. It's called A Short History of Ancient Rome. It's everything you love about the short history of podcast, but a deeper dive, 18 chapters on 18 colorful characters. Written by Noiser founder Pascal Hughes, the book transforms 1,000 years of history into a riveting and action-packed account of the birth, rise, and ultimate. fall of Rome. You'll follow Hannibal as he crosses the snow-capped Alps with elephants in tow, shadow Julius Caesar, as he ponderes whether to cross the Rubicon River, watch on as Cicero delivers an impassioned speech to the Senate, and meet Queen Zenobia, who decided she was no longer going to obey Roman rule. A short history of ancient Rome brings the ancient world to life, the perfect treat for yourself, or a great gift to have up your sleeve for friends and family. Visit noisor.com forward slash book to find out more. That's noisor. It's the afternoon of April 25th, 2015.

17 and a half thousand feet above sea level on the Himalayan border between Nepal and Tibet lies Everest base camp. The enormous bright white glacier is dotted with dozens of orange, blue and green tents, all held down by ropes which creak and sway in the brisk breeze. Surrounding the tents are hundreds of flags from all over the world, adding patriotic splashes of color to this monochromatic landmass.

As an icy gust of wind blows through the camp, 49-year-old Jules Mountain emerges from the mess tent. He isn't feeling his best. Ed still reeling from a party at camp last night, Jules tucks his gloved hands into the pockets of his jacket and buries his face in his thermal buff. He wades through the snow, taking quick, shallow gulps of oxygen

with every laboured step until he reaches his own two-man tent. As he's settling down on the cold floor to undo his snow boots, he feels the ground beneath him shift. All of a sudden, the ground just moved up, a meter. It was like, whoa! And then it shunted to the left,

and it shuntered to the right. And I sort of thought, what the hell? I thought, that can't be alcohol. I even felt like somebody pushed in my back. Jules throws his hands down to steady himself. He waits a few seconds for the shaking to stop, his heart rate rising and his breath quickening. But instead of ceasing, the vibrations grow more violent.

There is a loud rumble like an approaching thunderstorm. I got out of the tent, I'm in my socks, and I'm looking around. Oh my gosh. The whole sky, the whole sky is just filled full of snow and it's all coming towards us. In every direction there is a wall of white. There's no telling where the ground ends or the sky starts.

The mountainside is on the move, crumbling before his eyes. With every second that passes, the rumble increases as the colossal mound of snow picks up speed and hurdles towards base camp. It's all billowing round and flowing. The whole sky, everything I can see is full of snow. and it's hurtling towards us. And I'm thinking, what do I do? What do we do?

I'm about to die. Never wondered what do you would do? Have you ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to real survival stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. ordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode, we meet Jules Mountain. As his surname suggests, Jules is a man destined to

scale the heights. And in 2015, the 49-year-old sets off on an expedition to conquer the greatest height of all, Mount Everest. But a few days after reaching base camp, an enormous earthquake in Kathmandu triggers an avalanche in the Himalayas, sending hundreds of tons of snow cascading from Everest Summit. I had no idea what it was. It was like, is this the Third World War? Is this the Armageddon? Is this the end of the world?

You imagine you're sitting here now, and all of a sudden in front of you, the sky just fills for the snow. And it's so big, it's so big. With the snowy juggernaut plummeting towards him and seconds to react, there is nowhere to hide. I thought, well, what do I do? And I'm looking at the two Polish climbers,

because they're standing outside their tents looking at it. And I saw them dive into his tent, I thought that's the thing to do. So at the last minute, I just dived into my tent and covered my head. And next thing, all hell broke loose. I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is real survival stories. It's February 2050, in the east of France, near the Italian and Swiss borders.

