FRONTLINE presents
STORM OVER EVEREST: A David Breashears Film
Tuesday, May 13, 2008, from 9 to 11 p.m. ET on PBS
"The mountain doesn't care whether we're here or not, Everything it means to us is only what we bring to it. It's what the mountain reveals about us that has any lasting value." -- David Breashears, producer and director, "Storm Over Everest"
In "Storm Over Everest," world-renowned climber and filmmaker David Breashears recalls May 10, 1996, the night a fast moving storm of unimaginable ferocity trapped three climbing teams high on the slopes of Mount Everest. The climbers, exhausted from their summit climb, were soon lost in darkness, in a fierce blizzard, far from the safety of High Camp at 26,000 feet. Mr. Breashears was in the midst of filming the first-ever IMAX film shot on Mount Everest when the tragedy occurred. He and his team stopped filming to assist several stranded climbers to safety.
Now, in "Storm Over Everest," he returns to Everest to tell the story of the climbers who perished in that storm--marking the worst climbing tragedy in Mount Everest's history--and more remarkably, to present eyewitness accounts of the astonishing survival of those who made it back from one of the world's most unforgiving environments.
Combining breathtaking original cinematography with dramatic recreations of the storm conditions of May 1996, the two-hour, high-definition documentary transports viewers to the slopes of Mount Everest. Interviews with climbers who survived the harrowing ordeal recount the events that occurred-and the decisions that were made-that resulted in seasoned mountaineers losing their lives alongside less experienced climbers drawn to the mystique of Mount Everest.
"Storm Over Everest" airs on the PBS FRONTLINE May 13, 2008. Log on to the "Storm Over Everest" preview Web site to check your local station listings, watch a preview and read the blog: http://www.pbs.org/frontline/everest
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