Most mountain documentaries build toward the summit. This one builds toward the last few meters climbers refuse to touch, out of respect for Mount Kangchenjunga, the third-tallest peak on Earth.
This video follows the southwest Yalung Face route from base camp across the Yalung Glacier, through camps, seracs, and crevasses, over the Great Shelf, the Gangway, and along the exposed summit ridge. Climbers face incredible danger and bad odds, and always stop short of the summit. Not because it is unreachable, but out of respect for local tradition that holds it sacred.
The video also reminds us that getting to the top is not the hard part, and coming back down is where most of these incredibly motivated people die.
Kangchenjunga does not need your boot print.
Previously:
• Hiker who kept going dies on Mount Whitney
• How one climber's false summit claim helped turn K2 into a graveyard
• Sherpa left for dead on Everest found alive
• Climber rescued from Mount Fuji twice in four days
