An American survivor of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster chronicled in the best-selling book "Into Thin Air" has conquered the peak for the second time, expedition organisers said Friday.

Professional climber Neal Beidleman, 51, was descending from the summit of the world's highest peak when a huge storm blew in on May 10, 1996, catching two teams climbing high on the mountain.

In the ensuing confusion, eight people were killed and several horribly disfigured by frostbite in what became one of the worst disasters in mountaineering history.

"Neal and seven other climbers reached the summit on Friday at 8:00 am (0315 GMT)," said Nabin Trital, spokesman for expedition organisers Explore Himalaya. "They are now returning to the South Col."

A post on the expedition web site, http://mteverest2011.com, said Beidleman had reached the summit with three fellow climbers, describing it as a "beautiful day".

Before leaving for Everest, Beidleman told The New York Times the mountain was "stapled and tattooed on my forehead", and said he wanted the expedition to be a "closing chapter".

"The truth of it is tough, and it's ugly," he said. "We went to the mountain (in 1996) with high expectations of making the summit and coming home happy. And not everybody did."

The tragedy remains controversial in the mountaineering community, with some guides accused of endangering clients' lives by pushing for the summit as the bad weather closed in.

Jon Krakauer, who was a member of one of the teams and wrote "Into Thin Air", also accused at least one guide of failing to do enough to rescue fellow climbers on the mountain.

Around 3,000 people have made it to the top of Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first conquered the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) peak in 1953.

The summit season on Everest begins in late April when a small window between spring and the summer monsoon offers the best conditions for making the ascent.