On the morning of May 9, Russian climber Konstantin Smirnov and his Nepali guide, Bhajuram Gurung, climbed the last few steps onto the summit of Nepal’s Makalu (8,485m), the world’s fifth-highest mountain. It was Smirnov’s first time on the summit of an 8,000-meter peak. He didn’t know that it was Gurung’s first time, too. 

That evening at around 9 p.m., Gurung was back to their summit camp, Camp III, at 7,500 meters. But his 53-year-old client was still far above, moving through the snow alone. At around 9:30 p.m, exhausted and out of oxygen, Smirnov lay down on the snow at 7,720 meters. He fell into what might have been the last sleep of his life.

Smirnov survived, but narrowly. Three days later, he was flown off the mountain, after descending with the help of another Sherpa, Lakpa Rinji. After spending nearly 48 hours exposed to the elements, he lost all five fingers on his left hand to frostbite, and most of his ring finger on his right. “I can no longer wear my wedding ring,” he told me.