Storm Over Everest
by Nova
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DVD details
Actor: NovaDirector: Nova
Brand: Wgbh Wholesale
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-09-02
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS
Product features:
- As darkness fell on May 10, 1996, a fast-moving storm of unimaginable ferocity trapped three climbing teams high on the slopes of Mount Everest. The exhausted climbers were soon lost far from the safety of High Camp at 26,000 feet. World-renowned climber and filmmaker David Breashears, who aided the rescue efforts back in 1996, now returns to Everest to shed new light on the worst climbing tragedy
DVD Reviews of Storm Over Everest
DVD Review: A study in hubris; sad and compelling
Summary: 4 Stars
Just happened upon this last night on late night PBS and was immediately captivated by the simple presentation, the intensity of the climbers' memories and the haunted looks in their eyes. I'd never really read much about this mess and it was interesting to learn the story from the varying viewpoints of those who survived.
At first I felt for the guides who died up there while trying to babysit some of the moneyed folk ($65k each, at the time; some were funded by NBC), at least a few of whom didn't do enough homework and put everyone in their expeditions at risk, but uber-guide Jim Williams says, on the PBS website, that the real fault lies with the guides' letting the weak climbers go further than they should, risking others' lives so they could reach the summit.
The guides are there to make money and might downplay the risks, so it's a two-way blame street. Sandy Hill, the NBC-funded "New York socialite" who brought an espresso maker, two laptops, and a video player to watch movies in her tent (all carried by porters, of course), was "short-roped" up to the summit AND down, and used far more than her share of the oxygen tanks available. There ought to be tests for fitness to do this trek, but enough cash is the main issue, and that blame lays with the guides. This Frontline special lacks the usual hard-hitting both-sides Frontline tone, but its charms outweigh its faults.
The PBS website has the film available for viewing, as well as many other features with the director and survivors. Very nice package, and the price--free--is right. Ain't it amazing to get something back from your tax dollars for a change?
The main flaw with this film is the occasionally weak re-enactments of the disaster, though they're probably very accurate as this doc was made by alpine expert David Breashears, who was there at the time. On the plus side, the many shots of and from Everest are incredible. All in all it's a thoroughly fascinating look at a sad event which highlights the ego/desire for transcendence/thanatos that drives people to make this climb. One climber had a seven-month pregnant wife, and he died up there. Hard to grasp the logic. I understand the lure of the climb but I think that the Disneyfication of one of the world's great places almost guarantees that the hubris will be repaid in spades at some point, as here. Everest is now littered with endless tons of garbage, and many dead bodies no one can or will retrieve; if the mountain does indeed have a spirit, it's no wonder that spirit gets furious with all the moneyed tourists and lets loose now and then.
And with a line of people waiting in front of you, how thrilling and rare is the whole thing, truly? Better to climb another of the endless Himalayan peaks, with no one else on them, for the pure adventure. That hardly plays as well when mountain-name-dropping, though.
I must say that lying in bed and enjoying cheddar popcorn and grape juice has rarely felt so sane. As various of the surviviors point out in their online interviews on the PBS site, this climb made them realize that their families and friends were worth a lot more than chasing the self-glorification of climbing all the highest mountains. Watching the interviews and seeing half the climbers waving their nubby, fingerless hands makes the point quite convincingly as well. I love hiking at 11-14k in the Rockies, but know full well that going over 21,000 feet without truly serious discipline and training is nuts. And commercial expeditions taking people not ready to do that, just to get their money...well, that's something more than nuts.
Storm Over Everest is certainly worth watching; there's a lot of naked emotion here, and much to ponder.
Description of Storm Over Everest
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