By Benjamin Spillman, Reno Gazette-Journal

The top of Mt. Everest is a bad place for a celebration.

Just ask Cory Richards.

He spent his three minutes on the summit battling to stay warm, coherent and energized for the trip down.

Richards, an elite climber, knew most high altitude mountaineering tragedies happen after reaching the summit.

The fact Richards, of Boulder, Colo., was climbing without supplemental oxygen or his partner, Adrian Ballinger of Olympic Valley, who stopped short of the summit, made his summit push all the more daunting.

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