Everest - playing with death

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Television series
German title Everest - playing with death
Original title Everest: Beyond the Limit
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 2006-2009
length 50 minutes
Episodes 19 in 3 seasons
genre documentation
production Barny Revill
Edmund Wardle
Jen Peedom
Martin Pailthorpe
music Dan Delor
Rob David
First broadcast November 14, 2006 - December 30, 2009 on Discovery Channel
occupation

Main actor:

1st season

  • Terry O'Connor: Ambulance
  • Brett Merrel: Fireman
  • Mark Inglis : leg amputee

2nd season

  • David Tait: millionaire
  • Rob Baber: Seven Summits Conqueror
  • Betsy Huelskamp: journalist

Supporting actor: 1st season

  • Max Chaya: Seven Summits containment
  • Gérard Bourrat: 62 year old climber

2nd season

  • Fred Aim: Doctor
  • Darius Vaiciulis: Cell phone seller
  • Monica Piris: expedition doctor

Everest - Playing with Death is a television series produced by the Discovery Channel about three ascents of Mount Everest , organized by the promoter Himalayan Experience (Himex) and carried out by Russell Brice .

action

In the first season, a seventeen-strong production team accompanies a group of eleven mountaineers, three mountain guides and 24 Sherpas from the base camp via the northern route to the summit of Mount Everest at an altitude of 8,848 meters. Among the mountaineers are the leg amputee Mark Inglis and the asthmatic Mogens Jensen.

The second season shows in eight episodes the ascent of the highest mountain in the world again via the northern route .

Season 1 - Playing With Death

The two main routes to the summit of Mount Everest.

The first season is about the ascent of Mount Everest from the base camp or the advanced base camp (ABC) in Tibet on the north route via four high camps to the summit. The route was secured in advance by Sherpas with fixed ropes and equipped with oxygen bottles and provisions.

The US firefighter of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Brett Merrel turned back at 7,300 meters due to exhaustion and descended to the base camp. The Danish mountaineer Mogens Jensen, who wanted to climb the mountain without bottled oxygen, had to turn back an hour below Camp 4 at 8,250 meters due to dizziness and nausea.

Team 1 with mountain guide Bill Crouse started at 1:00 to climb the summit from Camp 4. The American emergency doctor and specialist in altitude sickness Terry O'Connor was the first participant in the Himex expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

On May 14, 2006 at around 11 pm, Team 2 with mountain guide Mark “Woody” Woodward set off from High Camp 4 at temperatures of −40 ° C. The Lebanese Max Chaya reached the summit at 6:30 am and has successfully climbed all Seven Summits . Leg amputee Mark Inglis reached the summit in second place and can return to Camp 4, but had to be abseiled from there the following day due to severe frostbite on his stump and five fingertips. The American motorcycle developer Tim Wayne Medvetz has to turn back at 8780 meters, only 70 meters below the summit, on repeated orders from Russel Brice because of running out of oxygen. The 62-year-old Frenchman Gérard Bourrat had to turn back there and lost the tips of all his fingers and toes due to frostbite .

During the promotion and relegation, the team passed the dying Englishman David Sharp without initiating a rescue operation, which later led to controversy in the media.

No. original title German title First broadcast
1 Summit Dreams Summit dreams November 14, 2006
2 The gatekeeper The guardian of the mountain November 21, 2006
3 To the summit Departure to the summit November 28, 2006
4th Into the Death Zone In the death zone December 5, 2006
5 Mutiny on the Mountain mutiny December 12, 2006
6th The final cost payday December 19, 2006

Season 2 - Return to Icy Heights

Rongputal and north face, in front of it the Changtse

In season 2, the two unsuccessful protagonists Mogens Jensen and Tim Wayne Medvetz from season 1 return to Everest to make a second attempt along with three other mountaineers on the Tibetan northern route.

The US journalist Betsy Huelskamp had to return to the base camp below high camp 2 due to hypoxia and is later removed from the team by the expedition leader due to her poor climbing skills .

David Tait and the Sherpa Phurba Tashi went first to the summit, crossed it and descended on the unsecured Nepalese south side.

One day later, Team 1, led by mountain guide Mark “Woody” Woodward, set off for the summit. Tim Medvetz broke his right hand in a fall below the second step . Rob Baber reached the summit and was on a mobile phone call from the summit. He took off his sunglasses, which is why he slowly started to become snow blind during the descent . At 06:20, Fred Ziel stopped at the summit, half an hour later Darius Vaiciulis. The injured Tim Medvetz was the last to arrive. Everyone was able to successfully descend back into the ABC.

Team 2 was led by mountain guide Kuraoka Hiroyuki. Katsusuke Yanagisawa reached the summit of Mount Everest as the oldest climber in this group at the age of 71.

No. original title German title First broadcast
1 Dream Chasers A dream becomes true October 30, 2007
2 On the ropes In the ice wall November 6, 2007
3 Judgment Day day of the truth November 13, 2007
4th World record A new record November 20, 2007
5 Long way down Dangerous crisis November 27, 2007
6th The Death Zone Struggle for air 4th December 2007
7th Breaking point Emergency call from the death zone December 11, 2007
8th Now or Never Now or never December 18, 2007

Season 3 - Mountain Without Mercy

The third season of the documentary first aired on December 27-30, 2009 on Discovery Channel. The relay documents Russel Brice's Himex team as they climb the southern route, which is known for its famous obstacles such as the Hillary Step and the Khumbu Icefall . The participant David Tait from the second season is part of the group again on this expedition.

No. original title German title First broadcast
1 First Summit The first climb December 27, 2009
2 Impossible Dream An unfulfilled dream December 27, 2009
3 Deadly countdown Deadly countdown December 27, 2009
4th Death Zone Gridlock Trapped on Hillary Step December 30, 2009
5 One last breath Until the last breath December 30, 2009

actor

  • Russell Reginald Brice (born July 3, 1952) is a New Zealand mountaineer, managing owner of the expedition company Himalayan Experience and the expedition leader of the two documented ascents of Mount Everest. From the upstream base camp and Camp II, he observes the expedition participants with a telescope, guides them by radio and evaluates computer-aided weather data.
  • Phurba Tashi works as a Sirdar and Senior Sherpa at Himalayan Experience . He has already stood on the summit of Mount Everest more than 10 times.
  • Mark Inglis (born September 27, 1959) is a New Zealand extreme athlete who climbed Mount Everest in 2006 as the first bilateral amputee.
  • Mogens Jensen is a Danish mountaineer and triathlete who, despite suffering from chronic asthma, wants to climb Everest without additional oxygen.
  • Tim Medvetz is an American motorcycle developer who has participated in both documented ascents.

production

The camera team took two Digital Betacam cameras, three helmet cameras and six digital cameras type Minolta Dimage Z1 to a total of 250 hours of film. Cinematographers Ken Sauls and Mark Whetu reached the top.

DVD

The three seasons have been released on DVD in the USA and Germany.

Web links