Nepal: Death on Dhaulagiri

Ever since 1965, the tiny Himalayan nation of Nepal had ruled its lofty, snowcapped peaks off-limits to foreign mountaineers. Plagued by an oversupply of inexperienced climbers—and by Chinese Communist protests to the effect that all would-be conquerors of Mount Everest were in reality foreign spies—the Nepalese decided that the foreign-exchange earnings and publicity were not worth the trouble. Last year, however, they changed their minds. One of the first groups of mountaineers to take advantage of the opportunity was an eleven-man American expedition headed by Boyd N. Everett Jr., 35, of New York City. The group's target: Dhaulagiri I,...