Surrounded by the picturesque peaks of Chamonie, 49-year-old Jules Mountain is relaxing with his friends in a lively bar. It's been a long, tiring day in the mountains for Jules, leading tourists up and down the slopes as part of the ski club of Great Britain. As the sun sets and the empty beer glasses pile higher on the table, he and his friends exchange their best stories of adventure and misadventure in the mountains. Jules has a number up his sleeve, having skied with the club for many years. There is one man here whose tails trump even his. A friend of a friend, the man explains that he's a skier, climber, and adventure enthusiast whose many accolades include reaching the summit of Everest.

We're chatting about Everest. I said, are you going this year? He said, yeah, yeah. He said it's April and May. And then before I'd even thought about it, I just said to him casually, I said, oh, can I come? And as the words came out of my mouth, I thought, oh, my God, I thought, Jules, what have you just said? I knew if he said yes, I'd have to go. Summitting the world's tallest and most famous peak is a challenge that's been on Jules' bucket list for as long as he,

can remember. Ever since childhood, he's been drawn to the rugged beauty of the mountains. Best day for me in the world is go out of the mountains and pick a route away from the ski lifts, away from madding crowds, look out over the mountains. It's so beautiful. It's all white. It's so peaceful and sit there and have a nice sandwich and a cup of tea, you know, and then get ready to ski down and then just have a great ski and some great powder. That is, there's no day better than that. That is it for me. That is perfect. His love for the outdoors resulted in him taking a job with the Ski Club of Great Britain. For years he spent the seasons leading tourists up snow-capped peaks across icy glaciers and through Arctic forests.

He became adept at balancing leisure, work and family, as he raised two young daughters and founded and built his own business. Hoping to sell his company one day and enjoy the fruits of his labours, it seemed like everything was on true. It seemed like everything was on track, until catastrophe struck. In 2007, aged 41, Jules was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. It's like a tidal wave comes over you. You know, it's like, bash, am I going to die tomorrow? Am I going to die next week? I've got two young daughters.

Am I going to see them grow up? All the place you get to you don't want it in your head. You know, if you're getting your arm, cut your arm off, getting your leg, cut your leg, cut your leg off, hitting your head not so good, really. Cut the head off, it's a bit terminal. The odds of surviving the cancer was slim. Within a week of the diagnosis, Jules was wheeled into hospital as medics prepared him for a lengthy operation to remove the tumor. Even if the surgery was successful, there was a good chance he'd never regain his normal life. There was the possibility that his voice box may become so damaged in the process that he'd never be able to speak again.

After a grueling seven and a half hours on the operating table, Jules woke up. You wake up and you can't move your mouth and all your eyes dropped, everything's dropped on this side of your face, and it's likely done five rounds in Mike Tyson. My brain didn't know what was going on. My brain was like, what's happening? You know, I've gone to sleep, I've woken up and I'm just in screaming pain. Everything aches like mad. And then I got an itch, and I knew the itch was.

on my ear. And I couldn't find my ear. I'm like, where's my ear? I couldn't actually locate anything on this side of the face because they'd reconnected all the nerves, but they were all wrong. Thankfully though, despite the discomfort, the surgery was a success. The tumor had been removed and his speech was unaffected. But this was far from the end of the journey. While adjusting to the cocktail of drugs flowing through his veins, Jules suffered an anaphylactic shock just days after the operation. His brother was by his bedside at the time and alerted the nurses.

The next thing, the bells go off. You know, and they bring the crash team in. The registrarlings over me. He said, I may have to cut you open down the sternum. It'd be very messy so I can get my hand in and massage your heart. Next thing is stick an oxygen mask on me. They roll me over. Stick a blooming great needle on my back side,

start pumping me full of stuff. And they got it under control, no need to slice me open. And then I said to my brother, don't leave me. Don't leave me. I said, you can't leave me, you know. And they brought a campbed in and he slept there for the whole night, held my hand all night, and slept in a camp bed next to me. And even now, even now when I think about that, it makes me quite emotional, actually.

I just thought I don't want to die alone. Jules recovered from this close shave, but soon he had another obstacle to overcome. Over the next four months, he was going to have to undergo six rounds of chemotherapy. Six is hell! Because everyone you have, you get worse. You get weaker. You get weaker, you get more ill, and you feel more sick.

