The ending of Everest sees the surviving climbers tearfully reunite with their loved ones at the New Zealand airport while Beck reunites with his wife Peach. Based on the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, Everest opens with Rob Hall, a guide from Adventure Consultants, preparing to climb Mount Everest while his pregnant wife Jan stays home, with Rob promising to be there for the birth of their first child. Rob is accompanied by clients Doug Hansen, Yasuko Namba, the second Japanese woman to climb the Seven Summits, Jon Krakauer, a writer for Outside magazine, and Beck Weathers. Along with Rob's clients is also Scott Fischer, another mountain guide, and a

Despite a successful summit attempt, the group is struck by a sudden storm on the descent of Everest, stranding climbers all over the mountain and making rescue attempts next to impossible due to the conditions. Rob, Doug, Yasuko, Scott, Andy, and three others lose their lives on the mountain due to a combination of factors, including hypoxia and frostbite. Before Rob dies on the mountain, he and Jan agree to name their daughter Sarah. Beck manages to come back to the camp severely frostbitten and eventually is flown out via helicopter, later reuniting with his wife and kids in Texas.

Beck Weathers' Everest Rescue Explained (& What Happened To Him After)

The Road To Recovery For Beck Was A Long One

Beck Weathers' (Josh Brolin) rescue was one of the most daring moments of Everest. After being left behind by the other climbers, Beck managed to wake up and make his way down to the camp to be discovered by the climbers who were with the IMAX camera crew. With the help of his wife Peach (Robin Wright), a helicopter rescue is arranged via the American Embassy. This rescue was also a gamble, given that the air was too thin for a helicopter to safely get up to the camp or to leave. But thanks to an experienced Nepal Army pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Madan (Vijay Lama), Beck is taken off Everest to a hospital without any problems.

As one of the more experienced climbers, Beck had climbed almost everywhere, which gave him a sense of belonging and adventure. Unfortunately, it also took a big toll on his personal life, with him often neglecting his family life in favor of mountain climbing (via endorfeen). According to the epilogue at the end of Everest, Beck Weathers eventually lost his nose and both hands as a result of the severe frostbite he suffered during the storm. Upon his return home, he was also able to make amends with his wife Peach, given the fact that earlier he had forgotten their wedding anniversary.

Why Did the Group Leave Beck and Yasuko?

They Were Both Believed To Be Beyond Help

Beck Weathers began having trouble with his eyesight due to the UV radiation and high altitude thanks to recent radial keratotomy surgery and Yasuko began struggling with hypothermia during the descent down Everest. Believing that both Yasuko and Beck were beyond help and would not be able to make it off the mountain due to the intense blizzard, both of them were left behind. Because of the limited number of supplies, the other climbers and guides who tried to help Yasuko and Beck wanted to use those supplies to assist others.

With limited resources and plenty of other climbers left out on the mountain, Beck and Yasuko were left behind by the other climbers. Beck eventually loses consciousness and Yasuko later dies during the night. As mentioned previously, Beck was eventually rescued thanks to the help of the IMAX team and made a remarkable recovery. Yasuko's body was later brought down the mountain in 1997 (via Tranquil Kilimanjaro)

Andy's Hallucinations On Everest & How They Caused His Death

What Is Hypoxia?

After being sent by base camp to deliver spare oxygen, guide Andy Harris starts undergoing a medical emergency after locating Rob. With Doug having fallen to his death and Rob stranded high up on Everest, Andy Harris huddles with him to wait out the storm. While Rob is asleep, Andy starts hallucinating and eventually strips off his outer layers, sliding down Everest to his death.

As explained by Caroline earlier in the film, one of the main symptoms of hypothermia or hypoxia is hallucinations and ripping off clothes due to the brain misinterpreting the extreme cold as feeling hot, a condition known as paradoxical undressing. It's a condition that's been noted in numerous instances involving hypothermia and hypoxia, and generally indicates a person is in the final stages before death. Having been stuck on the mountain for too long without supplemental oxygen caused him to hallucinate and take off his outer layers even though he was probably frostbitten.

Since it is not known what happened to Andy Harris in real life, the filmmakers had to take some artistic liberties in portraying his death. Most agree that Andy did go back to the summit to help stranded climbers since some of his climbing gear was found later. Andy's body was never recovered and no one saw him die, so his death was something that the film had to create. Everest shows that Andy had gone up the South Summit to rescue Rob and Doug, probably not realizing that he was struggling with hypothermia himself at the time (via Tranquil Kilimanjaro).

Was Inexperience to Blame for Everest's Deaths?

