The Rest of Everest: Episode 84

After last week's excellent audio only interview with the Annapurna IV team we return to the business as usual this week for The Rest of Everest. It's the moment we've all been waiting for, as at long last Jon and Scott arrive at Everest Base Camp, in what Jon describes as A Kind of Homecoming.

Last week we were promised "Everest Porn" and this week the episode delivers. The mountain is clearly visible from the beginning of the episode on, and even though we start off still a decent distance from the mountain, it dominates the horizon. There is some excellent video of the "road", and I use the term loosely, that teams take when driving into Base Camp. It's as remote and rough as you would expect in these shots, although it has since been paved by the Chinese for this year's Olympic Torch climb.

Since Jon and Scott were visiting BC, but weren't climbing, they weren't allowed to drive all the way up to it. Instead, they take to the road and trek up on foot. That trek begins in one of the small tent villages that spring up near Base Camp to allow places to for trekkers and other visitors to stay and provide a number of amenities to the visitors of the region.

One of the scenes that I got a chuckle out of was when Jon checks out Lobsang's cell phone and sees that it has full reception that close to Everest. I've been to some fairly remote places, such as deep into the Sahara, on Kilimanjaro, and trekking on the Great Wall, and the locals always had great cell phone service, even in those remote regions. Yet I can drive to certain parts of town here in Austin and lose serve. There is something not right about that.

The scenery in this episode is as amazing as you would expect. The peaks surrounding Everest and lining the road up to the actual Base Camp look great as well, but the mountain we've all been waiting for makes it's appearance at long last, and it's worth the wait. Also, look for a cameo from Brian Oestrike, whose climb up Lhotse we followed this year. He successfully summitted a week or so back.

Obviously if you're interested in The Rest of Everest, one of the best podcasts you'll find anywhere on the web or in iTunes, you should start with the first episode. However, if you want to get a taste of what to expect, this is an excellent episode. Of course you can find the episodes on the website or subscribe to it directly in iTunes.