But the expedition had a dark side, one which Italian officialdom attempted to conceal. Success had been achieved because two men, team member Walter Bonatti and the Hunza porter Mahdi, had risked their lives in taking the oxygen equipment needed for the final climb to Camp 9 late in the day before the summit climb. Unable to find the camp, which had not been placed at the agreed position, the two men had spent a night in the open at over 8000m.
