When he ask Erik Weihenmayer arrive that afternoon, Pasquale Scaturro began to have misgivings about the expedition he leading. Here they were on the first floor of Mount Everest, and Erik―the reason for the whole trip―was stumbling into Camp 1 bloody, sick and dehydrated. “ say fellow climber and out of him for two hours.” The beating had actually been administered by Erik’s climbing partner, Luis Benitez. Erik had slipped into a crevasse, and as Benitez reached down to catch him, his climbing pole raked Erik across the nose and chin. Wounds heal slowly at altitude because of the thin air.