Mount Everest

Biff and I are huge fans of PBS's series Frontline, which airs documentary programming about all different topics and then will post them for computer viewing as well. I've been really interested in Mount Everest since reading Into Thin Air in 2001, and seeing the Everest IMAX. David Breashears is a mountain climber/filmmaker who was on Everest in 1996 filming that IMAX when a storm came up that ultimately killed 15 climbers I think, including his friend and fellow guide who got stranded on the summit. Breashers returned to Everest a couple of years ago to rethink the tragedy and interview survivors in the program Storm Over Everest. We haven't really seen the tragedy narrative until this point, although Into Thin Air describes it well, you don't really realize how sublime the mountain is and how epic the journey until you see it. I personally feel like submitting Everest is the ultimate in human hubris and selfishness, especially since for every 6 who summits successfully, 1 person dies. I really feel for the family members of the climbers. However, I definitely see the fascination and understand the power of the superlative-how tempting to have scaled the highest mountain on Earth. What's especially incredible are the non-climber thrill seekers that train specifically for Everest and pay tens of thousands of dollars to risk their lives just to have that distinction.

We've since seen Breasher's other documentary called Everest: the Death Zoneabout what happens to the human body at really high altitudes (accelerated decay and cognitive loss). It's okay. There are other books about the 1996 storm, but I don't know if I have the heart to read them.