Climbers Underestimate Just How Dangerous Everest Is

Eight people died in the Everest disaster with a majority of the climbers not having enough experience to climb the daunting mountain. With most Everest deaths caused by health issues or by malfunctioning equipment, climbers truly live by the rule of "survival of the fittest." As Rob Hall put it at the beginning of the movie, "human beings simply aren't built to function at the cruising altitude of a 747." Mount Everest is no joke to climbers; it is one of the most dangerous mountains in the world and has a record of 5 to 6 deaths a year (via Outside Magazine).

With climbers stranded all over Everest without any means of getting down, guides were stretched thin to keep their clients alive at all costs. There was also the competition to get up to the summit as fast as possible and the number of inexperienced climbers eager to get to the top meant that safer practices went out the window in favor of getting somewhere quickly. Inexperienced climbers were also probably not familiar with their gear, which could have helped them during the descent had there not been a blizzard. As portrayed in the movie, some of the clients on Everest had little to no mountaineering experience. It's a recipe for disaster.

The Real Meaning of Everest's Ending

The Reality Of Just How Dangerous Earth's Deadliest Mountain Can Be

The real meaning of Everest's ending is that while it can be fun to take a risk and do something adventurous, climbing Everest is a physical, emotional, and mental challenge. As the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest is essentially a death sentence if the weather decides to take a bad turn or if a climber isn't experienced enough to understand the risks involved. The climbers faced a lot climbing Everest and risked their own lives to help each other get down safely, but in the end, it wasn't enough.

The fact that the final shot of the film is of Rob's body frozen in the snow shows the reality of just how deceptively dangerous Everest can be despite its peaceful-looking front. This is compounded when Helen returns to New Zealand and is met by Jan, who is now a widow. It gives the movie a solemn focus on the reality of climbing Mount Everest instead of a glamorized, happy ending. According to EW with Everest director Baltasar Kormákur, he wanted to show the real gritty experience of the 1996 disaster instead of making it a glorified hero movie. This was also done to honor real-life survivors and their families.

How The Everest Ending Was Received

Adherence To Realism Didn't Make Up For Low Emotional Impact

The Everest ending has been a focal point for both critics and audiences, eliciting a spectrum of reactions. The ending of Everest, rooted in the tragic real-life events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, strives for authenticity and emotional resonance. However, its reception has been mixed, with some praising its realism and others critiquing its emotional engagement.​

Critics have acknowledged the film's commitment to depicting the harrowing realities faced by climbers during the ill-fated expedition. Glenn Kenny of Roger Ebert noted that the movie "is a detailed and realistic depiction of climbers - of various experiences - facing the worst possible conditions, at heights and climates that seem designed to shut a human body down." This meticulous attention to the climbers' ordeal contributes to a somber and contemplative ending, reflecting the unpredictable and often unforgiving nature of high-altitude mountaineering.

However, this adherence to realism in Everest has also been a point of contention. Some critics argue that while the film succeeds in portraying the physical challenges and dangers of Everest, it falls short in delivering the emotional depth necessary to fully engage the audience. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described Everest as "a frustrating movie in many ways," and went on to explain that the ending is partly to blame:

“Despite some lurches and shocks, it doesn’t quite deliver the edge-of-your-seat thrills that many were hoping for, and all those moderately engaging characters mean that there is no centrally powerful character: the women are drippy and the men not much less so. Krakauer’s question early on to the climbers about why they are doing it in the first place naturally elicits the hilarious group recitation of the age-old reply: “Because it is there!” Yet there is no other, more interesting answer. At the end of the film, audiences may feel they have laboriously made the summit, and come back – without getting much of a view.”

The ending of Everest, which mirrors the tragic outcomes of the real-life events, has been perceived by some as emotionally distant. Kenny observed that the movie "did not exhilarate or scare me as much as leave me flatly sad," indicating a sense of detachment rather than immersive empathy. While the ending is faithful to the actual events, it may not have fully translated the profound emotional impact of the tragedy to viewers.

Ultimately, the ending of Everest has been received with a mix of iration for its realistic portrayal of a tragic event and criticism for its emotional execution. While the 2015 movie succeeds in highlighting the perilous nature of high-altitude climbing, its impact on viewers varies, with some feeling a profound sense of loss and others experiencing a more subdued emotional response. This dichotomy underscores the challenges filmmakers face when balancing factual accuracy with the need for compelling storytelling that resonates on a deeply personal level.

Sources: endorfeen, Tranquil Kilimanjaro, Tranquil Kilimanjaro, Outside Magazine, EW