Storm over Everest - Frontline PBS May 13

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beverly

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Just a heads up about David Breshear's documentary, airing tonight at 9pm.

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Frontline

In the FRONTLINE special presentation Storm Over Everest, airing Tuesday, May 13, 2008, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), Breashears returns to summit Everest and to reflect on that fateful storm that resulted in the deaths of five climbers on the south side of the mountain. Combining breathtaking original cinematography with dramatic recreations of the storm conditions of May 1996, the two-hour, high-definition documentary transports viewers to the slopes of Mount Everest. Interviews with climbers who survived the harrowing ordeal recount the events that occurred--and the decisions that were made--that resulted in seasoned mountaineers losing their lives alongside less experienced climbers drawn to the mystique of Mount Everest.

NY Times review
In an attempt to free his film from the controversy of that day — mostly manufactured by the media, he says — Mr. Breashears largely avoids second-guessing, instead piecing together a straightforward story of the climb, told by the participants and focused around the storm itself — what it was like to be in it and survive. Close observers of the tragedy are left to parse for themselves how the recollections match up with past accounts, like in the best-selling book “Into Thin Air,” which sold nearly one million hardcover copies alone.
It's night's like this I wish I had a nice flat screen HDTV!
 
beverly said:
It's night's like this I wish I had a nice flat screen HDTV!

You are all invited at my house: I get my local NYC PBS station in HD and have a small 34" widescreen LCD... :)

Jay
 
Amazing film. The photography was incredible.
The view of the surrounding mountains with the triangular shadow of Everest cast upon them...hard to find words to describe that level of beauty.
:)
 
Nice film, awesome scenery and shots, (nice in widescreen and HD :D). I liked how there really was no judgement or blame layed out and it was mostly the survivor's interviews. From Dr. D's link, it is kind of cool how they managed to get a lot of the survivors to do interviews. I've read both books on the climb, seen the movies, read the gossip, but this was pretty good and didn't rehash too much. Sandy Hill (Pittman) got a lot of abuse in the press, so having her interviewed, was interesting.... You could just see Makalu Gau too, completely reliving the event as if it was yesterday.

Great film, would recommend it to anybody interested at all in big mountains and climbing.

Jay
 
Excellent, but chilling...some of the visions of the climbers huddled in the storm, and of Makalu Gau laying next to Scott Fischer, kept coming back to me as I tried to sleep.

It was really cool to see Beck Weathers tho...what an ordeal!

This is definitely one to purchase when it's available though...
 
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Dr. Dasypodidae said:
So, no mention of Jon Krakauer in the Breashears film? Just listed for still photo credits at the end.
Breashears was interviewed on the (Boston) PBS program "Greater Boston" and was asked that question. His answer was that Krakauer's story has already been told and Krakauer was in his tent by the time the storm hit. He was seeking fresh stories from people who were out in the storm. (The basecamp manager qualified because she was in the middle of one of the emotional storms...)

The program seems to repeat multiple times so you still might be able to catch it. (It is showing as I am typing: 12--12:30 pm, Fri May 16, ch 44.2.) Looks like the segment is available on the web: http://streams.wgbh.org/online/gb/gb20080515storm2.mov.

Info on the film: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/everest/. (It appears that you can also watch the whole movie online.)

BTW, the dramatized segments of people out in the storm were filmed at Snowbird using 2 80mph wind machines.

Doug
 
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Thanks for the link Doug. I just watched the movie, it was quite interesting. I read "into thin Air", "the climb" and the beck weathers book. It was interesting to hear a little more from the survivors personal experience.

I love hiking, i love winter, i love storms. Half of me wants to climb Everest, the other half wants to keep my own limbs in tact. Something about trips like this brings the spirit to life but kills the body. I always get mixed feelings of excitement and horror when i watch these films.
 
king tut said:
Thanks for the link Doug. I just watched the movie, it was quite interesting. I read "into thin Air", "the climb" and the beck weathers book. It was interesting to hear a little more from the survivors personal experience.
I also found the story from different viewpoints to be interesting. (I have read all three books too.)

One relatively unique aspect of the movie is the long delay.

Doug
 
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Ayup

i watched it. i never get tired of hearing/watching/analyzing this story. i dont mean to sound callous, but it seems a lot of it was not unexpected given the environment.

But, the one thing i just can't get is Rob Hall. i mean he was experienced and he was really, really strong; so why did he let himself get sideways with the mail man.? i mean that guy (the mail man) had no business continuing on as long as he did. he obviously had summit fever. the logical (to me) explanation is (after the weather came) Rob thought he himself would be safer hunkering down, as opposed to climbing down. i mean they never found the two other right? maybe he saw them both get blown off the mountain and decided to get as far out of the wind as he could. i cant imagine he would just decide to die with his client rather than come down alone. he had a family. he did survive the night and was only 100 yards from being rescued by his sherpas before they turned around. if in fact he stopped for his own safety, thinking the sherpas would get him the next day worst case scenario, then, how tragic that was that he thought through it correctly but didnt make it by 100 yards.
 
