The Hazards of High Altitude: A Mistake on the First Attempt | Edge of the Unknown on Disney+

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·Nov 10, 2024

[Music] When you're climbing on a Himalayan giant, you have no margin for error. Altitude is this invisible, debilitating challenge that you face. Leaning over to even tighten your boots can put you out of breath. Decision-making becomes much slower because your brain has less oxygen going to it. We're not meant to survive on that paucity of oxygen, and you're on borrowed time. You are dying; it's that simple. So, you have to have a strong cardiovascular system that can pump because you're in an oxygen-deprived environment, and certainly your energy, this is precious.

[Music] We were ferreting out a new route with a lot of unknowns. [Music] This is a mountain that's never been climbed before, so it's not out of the ordinary that you might face unanticipated challenges, even if you're the best climbers in the world. We got a little over-ambitious on our first day. We climbed that initial section pretty quick and then bypassed a really good campsite. [Music] That was a mistake because we spent precious energy carving a tent platform out of the ice and the snow.

"How's it going, Conrad?"

[Music] The next morning, we thought we'd make it to the summit today, but we had underestimated the difficulties of the climbing. [Music] In the afternoon, we still had easily, oh, 2,000 feet. We might be able to make it up to the summit tomorrow, but it's going to be a lot colder, more wind, and the worst part is that I have my doubts that we're gonna make it back from the summit back to the tent.

They tried to keep going. They would have to spend the night out without any shelter. Unplanned nights out are not things that you want to do, given the cold temperatures; you could die there.

"I don't want to say it, but I feel like we should go down. What's your feeling?"

"I'm in the same boat."

[Music] We made the prudent decision to come back down. [Music]

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