So it's a brutal process, but it gives you the best chance of survival. Four slow, painful months passed as Jules grappled with his new reality. Half of his time was spent in lawyers' offices drawing up deals to sell his business. Otherwise, he was in London's University College Hospital, where nurses took countless samples of blood and doctors pumped his body full of drugs. finally the treatment came to an end it worked it worked I'm very grateful and I wanted to prove to myself

that I was still as capable after chemo and the surgery as I was before surviving cancer gave Jules a renewed vigor he vowed to come back stronger and make the most of every opportunity so when eight years later in February 25 While on a skiing trip in Chamonie, Jules meets a man in a bar who is heading to Everest. He takes his chance. I just said to him casually.

I said, oh, can I come? He looks at me and he goes, yeah, he said, you've seen a reasonably experience in the mountains. He said, you do the guiding and, you know, a bit of climbing. And he goes, he said, yeah, I think it'll be all right. Yeah, you can come. And I was like, oh, my gosh, what have I done? To Everest, you know, it's my mental step up that, isn't it? appear. But I said there's no buts. You want to do what you don't. It's simple. You know, it's

simple. And trust me, when you've had cancer, you tend to take every opportunity that arises because you never know when it's going to come back and it's going to bite you. So take the opportunity when you get the chance. There's just one catch. Most people train for around four years before attempting to summit Everest. But this trip begins in April. has eight weeks. The clock is ticking, but he remains determined and crams as much preparation into the two-month window as possible. He purchases the necessary kit, secures the expensive permit, and spends time on the slopes of the Alps to get in some much-needed climbing practice

and altitude training. When April arrives, Jules says an emotional goodbye to his partner and two young daughters, aware that he won't be seeing them now for eight weeks. Then, passport in hand and bags full of climbing gear, he boards the plane from London to Kathmandu. On arrival in Nepal, Jules travels to the hotel where he meets the rest of the expedition team. All in all, there are 16 climbers in his group, a motley international crew.

The prospect of spending the next two months with this gang is exciting, and a little intimidating. I turned up in Kathmandu, turned up at the hotel, and we had a meeting that night with everybody. And this guy walks in the room, and he's big and musly, American guy. And he's got these tattoos, he's got bald head. He's got tattoos of like incas, you know, all over him. I went, oh my gosh. And he was just big and musly and terrifying.

And I thought, wow, I'm going to be the little tiny guy that bothered me up. There were two Polish guys there. And again, they were bald-headed and they were really wiry and they were wearing special clothing, you know, climbing clothing. And they just looked like they've climbed the whole their lives. They were born for climbing, you know. But the climbers are friendly and welcome jewels into the group. Like him, most of the others have hired Sherpers to accompany them on the trip, highly skilled guides native to Nepal who know Everest well.

The Sherpas will prepare the route, fix ropes in. in place and transport the necessary gear up the slopes. The following day, once the climbers and chirpers are acquainted with one another, the team flies from Kathmandu to the little rural town of Lukla. Sitting nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, its colourful houses are shrouded in the shadows of the mountains. And it's from here that the long climb up Everest begins. The track from Lucla to Base Camp is literally like a walk in the Alps. And there's a trail, and there's some incredible suspension bridges that they built across the valleys.

And there are yaks for this, you know, the big cow looking things. So you have two bags, two expedition bags. One bag's full of your climbing equipment. That goes straight up to Base Camp. The other bag has on your sort of day gear in it. And then any electronics gear, like your mobile phone or your laptop or whatever you want with you, that's in your own backpack. Over the course of ten days, the team hike up the Himalayas.

They make slow but solid progress, passing key points on the Everest map, the bustling mountainside town of Namche Bazaar, the holy monasteries of Tenbuche, and the Sherpa village Dimbuchay with its wide, green-roofed homes. It's an ethereal journey through some of the remotest settlements on earth, all surrounded by the glorious mountain range. The altitude slowly increases, and by the time they reach the frozen lakebed of Gorokshep, they're standing nearly 17,000 feet above sea level. With each stage of their as the air becomes thinner as the oxygen supply dwindles.

