On the way down, West saw an Australian and a Russian climber struggling up the mountain.
Exposure on the North Face had unhinged the Russian climber.
Right now, however, Russian climbers on the Tibetan side are bucking that trend and pioneering a major new route.
Much of the disputed material centers on Krakauer's accounting of the actions of Russian climber and guide Anatoli Boukreev.
Lhotse Middle was first climbed in 2001 by three groups of Russian climbers.
The victims included two Chinese glaciologists, three Russian climbers, an American guide, and his Guatemalan client.
The first ascent of the peak was in 1956 by a large party of Chinese and Russian climbers, via the west ridge, which is now the standard route.
This is from "Degrees of Difficulty" (Mountaineers Books) by Vladimir Shatayev, a Russian climber.
Krakauer reached an entente with Boukreev in November 1997, but the Russian climber was sadly killed by an avalanche several weeks later while climbing Annapurna.
Fedor is the first Russian climber to complete alpinist programm 7 Summits.