video of the month May 2002: Found on Everest

[7summits]

This month we have chosen an independent filmmaker with their story about the search for Irvine and the highest rescue ever performed.

Found on Everest (Detectives on the roof of the world) from Soulstice films

From Soulstice:
"5.1.99: a unique team of climbers led by Everest veteran Eric Simonson finds the remains of legendary alpinist George Mallory, possibly the first to actually climb Everest in 1924. the climbing world erupts in a torrent of debate about all aspects of said discovery.

3.15.2001 Simonson gathers nearly the exact same team once again on the north side of mount Everest in an attempt to solve the mystery once and for all. "Found on Everest" is the inside story of this expedition. a feature length documentary, this film follows each climber on three search rotations at 27,000 feet, and on a summit bid thwarted by a rescue of four abandoned climbers from 28,500 feet: the second highest rescue in history."

(7summits:) This is actually two movies in one; the first being about the Mallory climb and the search for his stuff is mostly interesting for historians; it has some nice footage and they did find old camps and artifacts, but this part also contains too much dialogue that will not interest everybody.

The second part is about the rescue of 7summiteer and good friend Jaime Vinals from Guatemala and his guide Andy Lapkass. For us this was the interesting part; it's amazing that the climbers set their personal goals aside to try the rescue while everybody at basecamp tells them it won't work..

Overall: nice fast intro about the approach trip, great images and perfect editing/directing; impressive work from a small independent filmmaker who has also made great films about off-piste skiing.
 Although not mentioned on the Soulstice website, the DVD version has some extra's including the Puja Ceremony, a nice slideshow, an alternate ending and a 5 minute monologue of Eric Simonson in the beginning of the climb.

For the first part: , for the 2nd part: , total 4 stars.

(Click here to buy the movie directly at the producers' website)

Have you seen this as well? Let everybody now your opinion here!

The 7summits team

[Scott Walsh]

The knowledge that this video is about the Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition 2001 and the title being 'Found on Everest', you would think that the video would have something to do with the mystery of Mallory and Irvine.  But it doesn't, really.

Maybe 1/3 of this video has to do with the research that was completed by the team.  And unless you were someone who has been educated about the M&I mystery and who closely followed the expeditions dispatches on the IMG website, you would not have been able to follow the tiny bit of information that was given.  It was choppy, at best.

Along with lacking information about the expeditions findings, the video is also bias.  While 2/3 of the video focus's on the rescue of Andy Lapkass and Jaime Vinals, absolutely no mention was made of the rescue of the three geologists on the mountain.  Members of the M&I expedition were involved in that also.  In fact, Jake Norton was unable to make a summit attempt because of a knee injury sustained while physically carrying one of the geologists down the mountain and was subsequently sent home early for medical care.  Were his efforts less worthy of mention?  Riley Morton obviously thinks so.

If you know nothing about the expeditions purpose and are simply looking to watch a few guys talk about a high-altitude rescue, than this is the video for you.  But for those of us who were looking forward to learning something new about the Mallory & Irvine mystery?  This is definately not the place to find it.  The video's title is completely misleading - it should have been called 'The Rescue of Andy Lapkass and Jaime Vinals'.  Hopefully the book will be better.

[riley morton]

Scott,
 thanks for buying the film - and thanks for giving your feedback here. dialog is a good thing.

as such, i'd like to defend my decisions here if i may- You are completely right in that the film is mostly about the rescue on may 24, 2001 of jaime and andy.
in fact, only the first 40 minutes addresses the m + i research, while the last 50 minutes concentrates on the rescue.

i chose to concentrate the 2nd half of the film on the rescue for a number of reasons. First and foremost, because it was by far the most compelling and interesting story of the whole expedition (and maybe the whole season on everest). The second highest rescue in history is a story that needs to be told.

the rescue of the chinese glaciologists that you refer to did indeed end Jake's expedition (a tragedy that i can only feel better about when i think about him standing on top this year!) -- but i didn't include the story - not because it wasn't worthy of mention - but for 2 reasons, 1, there was no footage of the chinese rescue and 2, this rescue was less interesting than the research, and the andy/jaime story. the chinese guys got sick by going up to Advanced Basecamp too quick, got CE, and our guys had to take 'em down from ABC and get them on a jeep at Basecamp. It was a completely non-technical, and low rescue in which non of our protagonists were under immediate threat (yes, the chinese guys were hanging on by a thread, and yes, jake did pop his knee, but ultimately, no one on our trip was going to die)

Just so you know, Scott, I cut a 47 minute "broadcast" version for TV and film festivals. This version includes a bit about the chinese rescue (i could include this in the short because the short version uses a narratory and more still photos, so the chinese rescue was not out of place in the story as much)

in the broadcast version of the film, I was forced to cut almost ALL of the research portion of the film - and concentrate almost entirely on the rescue.

And yes, there was only one reason that I spent 2 months of my life editing the long version of the film (the home video version that you have/or saw) -- and that was to give you, and the rest of the M + I mystery fans out there, an almost complete version of the story of the 2001 Mallory and Irvine research expedition.
God knows that I certainly am not making any money by having the home video version out there - and God also knows that no broadcaster is going to air the whole 91 minute film (the lack of major discoveries in the research simply isn't interesting enough to be seen by a wide audience) - so i was kind of hoping that the fans (like you) would be more grateful to have ANYTHING about the research that they can see at all.
but instead, you complain.
That's fine. the feedback that I've gotten (aside from yours) has been overwhelmingly positive. I think that most fans of Everest, and the Mallory and Irvine story appreciate the long version the film - as well as the fact that it is told in a cinema verite style - ie no pandering narrator trying to make the story more dramatic than it is.

But again, Scott, thanks for the feedback. I do suggest that, next time, before you buy a film, you read the copy on the back of the box, or our website (www.soulsticefilms.com) - because I do believe that it is clear that a significant portion of 'Found On Everest' is about the rescue of Jaime and Andy on May 24, 2001.

and hey, Harry!
thanks for a really great website!

riley