‘Everest Beyond the Limit’ returns; some thoughts on the first three episodes
Mount Everest.
So season 3 of “Everest Beyond the Limit” is finally here, and thanks to the Discovery Channel, we got a triple dose of it Sunday night.
I’m a bit confused by this, and am also curious about the lack promotion of the show. But that’s all inside baseball. The three episodes were interesting. There were some changes this season compared to the previous two (SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read any further if you haven’t seen the shows yet).
For starters, we don’t see a lot of Russell Brice. Brice was the central figure in the past two seasons. He’s the owner of Himex, the guide company that featured in earlier seasons. A grizzled veteran of high altitude mountaineering, his bluntness was often the source of drama in past episodes. He makes a couple short appearances in the first episode, but most of the filming in the first three episodes focuses on IMG, a friendly competitor in the mountain guide business.
Another major difference: the location. Same mountain, but from the south side. Previous seasons took us to the north side of Mount Everest, the Tibet side. This is where Brice and a number of other companies did their work. That came to a screeching halt in 2008, as the Chinese government — fearing pro-Tibet demonstrations — effectively shut down the north side of Everest during the run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The Chinese also wanted the north side to themselves so a team of Chinese climbers would have unhindered access to the summit in a bid to take the Olympic torch to the top.
The south route — the Nepal side — is the most popular, and is the same route used during the mountain’s first ascent half a century ago. It was cool to see filming of this classic route and its many famous places (love the Hillary Step footage).
Now we have that out of the way, I saw some interesting things in the three episodes I saw last night. I won’t break it down by episode. I’ll just stick to the highpoints. Here goes:
Mountain climbing on Everest is far different than mountain climbing anywhere else. No duh, you say. But hang on a minute. Let’s take a look at a few facts. First, look at how no teams ascended the peak until the Sherpas had set fixed ropes and ladders. On just about any other mountain, this doesn’t happen. People set their own protection as they go. Once the ropes were in place, look at the way people climb. They kick-stepped into the snow and ice, but the only other “skill” they were required to have was how to use an ascender device to help them go up while still tethered to the fixed lines. Attached to the backpacks, but conspicuously unused: ice axes. Everyone had one, no one was using it (except during a rescue of a fella who had become too weak and injured to go down under his own power).
Ice axe usage is standard for climbing on snow and ice. The axe helps you ascend and descend, either as a sharp walking aide or, on steeper slopes, as a way to create holds. In the event of a slip or fall, the ice axe will act as a brake, with a climber leaning onto the axe while its sharp prong digs into the snow (called “self arresting”). The ice axe can set a belay that could save your life. But when climbing on fixed ropes, it seemingly becomes an emergency-only tool that is otherwise dead weight strapped to the back of your pack.
Obviously, most mountaineering adventures don’t require supplemental oxygen. Some people turn their noses at the use of oxygen tanks; I don’t judge. But you certainly don’t need gas if you’re ascending Mount Rainier or hiking up Pikes Peak.
I’m sure I could go on endlessly here. But the point is made. Everest has become a place where two things happen — serious mountaineers to do their thing, and then the rest are being led up the hill. By “the rest,” I pretty much mean the bulk of the people on the mountain, people who pony up big bucks to be guided to the top.
Is this really mountaineering? Some will say no. I say yes, but it’s just different from what the rest of us do.
There is an obsession with “firsts” on Everest. This game was easy back in the day. First to summit. First American/Russian/Chinese to summit. First woman. First winter ascent. And so on. But it’s getting a lot more strange these days.
In the show, we had the oldest American (aged 66) to reach the top. OK, nothing too weird about that. But then we had David Tait, a moneyed man who wanted to become the first to ever ascend the mountain with the Sherpas who were setting the fixed ropes. I’m sure this will look good on a bio, but who really cares? Technically speaking, didn’t Edmund Hillary do that in 1953, when he topped the mountain with Sherpa Tensing Norgay? This was Tait’s third trip to the top, and he was looking for a new personal best. My suggestion: Since you’ve done Everest already, pick another peak. Everest, by all accounts, is tough. But from what I’ve heard, there are harder ascents to be had in the Himalayas. Uber-climber Ed Viesturs said K2 is the “holy grail” of mountaineering. I’d rather have that under my belt than some obscure and somewhat dubious “first.”
John Golden should have stayed home. This had the look of an inspiring story: A former football player who suffered a devastating knee injury that threatened to sideline him from anything athletic ever again. He gets his knee rebuilt, then has an idea: Show people that folks with major injuries don’t have to be relegated to the couch, and prove this by climbing Everest.
I like that spirit, something inspiring. But it sure appeared his body wasn’t up to the task.
Perhaps it was the magic of TV editing, but it looked like his knee was giving out constantly. If you’re knee is popping out of joint, should you really be mountaineering?
Later in the episode, he fell and appeared to either break or bruise his ribs. This forced him off the mountain.
If his legs were more sturdy, would this fall and subsequent injury have happened? It just seems as though the weakness of such a critical part of his anatomy should have precluded his summit bid way before he got into the climb. IMG did the right thing by pulling the plug on his bid.