Altitude sickness becomes a growing danger, as does the ever-dropping temperature. So every night, you know, going to sleep in your tent is like getting into a freezer and hoping you wake up in the morning. It is hell on earth, it's horrible. I remember the first night in that tent I thought oh my gosh this really is horrific and I got in the tent and I'm freezing cold

so I'm still got my trousers on I've still got my jumper my t-shirt my gloves on I've got a beanie hat on and I took that off and I realized next day what a big mistake that was

you want to sleep with your beanie hat on because it is so bloody cold finally after more than a week of trekking through the day and freezing through the night the team arrives at the first major checkpoint of their trip, Everest Base Camp. The climbers begin setting up their tents. The sprawling white glacier is a polka dot pattern of colorful fabric and flags.

Gigantic peaks enclose the camp, at once inspiring and imposing. From here, the team eases into a pleasant rhythm. We got settled into base camp, and it was great. We're all very excited to pick base camp. I remember the first morning, they ding the bell. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding a cup of tea in your tent, which is lovely. Ding the old bell, sort of say, time to get up. The sun comes up at about 8 o'clock.

Once the sun's up, it's quite pleasant. I mean, you're still got a jacket on, but it is quite pleasant, you know. And then go to the mess tent. Eating times are very important, because eating times when everyone gets together. Over time, the camaraderie of the group grows stronger, an important factor as the conditions become increasingly intense. The next few days are all about adjusting to the altitude. Base camp is 17,500 feet above sea level,

meaning oxygen is in short supply. Every step up requires six breaths. Each movement is as slow as walking through water, and head rushes and dizziness become part of daily life. Jules cannot simply power on to the top from here. He needs to complete shorter climbs to tackle the summit in increments, constantly returning to camp to recharge. Every time you go higher, your body produce lots of red blood cells,

you oxygenate and you acclimatize. The body adjusts to a higher altitude. Then you spend several days back at base camp to relax. So eat well, rest, well, sleep well. Eat well, rest, well, sleep well. That's what they were saying to all the time. So there's no rush. It's the morning of April 25th, 2015.

As the pale sun rises in the sky, casting weak yellow beams through the thick snow clouds, Jules wakes up inside his tent. As usual, he is shivering. Inside the cocoon of his sleeping bag, his ice-cold hands are tucked. into his pockets. Each breath he takes emits an icy cold cloud. But this morning it's not just the temperature that's testing Jules. He and his expeditionary group partied hard last night to let off some steam. And now the cocktail of alcohol and altitude was made for an unpleasant hangover. Taking things even slower than usual, Jules rules out climbing today. Not that he'll miss

much. The sky is already overcast and dark, rendering visibility poor. So, heaving himself to his feet, he gets up and heads to the mess tent to get some food in him. In the early afternoon, having spent some time with his fellow climbers, Jules returns to his tent to relax and to try to keep warm. But as he's zipping up the flap to keep the heat in and the snow out, he suddenly feel something strange a small hum at first a vibration and then unmistakably the ground starts to tremble all the sudden the ground just moved up a meter ground was like was like whoa and then it when it shone to the left and it's shown to the right And I sort of thought, what the hell?

I thought, that calm me alcohol. I felt like somebody pushed in my back. Jules is violently thrown forwards towards the front of his tent. The ground shifts this way and that, rocking him sideways, as though he's on a fairground ride. The air outside is pierced with screams and shouts from his fellow campers. Amongst the panicked voices, there's also the crash of heavy objects. metal scrapes against metal

heavy thuds hit the snow and fabric tears as base camp is ripped apart and still the shaking continues Jules tries to steady himself tensing every muscle in his body as he reaches for the tent's zip despite the violent tremors

