“If you’re a writer, the dream is to write an amazing book. As a mountaineer, as a climber, climbing a route is like, you live something that represents you in the place you love.” – Esteban ‘Topo’ Mena
Documentaries surrounding climbing and mountaineering are almost always focused on the idea of overcoming enormous challenges. But another major theme seems to generally stick out: safety and survival. Yes, you could reach that peak, but there’s a pretty good chance you could also die while trying to push to that peak. Yes, that route does seem easier than the main route, but there’s also a much higher chance of a deadly avalanche on that route.
Both of those themes reign true through Dhaulagiri. In this documentary, Esteban ‘Topo’ Mena, a certified mountaineer guide since 2013 with experience on 8000 meter peaks and unclimbed remote big walls, is joined by National Geographic photographer Cory Richards, the first American to climb an 8000 meter peak in the winter, and the first woman to summit both K2 and Everest with no supplemental oxygen in a single year, Carla Perez, as they attempt to pave the way up a new route on the seventh tallest mountain in the world.
If you have forty minutes, you should definitely give this video a watch.
Image Credit: Eddie Bauer via YouTube