Final Update from Xtreme Everest (2)

We wrap up over coverage of the Caudwell Xtreme Everest expedition, with this two-part presentation of the final update. The expedition is being covered by MacGillivray Freeman Films for their forthcoming "Return to Everest 3D" IMAX release.


Behind the Lens
Like most of MacGillivray’s IMAX Theatre films, Return to Everest will be a human story, focusing on individuals rather than spectacle. “The things that really lend themselves to the large format are outdoor emotional dramas where you can get in touch with a character and participate with them as they strive to reach a goal.”

After spending almost three weeks at Base Camp with Araceli, Jamling, and his film crew, Greg is excited about the visual quality of the material they’ve gathered so far.

“There’s a lot that is really quite beautiful, but a couple of the shots are just stunning,” he says. “We got one shot at the base of the icefall looking back to Base Camp, right at dawn, the sun wasn’t up yet. We filmed it in a way that’s kind of like a David Lean scene, or a shot that Stanley Kubrick would do. Mike Grocott and Denny Leavitt are leaving to go into the icefall for the last time to make their summit bid, and Araceli and Jamling are saying good bye to them.

“Half of the scene is dark because the sun is just rising over the mountain, and during the scene, even as the characters are saying goodbye, this red light is pouring onto them and the ice field, with beautiful ice formations 25 feet tall all around them. And in the background is the mountain Makalu, all lit up by dawn. It’s just gorgeous, it’s a stunning shot.

Last Days at Base Camp
Meanwhile, back at Base Camp, the last of the medical testing equipment is being packed up in the blue barrels used for transporting gear on yak-back, and the tents – home to Mike Grocott, Denny Leavitt, Nigel Hunt, Kay Mitchell, and so many others over the past three months – are being dismantled. A long trek awaits, but “it’s all downhill” as they like to say, down from 17,500 feet into the warm scented air of the forests, the wildflower meadows, and the timeless Sherpa villages tucked in remote valleys.

For Kay, who has been central to so much of the Base Camp organization and communications for Caudwell Xtreme, it will be a bittersweet departure. “You get more and more homesick the closer you get to going home,” she says.

“A lot of the people who have been involved in the research are going back to ‘day jobs’ so they’ll be trying to write up results on a sort of ad hoc basis. And then there’ll be a core group that’s employed on a research grant that will actually doing a lot of the work. And of course we’ve already started planning reunions, both for the trekkers and the core team.”

And what will she do? A rock climbing enthusiast who became involved in the Caudwell Xtreme project after she was swept away by seeing Everest in 1998, Kay may put off her medical career for a while. “I’m probably going to be doing some more rock climbing for the time being – get back out onto some real rock back in the UK.”

See the next blog post for the first part of this final update. Or download the PDF for the whole story.