A Peak Behind the Lens

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“Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.” – Albert Einstein

When I trekked to Everest base camp in 2001, we flew a fixed wing aircraft from Kathmandu to a dusty hilltop in the Himalayas. Then a helicopter swooped in and flew us to Lukla at about 10,000 feet of elevation. And then we trekked about 30 miles to base camp from there.

Base camp, which sits at an elevation of about 17,600 feet, was a small city with each team having a dozen or more tents around a central dining tent and communications tent.

A small section of base camp from my photos taken in 2001.

I recently watched two Everest films. The Man Who Skied Down Everest recommended by Dr. Gerald Stein. It’s a Canadian documentary filmed in 1970 and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1975. Six sherpa were killed during the expedition in a collapse of the Khumbu icefall.

The second was Everest recommended by Vicki Atkinson.  It was a Hollywood film production released in 2015 about the 1996 Everest blizzard that killed eight people.

In the 1975 film, it took a team of 800 people to support getting the supplies the expedition needed to the mountain. But there were very few other climbers on the mountain.

In the Everest film, they got to the mountain much like I did and there were so many more climbers. Teams tried to organize the summit attempts so that climbers weren’t slowed down and freezing while waiting for their turn at choke points like the Hillary Step. In that film, they attributed the change in the number of climbers to Rob Hall, the incredibly infusive and strong guide from New Zealand who died in the storm, being willing to guide amateur climbers up Everest.

In a lot of climbing circles, it’s believed the trend actually started when Dick Bass (who owned Alta ski resort in Utah) and Frank Wells (who was President of Disney) dreamed up the project to climb the tallest peak on each continent, The Seven Summits. Dick and Frank then they hired people like my friend, Phil, to guide them up the mountains.

Regardless, there is no doubt there are challenges climbing Everest today that come from overcrowding and general human behavior like selfishness, ego, and disregard for nature. It’s not hard to imagine the Everest challenges as a fitting allegory about our world overall.

Thankfully, there are also heroes in the story.

When Beck Weathers needed to be helped down the mountain, filmmaker David Breashears and climber Ed Viesturs tied him in between them and basically walked him down as far as they could. David and Ed were up there along filming an IMAX film with Jamling Norgay, the son of the Tenzing Norgay. Tenzing was the Sherpa that successfully achieved the first ascent of Everest with Edmund Hillary.

I am in awe of the filmmakers who capture this incredible climbing footage. In an interview, I heard David Breashears describe how he practiced loading the IMAX film in a special cold room. He had to do it without gloves on because a speck on that film would look enormous on an IMAX screen. Each roll of film only captured 90 seconds of footage.

Filmmakers like David Breashears and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo and Meru), do all the work to film it, manage the extra weight, and execute their creative artistry while they are also doing the hard work of climbing. When they do it well, they make it easy to forget that they are climbing too.

In 1996, when the blizzard hit, the IMAX team was at base camp. They’d seen the crowds and had decided to delay their summit bid. When they heard that people were in trouble and dying, David Breashears told rescuers they could take any of the IMAX team supplies like oxygen tanks, batteries, and food stashed on the upper mountain they needed.

After David and his team offered their supplies and helped evacuate injured climbers, they still managed to summit Everest a couple weeks later and complete their project, albeit with very heavy hearts. The resulting movie Everest (same title as the film above but released in 1998) is the highest-grossing IMAX film.

I was writing this post about the differences on Everest from these two movies when I learned that mountain-climber Lou Whittaker died at age 95. So I switched to writing the post, The Lingering Effects of One Good Person. In the process, I learned that David Breashears also died in March of natural causes. He was 68-years-old. In recent years, David Breashears started Glacier Works, a non-profit highlighting changes to Himalayan glaciers.

(featured photo is mine of Everest, the dark peak in the back)

46 thoughts on “A Peak Behind the Lens”

  1. Thank you for describing both the heroism and the human flaws among those who climb, Wynne. All praise to those who helped Beck Weathers survive.

    Liked by 4 people

  3. I’ll have to check out these films, Wynne. I don’t think getting to Everest is in the cards for me but what a joy it is to hear about your stories.

    I do agree that it seems to be a different climbing culture today with a segment of it doing it for social media fame and I’ve seen clips and reels of the garbage and congestion on the way up.

