Thoughts On Everest: Beyond The Limit

So I caught the first episode of Everest: Beyond The Limit last night on the Discovery Channel and came away thinking it was a pretty mixed bag.

First, the good stuff. I thought the images of the mountain, and the surrounding area, were nice. Lots of nice shots of the landscapes, base camp, etc. Discovery is well known for it's photography however, so that shouldn't be much of a surprise. They also did a good job introducing the climbers, and giving us a little information on why each of them had come to Everest to climb. Finally, I thought the show did a solid job of introducing the conceps of climbing a mountain like Everest in a straightforward and easy to understand manner for the average viewer.

I also enjoyed the footage of the sherpa who had lost his legs 20+ years ago, and had essentially moved around on padded stumps for years. But one of the climbers in the expedition, who also had lost his legs, brought him a set of artificial legs, and for the first time in years, the sherpa could stand up and walk like a normal man. The huge smile on his face, and watching him take those first steps was amazing.

But, there was plenty of thinks I didn't like about the show as well. It was overly dramatic at times, hammering home the point that it is dangerous and deadly on the mountain. Don't get me wrong, I do think it's important to lay out the facts on how dangerous it can be, and let the viewers know what the consequences of making a mistake are. However, the narrator went on and on, in an overly dramatic voice I might add, about how someone could die at any point. A half-hour in, and I was wishing they would move the focus off the danger, and more onto the expedition and the appraoch to climbing the mountain.

They also seemed to gloss over some rather important things. For instance, they showed the team climbing from base camp to Advanced Base Camp, and from there to Camp 1. But not once did they mention the Khumbu Ice Falls, and the complexity of moving through that area of Everest. I found it strange that the show focuses so much on the dangers of the climb, and failed to even mention a section of the mountain that is arguably the most dangerous and treacherous area. They did discuss climbing an "thousand foot ice wall" and even showed footage of the climbers walking across the ladders, but gave no mention of why that area was so demanding or even what it was called. It struck me as odd.

I also would have liked to have seen a little history of the mountain as some background. Perhaps an acknowledgment of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay's first ascent, followed up with changes to climbing the mountain, and more techniques of expedition climbing in general. Perhaps we'll get more of that in the coming episodes, but I was hoping they'd lay that out early on.

In the end, I wasn't completely disappointed with the show, but it didn't live up to my expectations of what I'd like to see out of a show like this. And of course, we'll all have to wait to see how they handle the major controversy over the 2006 season. I have some ideas where they will go with it, considering that they were already laying the ground work in last nights episode about how dangerous it is to make a rescuse attempt on Everest, and that team leader Russel Brice has personally conducted a number of rescue attempts. How they will play the David Sharpe incident to the general public should prove interesting, but those in the climbing community already know the story and have chosen their sides.

In the end, I'll watch again to see if things improve in subsequent episodes. Now that they have the introduction down, perhaps they can provide a little more depth and delve deeper into other aspects of the climb, but judging from the "flash forwards" we had a peek at last night, I think the focus will remain squarely on the dangers of the climb, and that's a shame considering the other angles they could have taken.

Edit: Just a quick note on the review I posted above. I realized tonight that the team in the Discovery Channel series is actually climbing the North side of Everest, and the Khumbu Icefalls are on the South side. Before I could even get home to edit the post however, Jonathan from The Rest of Everest posted a comment confirming my error. It makes a lot more sense now that realize this as to why they completely omitted any mention of the Icefalls. I'm not sure if they mentioned in the show that they were climbing the North side route, and if they did, I missed it. I wrongly jumped to the conclusion that these climbers were taking the "tourist route" on the South side. So, I fully admit my error, and fully admit that yes, indeed, I am a dumb ass! :)