Whew! That’s a lot of stuff. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on the program.
Bob Doucette
bdoucette@opubco.com
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Comments
Can’t argue with any of that. The episodes did seem to be lacking the character examination of past seasons. However, it did allow for more attention to be focused on the mountain.
I think a series on the Sherpas is a fantastic idea. These guys are high altitude mountaineering studs who go well beyond the best most other countries have to offer. Good comment.
Wow – totally agreed! An episode on Sherpas and Everest life would be not only fascinating but give other true perspective on the ascent! Not to take anything away from those that utilize the skills and talents of the Sherpas; however why leave the all the credit to the “white-guy”(of which I am) and edit out the essential element making the climb successful and otherwise largely un-obtainable! After all it’s Edmond Hillary that is remembered not his Sherpa -Tenzing Norgay?
Awesome perspective, Trevor. Coming on storng. Interesting fact: Hillary was always the first to acknowledge how well Tensing Norgay performed, and there is one truth that can never be taken away from the Sherpas: The most famous photograph in all of mountaineering — that if a victorious climber on the summit of Everest for the first time ever — is a photo of Norgay.
The more shows like this go on, the more it seems to show that accomplishments like climbing Everest are based more on luck than anything else. While there may be luck in any other outdoor venture, usually skill and knowledge plays a lot bigger role. Instead, The climb already seems accessible to anyone with the money to take it, and that most of the people that have done it have shown that they’re capable of paying people to help them up. Good for a speech or resume builder though.
Of course, that just gives hope to people like me who aren’t mountaineers but would totally be willing to try it.
I have to agree with you all. A show on the Sherpas and how they live and how this whole thing wouldnt happen without them would be awesome. Yes the show seemed rushed and I misse how you get to know the climbers.Golden had no buisiness on the mountain if infact his knee had to be pulled back into place that often or at all for that matter. Can you imagine if they had to deal with his knee in some of the filmed locations in the death zone. I give him all the credit in the world but he could have easily jeopordized others lives.
maybe they arent showing much of brice because he tried to cover up the murder of innocent tibetans by the chinese so he could continue to profit from using the tibet route. i think summiting everest is quite and accomplishment but it seems the only real skills required are a lot of money and being in very good physical condition. the sherpas shuffle these people up and down and it seems few of them have any mountain climbing skills.
You’ll see more of Russell Brice in the next two episodes. And just to set the record straight on Brice’s relationship with the Chinese — he, too, suffered a major loss of business when the Chinese shut down the north side in 2008. That’s where he primarily worked. So he, like others, shifted their business to the south side this season. I can remember reading a book about the Everest scene, and the author described Brice is sort of a sheriff-like figure in an otherwise lawless Everest climbing scene, meeting with other companies to make sure the mountain was as prepared and safe as possible before teams started heading up. Brice is a controversial figure to some, but I’m not going to blame him for the hardships the Tibetans have faced under PRC rule.
As in previous years, many of the expedition participants had no business being on Everest. I like the idea that one should have at least one other 8000 meter mountain under their belt before climbing Everest (at least Cho Oyu). That would filter out a lot of folks, although the network probably wouldn’t be happy with the lack of drama. Certainly having 2 guys with heart conditions at low altitudes was something that prior experience could have avoided. I did enjoy seeing the Icefall Docs at work and seeing the traverse of the Hillary Step on film. I’m glad they went to the Nepal side this year.
Funny, I was going to write to the climbing organizer about never seeing one shot of someone using an ice axe. Seemed a bit strange to me, but perhaps I am too conservative since even on fixed ropes, I like an ice axe in my other hand.
This season seemed rushed. I still enjoyed it, but would have loved to see more. I agree with everyone else regarding the Sherpas. Heck, Phurba made his SIXTEENTH summit. I think another Sherpa made his twelfth. You can see how much Russell appreciates what the Sherpas do as well as most of the other climbers, but the Sherpas are only side notes to the show, which is sad. They are amazing and probably should get their own series. Re David Tait, I think he originally wanted to summit withouth oxygen and then he either was delayed or slightly injured and had a choice to either summit with oxygen or not summit at all (can’t remember exactly, maybe someone else can elaborate). Since he left so early, he just happened to be along with the sherpas setting all the ropes.
I think the most troubling aspect of Everest expeditions is that the mountain has become a garbage dump. All the ropes, oxygen tanks, etc left from previous seasons all over the mountain. Not the way to treat the highest mountain on Earth, but I understand the difficulty of cleaning all that up in high altitude.
They have already done the disabled man up Everest angle, remember the guy with the totally artificial leg from a season or two ago? Or the biker dude who looked like an average joe? And they said that guy was on the fast track to the NFL… but he was only a part-time player at Northern Illinois university, hardly a place for NFL talent.
The Sherpas really don’t get much credit, it’s always the rich white europeans who get it although they don’t do anything. They really should do the series just on the sherpas alone. How they are the true heroes. How they really live. etc
I didn’t care for these episodes, no chance of getting to know the characters and seemed to be rushed.