    It’s great these films you mentioned preserve a moment, a different time, in time.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. There have been climbs and efforts to clean up the garbage. One thing that might be good about the social media presence is that it does build awareness of the impact. But you’re right – it’s interesting that the films preserve different time slices. Happy April, Ab!

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  4. I want to read more. Where can I read the Wynne Leon book on her mountain climbing experiences? Lessons you learned from climbing. What it’s like to be at Everest base camp, a place that others can only dream about being? What steps do you take before starting a challenging climb? The people you met through climbing?/ What you want your kids to know about climbing? I know you’ve written about some of these areas, but I think they’re definitely interesting. Maybe one day, right? Ha, ha. Great piece Wynne. I’ll be sure to check out the movies.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Oh, you are such a great reader, Brian. So encouraging and interested. I’m just a punk amateur that went along for the low-lights. But it was transformative for me, for sure! 🙂 ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Ahh, I don’t care if you were a professional or an amateur, so much good stuff there. And, lest you think I’m just being nice, I wouldn’t write that if I didn’t think it would be a fun read. Anyway, love your climbing posts! Makes me feel like I’m climbing mountains.

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  6. It is most certainly an allegory on life. And there on Everest, as in life, you will find all types of people. Sorry to hear so many good ones are lost. Though what they left behind will live on to inspire those coming behind them.
    And you, wow, I’m always impressed by your climbing stories Wynne.
    Im going to look up those movies. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen them, but now I’ll look with different eyes. Thanks to you.

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  7. I agree with Brian…you have so many stories to tell about your mountain climbing experiences and insight, Wynne. I love it when you share, and I suspect there’s so much more to share. You are ever impressive in that Wynne-like, humble way. Wow and wow. 🥰

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, I really was just tagging along with the really impressive people. But it was a fascinating world to observe, that’s for sure. Thank you for your lovely and kind comment, dear Vicki!! ❤ ❤ ❤

      Liked by 1 person

  8. As Ab mentions, I’ve also seen pictures of the long lines, congestion, and trash on Everest nowadays. It’s a shame that the feat of human achievement has become a bid for clout. It’s inspiring to read about the pioneers and the heroism of early climbers, as well as those like Breashears that did what they could to help others…. both with supplies and the stories.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. You are so right about the heroism of those early climbers. Although it seems (anecdotally) that the early climbers were less savvy about garbage and left more behind than the current groups. Maybe because the world has gotten more aware about littering overall?

      And I love your note about David Breashears. An incredible human!

      Liked by 1 person

  10. I am more and more dismayed when I hear about all the trash being left behind at base camps and along the routes.

    I see an opportunity for a group to organize ecominded people to go and clean up the sites, but not worry about sumitting. Those would be the new heros!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. There are expeditions that go to clean up the garbage. The most recent that I heard of was one by the Nepalese government who hauled out 24,000 pounds of garbage in 2019.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m very happy to hear that! That’s good to hear!

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    1. You are right that I’ve been lucky to take part on some cool adventures. So grateful that I also get to relive them with such a supportive audience. Thanks for your lovely comment, Gwen!

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  15. What an adventure! Also, you do a great service by recognizing the efforts of the filmmakers. While watching a documentary, I don’t necessarily think about the effort involved in getting the footage. But in extreme conditions, it must take an enormous effort, as you’ve described.

    Liked by 2 people

  18. Climbing Everest AND managing to film it with those IMAX limitations – that takes some serious skill. Everest is both terrifying and awe-inspiring. I’ve been near the Himalayas this past week, it is so incredible seeing it with my own eyes.

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  19. Larry and I watched Everest, it was incredible, Larry has had a fascination with climbers for as long as I can remember and we’ve watched a lot of movies about the people you’ve mentioned above. It is inspiring to think of the stamina and endurance it takes to summit and you were right there in the thick of it all. That must have been amazing. I think we’ll try the skiing down Everest documentary, looks like a good one. Hugs, C

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The thing about the Everest movie that might be interesting to you — is that the helicopter that came to get Beck could only carry one person. As soon as it appeared above the ridge, a Taiwanese climber that was injured worse than Beck walked up and Beck let him take the helicopter. Then, as he was sitting there contemplating his demise once again because he knew he couldn’t make it through the icefall — the helicopter pilot came back for him. How’s that for dramatic?

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