he manages to open the flap and slowly clambers out onto the snow-covered ground I got out the tent under my socks and I'm looking around and everyone's looking to the left so I'm looking to the left and oh my gosh the whole sky the whole sky is just filled full of snow and it's all coming towards us it's all billowing around and flowy the whole sky everything I can see is full of snow and it's hurtling towards us and I'm thinking what do what do we do I'm about

to die I'm about to die I'm looking I'm looking I'm thinking can I run you know I'm on the glass here it's all ice I've got my socks on I've got no shoes on no time for my shoes on I thought what do I do Jules stands, mouth agape, rooted to the spot. Little does he know that 100 miles away in Kathmandu, there has been a massive earthquake. And the resultant shockwaves are causing the Himalayan slopes to collapse. Jules looks all around him, but everywhere is the same. Every inch is covered in a giant blanket of fast-moving ice, rock and snow.

I had no idea what it was. It was like, is this the Third World War, is this the Armageddon? Is this the end of the world? You imagine you're sitting here now, and all of a sudden, in front of you, the sky just fills full of snow, and it's all just coming towards you. And it's so big, it's so big. You know, the ground shakes, and then, let's say the whole sky, everything you can see.

You look out the window there, everything you can see. As high as you can see up to the clouds, it's just full of snow. And it's all billowing. It's rolling like this. It's coming towards you. There is now escaping this immense. Hence, icy tidal wave. And then Jules notices the two Polish climbers from his expedition group in the near distance.

Panic is etched on their faces too. But they suddenly burst into action, diving head first back inside their tent. Without wasting any more time, Jules does the same. I just dived into my tent and covered my head. And next thing, all hell broke loose and I'm buried alive in my tent. Within seconds, the freezing barrage is upon him. Tons and tons of snow flatten his tent and trap him in an icy grave. Thick layers pile above, squeezing the space, blocking out the light.

Jules lies flat on his face, arms protecting his head, eyes clenched shut. The patter of snow grows softer, more muffled. But it's not a sign of the avalanche. aren't slowing. Rather, it's that the powder is piling higher around him, burying him deeper and deeper. Seconds stretch into minutes. There's no room to move, barely any to breathe. I'm buried, I'm buried alive in my tent, and I'm sort of thinking, what the hell is, you know, what's going on? Suddenly everything goes quiet. Jules stays still, his breath shallow.

Then he decides to wriggle around to see if he can move at all. He finds he is able to adjust his position ever so slightly. Unbelievably, he doesn't seem to be injured in any way. Gently, slowly, he shimmies his body around and reaches for the zip on the front of his tent. There's snow everywhere. So I end up, the craziest thing, I end up scrambling through the snow, I'm trying to pull the snow off to get to my bags to find my phone and my laptop. Isn't that crazy?

I've just nearly died, and I'm looking for electronics because I think it mustn't get wet. So I'm trying to, I'm raking through all the snow, and then I'm trying to push the snow out of the tent. You know, I'm trying to shove it all that snow. Jules' fingers claw at the dense, frigid mass all around him. He fights through the snow, moving a swift. as he can, trying to escape before everything collapses. Luckily, I was able to push up out of the snow and lift myself up and get my head out of the snow.

I came out, my tent, and we're all looking at each other. We're like, what the hell, what's happened? You know, everyone's completely confused. No one really knows what the hell's going on. As his eyes adjust to his surroundings, the extent of the damage becomes clear. It's like a bomb has exploded on the mountainside. Base camp is now a disaster zone. The camp's two satellite dishes, their best means of communication,

have been crushed beyond repair. Tents and climbing gear lies strewn across the blanket of white, as giant displaced rocks and boulders lie haphazardly across the camp. Meanwhile, the toilet block has been utterly destroyed. Its poles pierced the canteen like spears. Jules gingerly steps out of his tent to assess the situation more closely. And that's when he sees it's not only equipment that has been affected. I'm looking over and I can see the cook and he's standing there and I've never seen it any like this.

