Customer Reviews

Everest:Climb for Hope [VHS]

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The Climb for Hope, the 1991 Everest/Canada Expedition, was essentially begun as a fund raising event for Rett Syndrome by the father of a young, teenage girl afflicted with this disease. The film is well narrated by Leslie Nielsen. It is part travelogue with some nice footage of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, and some interesting shots of the countryside encountered along the journey to Everest. The trek to Everest is certainly an arduous one and not for the faint of heart, as the viewer will see.

There are some great shots of Mount Everest, as well as some excellent climbing footage. The weather was poor for climbing, however, with the jet stream dropping early. No one made the summit, and one climber was injured, requiring that the climber be lowered in a bivvy sack some way down the mountain. There is some footage of the rescue which is interesting, as it shows just how precarious such a rescue may be.

While the film may have won the Gold Medal for the Best Informational/Documentary at the New York International Film Festival, the actual video has lengthy blackouts separating segments of the film. I am assuming, perhaps wrongly, that the film had been edited for television and commercials inserted, which for the video release were then removed, accounting for the blackouts. These blackouts are somewhat jarring to the viewer and break up the enjoyable flow of the film. This is a film primarily of interest to Everest junkies and those who support the fundraising efforts for Rett Syndrome.

This is a great video! Travel from Kathmandu, across Nepal to Tibet.
Approach Everest from the rarely climbed north side...for every three
climbers who have reached the summit, another has died. The story of
this climb is inspired by the father of a disabled daughter to conquer
two challenges: Mt. Everest and the medical mystery of 'Rett Syndrome'
in this 50 minute video.