HOMECOMING! An Everest Expedition Field Report
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FILED BY: BROUGHTON COBURN WITH STEVE JUDSON
THE SUMMIT DAY - RETRACING THE STEPS:
"Araceli! Araceli" chanted an enthusiastic crowd, as Araceli Segarra Roca arrived at the El Prat
airport in Barcelona on June 9. After becoming the first Spanish woman to reach the top of Mt.
Everest Araceli came home to a hero's welcome. She was besieged with attention, granting over 40
interviews, including a visit to the Palace of the Local Government, where she was received by the President of Catalonia, Mr. Jordi Pujol. I've been delivered fan letters that were addressed simply `Araceli, Alpinist of Everest, Spain,"' An exhausted Araceli joked to Barcelona's Port Veil IMAX Theatre Marketing Director, Almuth Itzen, "I was less tired at Base Camp, where I could at least sleep without hearing the phone ringing all the time!"
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JAMLING ATOP MOUNT EVEREST
Screenshot from the movie
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Halfway around the world, Jamling Tenzing Norgay received a hero's welcome as well. His successful summit of Everest has been high-profile news after having retraced his father Tenzing Norgay's epic journey to the top of Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953. "When I returned to Katmandu," Jamling relayed, "a very high Tibetan lama gave me a rare collection of sacred objects. These will continue to bless me, my family, and the other climbers." In India, Jamling-a profoundly modest man-was greeted by several hundred people, who paraded him through the winding streets of the hillside town of Darjeeling. Leader David Breashears summarized the events for all the climbers. "As you can imagine, we are all happy to be home - safely. But the tragedy that took our friends on May 10 still lingers with us." |
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LOOKING BACK ON THE ASCENT:
From Seattle, Climbing Leader Ed Viesturs recounted the events of the team's May 23 summit day. "I left the South Col (26,000 ft.) heading for the summit an hour before the others, assuming that I would be slower because I was climbing without oxygen. It was especially tiring because I had to break trail through deep snow, out I kept plugging away at it-partly because it was fun and exciting to finally be up there (after the delays caused by the tragic storm). David followed me onto the summit, and we spent twenty minutes there together before I had to get moving and head down. On my descent, it was great to see Jamling and Araceli well on the way to the top-I gave them each a hug."
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Jamling said that as he approached the summit along the Southeast Ridge, he was thinking deeply about his father. He placed photographs of his mother, father and His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the summit, along with small relics from highly respected Tibetan lamas. He then unfurled the lama-blessed prayer flag and the flags of the United Nations, Nepal, India, U.S. and Tibet, and left behind a doll from his daughter. Forty-three years earlier, Tenzing Norgay had also placed a doll there that was given to him by his daughter, Jamling's sister.
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JAMLING @ THE SUMMIT
Screenshot from movie
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After the worst tragedy ever to befall climbers on Everest, the team leaders decided it was necessary to leave one member of the climbing and filming team at the 26,000 foot even as a communications and safety officer. That duty fell on Sumiyo Tsuzuki, of Japan, who had cracked a rib earlier in the climb. "I was disappointed, but I knew that my role in supporting the team on the South Col was important for assuring their safe return." The entire team is very grateful for Sumiyo's support. |
RETURN TO BASE CAMP
Screenshot from movie
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The crew's safety was always the most important criterion, Ed Viesturs reiterated that, although the eight deaths on Everest greatly affected them, they felt that continuing on and achieving their goal of filming the summit was especially important. He added, "We thought we could, by doing that safely, break a Carrier we might have had in our psyche because of the tragedy. It was vital to have the season end with a carefully planned and professionally executed expedition. We owed it to the mountain."
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The following day, the scientific goals of the expedition were also met. Ed described the day's events: "At the South Col, we were walking slowly due to exhaustion and the altitude of nearly 26,000 feet, yet we managed to set up the GPS device and the weather station-the highest in the world."
Assistant cameraman Brad Ohlund was also extremely satisfied. "I'm proud to have been involved in an expedition with so many courageous people. I see the potential for this to be one of the most outstanding IMAX films ever produced,"
Greg MacGillivray was upbeat about the successful summit filming. "We are all very proud of the team, for their great determination, courage, skill and good judgment. Not only did they reach the summit, they had the patience to do it safely. And as a topper, the footage looks great!'