He was caught outside in the blast. He's still alive, but there's nothing. He's got his glasses on. His glasses are completely frosted. He's covered in snow. He's actually covered in snow. Luckily, none of the gents saw it's holes have gone through him. And I'm like, I rushed over to him.

I'm like, are you right? Are you all right? All right. And he's just like, he's like this. It didn't move. Couldn't say anything. He was absolutely so deeply in shock. He gently guides the cook towards the mess tent,

which somehow is still largely intact and sits him down. down. But there are others here who need help. Jules jumps into action, racing around the camp. Wherever he looks, it's hysteria and horror. The first person I saw this woman, and she's with her husband and another couple, they're in shorts and t-shirts, and she's like, we've got to go, we've got to go, we've got to go. I said, go where? Go where? So we've got to go, we've got to go. I said, where are you going? And it was like this sheer panic of needing to get the hell out of the place where she perceived the danger was.

It's pandemonium. Some people are trying to rush away from the glacier. Some are wailing in pain, and some stare blankly into the distance, in complete shock at what's happened. It's clear that someone needs to take charge to help the injured, organize a rescue mission, and prevent the ensuing chaos from becoming even more deadly than the disaster itself. Unhurt, calm under pressure, and a natural leader, Jules falls into the role. He instructs people around him to move the injured into the mess tent, where they can make cups of tea to keep them warm. Any spare blankets or clothes can be handed out too.

Trained in first aid, Jules is able to provide basic treatment himself. Amid the chaos, one of the team has managed to retrieve their satellite phone. It's not the most reliable form of communication by any means, but at least it's something. The stranded climbers gather around the phone as it crackles into life, holding their breath in anticipation. And then, suddenly, through the static, a voice croaks through the receiver. We started to get the information coming through. There'd been a massive earthquake. Lots of buildings were destroyed in Kathmandu.

no flights were leaving Kathmandu, no flights were coming in, only emergency aid workers were coming in, and the earthquake had kicked off a massive avalanche that had wiped out a lot of base camp and killed a lot of people, killed 19, 20 people died instantly, and then there were over 100 people injured, whatever 100 people injured, some very badly. For a while, the countless tasks keep Jules busy as he dashes. about camp. But as the minutes become ours, the bleak reality of the situation becomes too great to ignore. Dozens of injured climbers from different countries and different expedition groups are stuck on Mount Everest 17,000 feet up with the air temperature dropping below freezing.

The mess tent is filling up with patients, with injuries ranging from severe bruising to deep lacerations and even in one case a suspected broken neck there was me and a sherpa so there was two of us on duty sort of all night you know that tent absolutely stank of blood the volume were bleeding badly so let's try and get some fluids into them and the hot soup very thin soup so they didn't choke try and survive the night basically with 18 very sick people if we can survive the night then hopefully hopefully some help will come in the morning It's the next day, April 26th, around 6 a.m. Jules only managed to get to sleep a few hours ago, having spent much of the night tending to his stricken companions.

Exhausted from the traumatic events of yesterday, he is tucked up in his sleeping bag on a rocky patch of Everest base camp. as an icy cold wind rustles the corners of his tent he starts to wake up and it's then that he hears an unexpected noise it sounds like the whirring of helicopter rotor blades but that can't be the case the weather was terrible last night surely they won't have risked flying up here besides the last jules and his fellow survivors had heard all rescue resources were being directed to Kathmandu, not to the stranded climbers on Everest. But as he stirs in his tent, the sound is unmistakable.

To my absolute amazement, helicopters had come that morning 6 o'clock, and they'd taken most of the people at the hospital tent, they'd gone, they'd managed to ship them away. And I felt this huge sense of relief and a huge sense of guilt that I felt relief. You know, I felt really, really guilty about it. With the most severely injured now being cared for away from the mountain, the burden on Jules' lessons. But that's not to say the struggle is over. Firstly, he must help recover the bodies of those who have perished, before covering them respectfully with Tupolin.