Gris said:
But, the one thing i just can't get is Rob Hall. i mean he was experienced and he was really, really strong; so why did he let himself get sideways with the mail man.? i mean that guy (the mail man) had no business continuing on as long as he did. he obviously had summit fever. the logical (to me) explanation is (after the weather came) Rob thought he himself would be safer hunkering down, as opposed to climbing down. i mean they never found the two other right? maybe he saw them both get blown off the mountain and decided to get as far out of the wind as he could. i cant imagine he would just decide to die with his client rather than come down alone. he had a family. he did survive the night and was only 100 yards from being rescued by his sherpas before they turned around. if in fact he stopped for his own safety, thinking the sherpas would get him the next day worst case scenario, then, how tragic that was that he thought through it correctly but didnt make it by 100 yards.
Doug Hansen had failed high on the mountain the previous year. Perhaps Hall was trying extra hard to make sure he (Hansen) made it this year. (Hall did offer a reduced rate for a re-try for those who failed to reach the summit.) Conditions were very nice until a nasty storm appeared with very little warning. (Had the storm not appeared, it just would have been another "nice day on the big hill"...)

Hall died in the col between the Hillary Step and the South Summit. He appears not to have had the strength to climb up and over the South Summit. IIRC, Hansen's body has not been found. Hall may have managed to get Hansen to the col and stayed with him until he (Hansen) died. By then Hall may have been too exhausted to continue.

Brains often do not work properly at altitude, so it is also quite possible that Hall was using logic that us lowlanders might not agree with. It would seem likely that he became fixated on getting Hansen to the summit and back down. It is also very difficult to leave someone who is alive, but who has no chance of survival.

Doug
 
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I've been reading some of the supplemental info on the PBS website (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/everest/ ) and have found it very interesting. IMO, a number of others will also find it worth reading.

There is a discussion on ethics, issues of rescue at altitude, and public perception of same as well as personal experiences.

It also includes the David Sharp incident. (Sharp died in a much publicized incident where a number of climbers passed by him as he sat/lay semiconscious on the upper North Ridge. Much discussed on this forum in http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12736.)

BTW, the following books on the 1996 incident are worth reading:
* Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
* The Climb by Anatoli Bourkreev and G. Weston DeWalt
* Left for Dead by Beck Weathers

Doug
 
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DougPaul said:
Doug Hansen had failed high on the mountain the previous year. Perhaps Hall was trying extra hard to make sure he (Hansen) made it this year. (Hall did offer a reduced rate for a re-try for those who failed to reach the summit.) Conditions were very nice until a nasty storm appeared with very little warning. (Had the storm not appeared, it just would have been another "nice day on the big hill"...)

Hall died in the col between the Hillary Step and the South Summit. He appears not to have had the strength to climb up and over the South Summit. IIRC, Hansen's body has not been found. Hall may have managed to get Hansen to the col and stayed with him until he (Hansen) died. By then Hall may have been too exhausted to continue.

Brains often do not work properly at altitude, so it is also quite possible that Hall was using logic that us lowlanders might not agree with. It would seem likely that he became fixated on getting Hansen to the summit and back down. It is also very difficult to leave someone who is alive, but who has no chance of survival.

Doug

I agree with all of the above.

First paragraph:kinda' like what happened on Franconia Ridge this past early February.

Second paragraph: Andy Harris, one of Rob Hall's guides, also disappeared, but Hall, Krakauer, and others mistook others for Andy even before the storm struck.

Third paragraph: Yes, a guide stays with his client(s) right to end, no matter what, for which Rob Hall will always be remembered. Anatoli Boukrev,Scott Fisher's chief guide, on the other hand, was not above the South Col when he was needed.

I sensed that Bec Weathers' final words in the film were probably directed at Jon Krakauer. But, I do not think that one can fault Krakauer for hunkering down in his tent rather than trying to help Boukrev in the South Col, as Krakauer was a client and not a guide (in fact, the only client who was able to take care of himself). Understandably, the survivors are not happy with what Krakauer wrote about them in his book, as some times the truth hurts. I think that Hall and Fisher really felt that they had the route "wired" for just about any clients, no matter how ill prepared, as they could rely on their sherpas to "short rope" clients up and down if necessary, which worked again and again right up to 1996.
 
Dr. Dasypodidae said:
Understandably, the survivors are not happy with what Krakauer wrote about them in his book, as some times the truth hurts. I think that Hall and Fisher really felt that they had the route "wired" for just about any clients, no matter how ill prepared, as they could rely on their sherpas to "short rope" clients up and down if necessary, which worked again and again right up to 1996.

"Chomolungma" will always win. You don't mess with the "mother goddess of the world."
 
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