[2] On 10 May 1996, Gau reached the summit of Everest alongside the members of the Mountain Madness and Adventure Consultants expeditions.
Lopsang eventually descended on his own to find help, leaving Gau and Fischer lying a few yards apart from each other.
Sherpas found the two men the next day, but Fischer was too far gone to save, so they concentrated on rescuing Gau, managing to bring him back to Camp IV.
Fischer eventually died on the mountain; his body was found by his climbing partner Anatoli Boukreev, and remains on Everest to this day.
[3] Gau and Adventure Consultants climber Beck Weathers, who had also survived a night of exposure on the mountain, were escorted down to Camp II with the help of other expedition teams, and both men were evacuated in one of the highest altitude helicopter rescues on Everest.