Then his focus returns to those who have survived. With so many camps and groups dotted up and down Everest, it's difficult to know who still needs help. Jules takes it on himself to track around and investigate. It's while doing this that he discovers the camp of another expedition group, Adventure Consultants, or rather what's left of it. I went up to Adventure Consultants camp. I was just absolutely gobsmate. I mean, there was nothing left standing.

The whole thing was completely flat. I mean, every tent, everything, whole, it was just like completely obliterated. There was nothing. Half-buried possessions poke out of the snow here and there. Jules bends down to pick something up. I found somebody's driving license. I thought, I'll take it back to our camp.

There was a lady in our expedition, and she was a heart surgeon, and I showed her this driving license, and she burst into tears. She said that's the guy that I was climbing in Yosemite with last summer, and he's dead. And he's dead. I said, I'm so, so sorry. I am so so sorry. Though the wounded have been evacuated,

it isn't quite so simple for Jules and his companions as just trekking back down the mountain. There are questions around how to descend safely in the wake of the disaster. And even if they can get down, would that even be sensible right now? We knew there's no point going back to Kathmandu. It was absolute chaos in Kathmandu.

Yeah, absolutely chaos. It's people injured. Hospitals absolutely full, rammed. There's no point going back to Kathmandu. Should they stay or should they go? Two days after the avalanche, conditions have settled somewhat. There have been no more tremors. The sky is starting to clear.

Having done everything he can for those. around him. Despite everything, Jules finds his thoughts turning back to the original purpose that brought him here. Do we carry on and climb the mountain or do we not climb the mountain? If we do climb the mountain, is that a disservice to the people that have died? Or if we don't climb the mountain, is that a disservice to them because if we make something of the expedition, it's not that they haven't died in vain, but we've made the best of the season. It's in on them you know which way is it which way which way do you go people may judge me for that but it's very addictive you know i've left my two daughters behind i'm away for eight weeks you know

they're very precious to me i did not want to come back again the following year and spend another eight weeks doing this the group is divided some agree with jewels that at this point now there is a case to be made for attempting to summit but understandably others are unconvinced and just want to get home as fast as possible. And now the clear skies mean a descent is certainly more feasible. It's frustrating, having come so far and committed so much. It's such James Mayampton because, you know, you get summit fever. People go for the summit, they get close to summit.

You get summit fever, you go for it, and that's why people die. You know, people die every year. Lost people die every year. And it is that summit fever, you get so close, you think, no, I'm going to go. But ultimately, as tempers flare, it's the group who want to leave who win the debate. Jules and the others prepare for departure. We sat that night on the next morning 8 o'clock. It was packing your kit up and off we go. The descent will be long and draining.

Jules estimates it will take him the best part of five days to navigate the icy trails. With tensions running high, the climbers agreed to descend at their own pace independently. So, rucksack packed and strapped to his shoulders, jacket zipped up, and hands squeezed into gloves, Jules casts a final glance around the debris-strewn base camp, its remaining flags fluttering sadly in the breeze. a deep sigh. He heads off down the mountain. After half a day of walking, he reaches the nearby village of Gorokshep, the first of multiple plan stops. And it's here that his luck turns around. Over a meal he gets talking to a Dutch climber who has special insurance covering

the trip, which means there is a helicopter due to pick him up in a few hours. It's a chance for Jules to get home far quicker, and he takes it. Because when it's over, it's over. I want to want to get home. You know, there's no chance now. I just want to get home and see my kids. You know, I got an helicopter and went straight back to Kathmandu. From Nepal's devastated capital, Jules eventually manages to get a plane back to England.

It's only when he finally makes it home and is reunited with his family, that he has an opportunity to really take stock of what happened on Everest. I thought I've been through an incredible experience. I felt very honored, very honored to have been there when the earthquake and avalanche happened and to have survived, to survive pretty much unscathed. I felt very honored to have been there and to have experienced that. And it's an amazing story.

