"It was like walking in a sauna and wearing a down suit, too," admits Danish triathlete Mogens Jensen. Only one climber makes Russell's deadline and there are serious questions about who'll be allowed to try for the summit.

Betsy knows she's in trouble but remains determined: "I never give up; I just don't know how," she says. But others take a harder view. British financier David Tait argues that if Russ sends Betsy up, "he's asking for a dead person."