I was into Everest before it was big.
That's what we used to say about rock acts in the sixties and seventies, like Yes, whose first album my dentist turned me on to and didn't break through until two LPs later, really three, with "Fragile."
That used to be the process. You discovered and owned an act, followed them from the club to the theatre to maybe the arena after they had a big AM hit, and when the hoi polloi came on board, that's what you'd say. Or as Bill Murray told his girlfriend in "Stripes," "You know one day Tito Puente's gonna be dead, and you're gonna say 'Oh, I've been listening to him for years, and I think he's fabulous.'"
The funny thing is Tito Puente didn't die for two decades.
But that's not the point.
The point is someone turned me on to the book "Annapurna" in high school. I vividly remember reading it, becoming enraptured with the tale of Himalayan mountain climbing.
And then in '96, the internet had progressed to the point where there were live reports from the Everest climbing season, and the disaster that ensued, ultimately covered in an "Outside" article by Jon Krakauer which was expanded into the book "Into Thin Air." I was into Krakauer early too, I went to a friend's birthday party and they gave out his first book, "Eiger Dreams," wherein a climber falls off the Eiger and lives, along with a bunch of other climbing tales.
And about two months ago, I read Will Cockrell's new book "Everest, Inc., The Renegades and Rogues who Built An Industry at the Top of the World": shorturl.at/4IfdN which delineates the modern history of climbing Everest, and how the Sherpas have taken over the business.
And then I listened to a recent Blister podcast entitled "Adrian Ballinger on Everest, Ethics, & Unexplored Places" shorturl.at/93iOG
All this to say when I read about "Mountain Queen" I was eager to see it, but you don't have to be a mountain acolyte to love this documentary.
Oh, one other Everest link, someone recently posted a drone video of the climbing route: shorturl.at/x7HlB
But that doesn't compare with the visuals in this movie. Especially climbing up the ever-shifting Khumbu Icefall, where death is seemingly inevitable every year.
So what we've got here is an uneducated woman with a son who decided to leave her mark, do something great, by being the first woman on Everest. First as porter, then as a guide.
It's an incredible achievement.
But then she meets this Romanian climber and moves to Hartford, CT, has a couple more kids, continues to climb Everest, and deals with his abuse.
"Mountain Queen" hit Netflix on the last day of last month, and I highly recommend it, I'd put it at the top of your list.
But I'd also say to upgrade to Netflix 4k just for this movie, the visuals are unbelievable.
It's an hour and forty four minutes and your mind will never wander.
Lhakpa climbs the mountain to inspire her children, and it didn't resonate with me until the very end. I wince when I read about a person doing this or that to inspire others, but when Lhakpa throws her arms in the air at the end of this doc, goddamn, it made me think I could do things too.
It's cognitive dissonance, Lhakpa is working in Whole Foods, then she flies to Nepal to climb the world's tallest mountain.
This is just not a story of mountain climbing, but of a person, born with no advantages who made her own way, despite the huge challenges in her path.
I've only been technical mountain climbing once. It's easy until it's difficult. Rappelling back down was no big deal. But when I had to pressure my hands against the overhanging rock as I scuffled along with my feet on this V-shaped formation laid on its side...that was too much.
I'd like to go to Everest Base Camp. I would not like to climb Everest, that's not how I want to die. But "Everest, Inc." says that if you're in shape, they can now even take you up K2, one of the most difficult climbs in the Himalayas.
And it used to be Everest was remote. Now we have satellite phones, the whole world is networked. Then again, it's pretty easy to be beaten by Mother Nature, I've had my own close calls.
As for non-climbers needing to make the trek for whatever reason... Everybody's trying to prove something to the world. When in truth, it's only about proving something to yourself. So, if you're climbing Everest to brag...I don't get it.
There are a lot of questions raised in "Mountain Queen." I don't care if you live on the water, if the nearest mountain is far away, you're going to be intrigued and moved.
This is a winner.
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