The avalanche of April the 25th will be called the deadliest day. on Everest. The earthquake in Kathmandu reached 7.8 on the Richter scale. Reports vary, but around 9,000 people were killed, including approximately 20 on Everest. It's estimated that there were a total of 140 climbers stranded up the mountain in the days following, including Jules and his expedition group. Due to the unprecedented scale of catastrophe, Everest is closed for the rest of the 2015 season. And the Nepalese government was so worried,

25% of this tourist income comes from Everest. They were so worried about the impact of this, they thought potentially no one will ever climb Everest ever again. On a personal level, for many reasons, it seems Jules' dream is over. Until it isn't. Later that year, he received some unexpected news. The Nepalese government announces they are extending Everest permits for another two years,

so that people who are unable to complete their expeditions the first time now have another shot. Jules wastes no time. I thought I'm in remission from cancer, which could come back at any time. I can't wait two years. I can't wait to 2017 because I may not be alive then, so it's got to be 2016. Of course I want to do it. It's so addictive. Honestly, it's so addictive.

You can't explain somebody. You go and you don't succeed. I would have had to keep going back until I'd either kill myself trying it or I'd done it. And so Jules returns to Everest in the spring of 2016. He joins a different expedition group made up of Nepalese climbers with whom he traces the same steps, ledges, ladders and slopes.

As he ticks off the familiar locations on the Everest map, he remembers those who lost their lives a year earlier. Along the trail, memorials are laid for the deceased. A lot of the people are still, the bodies are still there on Everest. They're still there. They can't get them down, you know. And I remember looking at it, and there was this woman. And it said, loving mother and wife of,

and it listed the husband and the three children down below it. And it said, you know, you lived your dreams. Really nice inscription. 2015. She died at base camp. She was one of the 20 people that had died. I remember that really shocked me. That really brought home to me

how lucky I was to be alive. Jules pushes on, up into the thin, freezing air. Until finally, a year later than planned, he reaches the summit. Standing over 29,000 feet up, he has a view of the world. And he won't let anything bring him down. I get to the summit. It's a miserable git on the summit.

I get there, and there's some guy's singing, and I say, is this the summit? And they go, yeah, yeah, yeah. But bloody fogs come in, can't see the bloody view, you know, this is crap. And I said, oh, you miserable idiot. I'm in Everett. It's the first thing you say to me. It is crap. I couldn't believe that.

I was like, what? I'm on top of the world. I'm so happy. I can go back and tell my daughters. I'm really happy. I'm there with this miserable idiot. I couldn't believe me. I'm like, no.

Come on, come on. This is it. I made it. Yeah. But even after this triumph, Jules received a stark reminder of the perils of Everest. Suddenly his breath gets short, and he starts experiencing.

tunnel vision. Thankfully, an altruistic Sherpa is nearby and can provide him with oxygen. A year on from surviving one tragedy on Everest, Jules very nearly falls to another. I was that close to death in 2016. It really was. It was like, if that Sherpa hadn't come, I would have, I would still be up there near, frozen to death. When Jules returns to England in the summer of 2016, after Cluel's return to England, in the summer of 2016, after climbing the world's highest mountain, he is able to truly celebrate. After overcoming cancer, he once vowed to prove that he was just as strong, if not stronger, than before.

Having battled through two very different kinds of survival story, he does his best to embody a mindful and positive approach to life. Now it's very much yes. My answer to everything is yes. I don't want to be on my deathbed thinking about my bucket list than I haven't done. I won't be on my deathbed thinking I've lived a full life and I've done lots of really interesting things that I can tell my daughter's about,

and I hope that inspires them. Life is short. You never know how short it's going to be. You get an opportunity, take it. Next time on real survival stories. We travel to a wild tropical outcrop of the northeast coast of Australia. In April 1997, Warren MacDonald is relaxing on Hinchinbrook Island, when a chance encounter with a total stranger presents him with the opportunity of a lifetime.

But one night, a bizarre accident changes everything. Smashed to pieces and immobilized, Warren has to pin all his hopes on a man he only met the day before. That's next time on real survival stories. Listen today, add free, and without waiting a week, by joining Noiser Plus.