The Hindu : New Delhi News : How it feels to be on top of the world

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Thursday, May 10, 2007
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How it feels to be on top of the world

Madhur Tankha

MOUNTAIN STARS: Member of the first Indian team to climb Mount Everest and president of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, Major H.P.S. Ahluwalia (right), the first woman to scale Everest twice, Santosh Yadav, and Executive Vice-President and MD o f Discovery Networks India, Deepak Shourie, at the preview of `Everest: Beyond The Limit' -- a six-part series to be aired on Dicovery Channel -- in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photo: S. Subramanium

NEW DELHI: Showcasing every step of the gruelling expedition to Mount Everest by the 2006 climbing team will be Discovery Channel's six-part series premiering this coming Saturday.

Titled "Everest: Beyond The Limit", the series has been made with the help of cutting-edge techniques like high-altitude video technology and sophisticated cameras. It will document the two-month expedition and the highlight the struggle, high and low points, and triumphs of the team comprising people from different walks of life and a differently-abled person.

At the launch of the series here on Wednesday, Major H.P.S. Ahluwalia, member of the first Indian team to climb Mount Everest, narrated his own experience while standing on the summit of Everest. "I felt thank God it's all over, but instead of jubilation there was a tinge of sadness. Was it because I had done the ultimate in climbing and all roads hereafter would lead down?"

Lasting experience

Stating that a summit climber gets overwhelmed by a deep sense of joy and thankfulness after accomplishing the mission, Major Ahluwalia said the experience lasts a lifetime and it changes one completely.

"The man who has been to the mountains is never the same again; he becomes conscious of his smallness and loneliness in the universe. The other summit -- the summit of the mind -- is no less formidable and no easier to climb."

The new TV series will uncover the experience of members of the Everest team from start to finish and focus on the intense limitations and difficulties that an expedition of this magnitude places on the human body and spirit.

Santosh Yadav, who climbed Mount Everest twice, said that as she came from Haryana where there was no snow or mountains she was extremely excited about mountaineering: "There is silence and peace up there on the mountains but when the weather gets bad then you realise that you are so small compared to the mighty mountains."

Viewers will see and hear from climbers every step of the way as they deal with their own physical and mental struggles including an asthmatic man from Denmark; a fire fighter from Los Angeles making his second attempt to reach the summit, having previously mortgaged his home and sold his motorcycle to pay for the climb and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle designer having a considerable climbing disadvantage with metal plates and pins holding his spine, ankle and part of his skull together.

Discovery Networks India EVP and Managing Director Deepak Shourie said the series will put viewers on the world's tallest and most alluring peak -- a mountain that represents the ultimate test of human will and determination. "From the unique vantage point, the intense danger surrounding this increasingly popular climbing passion becomes startlingly clear. We are presenting the mountain's magnificence and intimidating terrain to viewers in the most real way possible," he added.

The six episodes are: "Summit Dreams", "The Gatekeeper", "To The Summit", "Into The Death Zone", "Mutiny On The Mountain" and "The Final Cost".

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