Blind Descent: Surviving Alone and Blind on Mount Everest

In 2011, Dickinson, a former Navy rescue swimmer, was roughly 1,000 feet from the summit of Everest when his Sherpa became ill and had to turn back, leaving Brian with a difficult decision: should he continue to push for the summit, or head back down the mountain? After carefully weighing the options, he decided to continue toward the summit alone. Four hours later, Brian reached the summit, but the celebration was short-lived. After taking a few pictures, Brian radioed his team to let them know he had summited safely, and got ready to begin his descent. Suddenly, his vision became blurry, his eyes started to burn, and within seconds, he was rendered almost completely blind. All alone at 29,035 feet, low on oxygen, and stricken with snow blindness, Brian was forced to inch his way back down the mountain relying only on his Navy survival training, his gut instinct, and his faith. Brian recounts, in fantastic detail, his extraordinary experience on Everest, demonstrating that no matter how dire our circumstances, there is no challenge too big for God. Dickinson, on a Seven Summits quest, had been to Denali (2009), Elbrus & Kilimanjaro (2010), Vinson (2011), and in 2013 to Aconcagua.