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The summit success is a milestone in large format filmmaking-but as crucial as the summit footage is, it is only a brief part of a film that is much more than the story of a climb. The film will also include the geology of the Himalaya, the story of high altitude physiology, the culture of the region and the spiritual beliefs of the Sherpas. These topics are rich in educational value, and it will be challenging to fit them all into forty minutes. Much of the work of making the film still lies ahead.
Filming will continue through the spring of 1997. Scenes to be shot are: character development scenes, which will include some of the most exciting training sequences yet filmed in large format: computer-generated imagery of the plate tectonics of the earth, with a focus on the geophysics of the Himalayan-region: and microscopic and inner-body photography showing the effects of high altitude climbing on the body.
Although the tragedy on Everest has been difficult for the whole team, it is part of the story of this expedition; MEW plans to include a positive angle on the tragedy in the film. On May 29, MFF interviewed Dr. Seaborn ("Beck") Weathers, the Dallas pathologist who lost his way during the sudden blizzard, spent the night in minus-30 degree conditions, and was left for dead. After being assisted by members of our team, Beck was miraculously rescued from the mountain in one of the highest helicopter rescues recorded. His story of sheer determination and an incredible "will to live" is intensely emotional and heartwarming. "Beck has a remarkably positive attitude, even though he has lost his right hand to frostbite," remarked Everest co-writer Steve Judson after the interview, "He is deeply grateful to Ed Viesturs, Robert Schauer and David Breashears for their help in getting him down the mountain." Added Co-Producer, Alec Lorimore, "Beck and his family could not have been more gracious to welcoming us into their home."
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ED VIESTURS
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ARACELI SEGARRA
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JAMLING TENZING
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| IMAGES ABOVE ARE SCREENSHOTS TAKEN FROM THE MOVIE |
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The 40-minute large format film, Everest, will premiere in February, 1998 at IMAX and IWERKS theaters worldwide. In August of 1997, The Making of Everest, a documentary that follows the ascent and filming expedition, will be released for cable TV and will be available on VHS in theater gift shops. Also planned for release in August 1997 is a book on Everest which will explore the science and technology of climbing (including a behind the scenes look at the filming and expedition), and the geology, weather, environment and culture of the Himalaya. Many images for the book will be taken directly from the large format film, MacGillivray Freeman Films President Greg MacGillivray conclude by saying, "Most great fictional films impact an emotional story of a life and death struggle. Our large format films, being non-fiction, have never had that same urgency and poignancy, but with Everest we have these powerful story elements, in a real, nonfiction film, photographed as it all happened-in the most hyper-realistic format yet invented. Everest has the chance to be a landmark film for our industry."
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THANK YOU!
We have so many people to thank for their continuing efforts on behalf of the project: The amazing film crew-David Breashears, Robert Schauer, Brad Ohlund, Steve Judson, Liz Cohen, Paula Viesturs, Audrey Salkeld, Sirdar Lhakpa Dorje Sherpa, Jangbu Sherpa, Dorje Sherpa, Thilem Sherpa, and Muktu and Lhakpa Sherpa (brothers). And special thanks also to Leisl Clark from Nova Online.
Several advisors, all renowned in their fields, have enthusiastically assisted the production: Cynthia Beau, Physical Anthropology; Roger Bilham, Geophysics/Active Tectonics; Broughton Coburn, Environment/Conservation; Jim Fisher, Cultural Anthropology; Kip Hodges, Geology/Continental Tectonics; Charles Houston, High Altitude Physiology/Medicine; Peter Molnar, Geophysics/Continental Tectonics; Audrey Salkeld, Mountaineering History; Brad Washburn, Cartography/Mountaineering, and Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa, Sherpa Culture/Location Consultant.
Special thanks are also due to members of the Everest Film Network: Fort Worth Museum of Science and History; Museum of Science, Boston; Science World, British Columbia; National Museum of Natural Science, Taiwan; and the two newest EFN members, Denver Museum of Natural History and Houston Museum of Natural Science.
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Information used on the site was sent to me. The pictures are screenshots from the movie. There is *NO* intention of copyright infringement or plagarism. If you own copyright to the pics or the info, and want me to remove it, please Email Me and I will be happy to oblige.
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