While Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni were celebrated as national heroes, Walter Bonatti accused Lacedelli and Compagnoni of having abandoned him and Amir Mehdi to an open bivouac just below high camp. In 1954, Bonatti was an ambitious 24-year-old member of the expedition. Bonatti and local porter Amir Mehdi, were carrying spare oxygen bottles up to Lacedelli and Compagnoni for a summit push from Camp IX, the final camp. The high camp was further away than Bonatti and Mehdi had expected and night fell before they reached it. Bonatti and Mehdi survived a bivouac at 8100 m, but Mehdi lost all toes on both feet to frostbite.