Browse content similar to Blindsight. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
A three-section ladder over a big crevasse. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:27 | |
Thing is, I never practised it with one rope, OK? | 0:00:27 | 0:00:30 | |
And it leans to the left, the ladder, OK? | 0:00:30 | 0:00:34 | |
I'm going to crawl across. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
-I don't want to fall. -No, you're good, man. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
If I fall, though, I'll just dangle on that space, right? | 0:00:39 | 0:00:42 | |
Big gap. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:50 | |
'When I was 15, I went blind completely. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:09 | |
'I hated blindness. | 0:01:12 | 0:01:13 | |
'I wasn't afraid to go blind and see darkness. I think that's a myth. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:21 | |
'I was afraid to be swept to the sidelines and forgotten... | 0:01:21 | 0:01:27 | |
'..to be obsolete.' | 0:01:28 | 0:01:30 | |
It was a few months after that | 0:01:43 | 0:01:45 | |
that I got this newsletter in Braille about a group taking blind kids rock-climbing. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:50 | |
I took my hand and I ran it up the wall in my room and I thought, "That sounds insane. | 0:01:50 | 0:01:55 | |
"Who would be stupid enough to take blind kids rock-climbing?" | 0:01:55 | 0:02:01 | |
-So I signed up. -LAUGHTER | 0:02:01 | 0:02:03 | |
'There's one thing that hasn't changed | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
'since that very first time I went rock-climbing almost 20 years ago, | 0:02:06 | 0:02:10 | |
'and that's the reach. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:14 | |
'The fear of climbing blind comes when I'm reaching out to the darkness, | 0:02:14 | 0:02:20 | |
'when I don't know what I'm going to find. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:23 | |
'But I reached out that day and I found what I was looking for.' | 0:02:26 | 0:02:30 | |
We're on top of the world! We are on top of the world, the apex of the planet. | 0:02:51 | 0:02:57 | |
-I can't believe it. -The centre of the cosmos. | 0:02:57 | 0:03:00 | |
You did it, man. So many people doubted you. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:03 | |
You showed 'em. | 0:03:03 | 0:03:05 | |
Thank you. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:07 | |
We did it! | 0:03:07 | 0:03:09 | |
Blindness in Tibet is a big, big problem. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:47 | |
Buddhist pilgrims and nomads think that blind people are sinners | 0:04:47 | 0:04:53 | |
or are possessed by demons | 0:04:53 | 0:04:56 | |
and that they have done something really terribly wrong in their past life. | 0:04:56 | 0:05:02 | |
Our kids, they had many difficulties to walk on the roads with their canes | 0:05:11 | 0:05:17 | |
because a lot of people were looking at their infected eyes. | 0:05:17 | 0:05:22 | |
And they were shouting | 0:05:22 | 0:05:24 | |
really bad words like, "Blind fool", or something. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:27 | |
In Tibetan, it's called "sha-goh!" | 0:05:27 | 0:05:29 | |
You can hear really how mean this sounds. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:33 | |
These kids are complete outcasts. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:37 | |
So I got the idea to set up the first school for the blind in Tibet, | 0:05:57 | 0:06:01 | |
to educate these blind kids, to give them confidence, | 0:06:01 | 0:06:06 | |
so that they don't have to be ashamed to be blind any more. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:10 | |
Now they can read, write and speak in three languages. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:14 | |
'I talked about Erik Weihenmayer' | 0:06:38 | 0:06:40 | |
and I talked about the book I read, his biography | 0:06:40 | 0:06:44 | |
and I shared all his experience with the kids. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:47 | |
And of course his experience, and also my experience, | 0:06:47 | 0:06:51 | |
and I think the experience of the kids, are very similar. | 0:06:51 | 0:06:54 | |
And I said, "Well, Erik started like you." | 0:06:56 | 0:06:59 | |
He became blind at the age of 12 and he adapted to being blind | 0:06:59 | 0:07:05 | |
and he even managed to climb Everest, which happens to be in Tibet. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:10 | |
And this was something which made a big impression on the kids. | 0:07:12 | 0:07:16 | |
ELECTRONIC SPEECH: "Dear Erik, | 0:07:53 | 0:07:55 | |
"When I told the children in our centre how you have reached the top of the world, | 0:07:55 | 0:08:00 | |
"not by holding the arm of a sighted friend, but with the help of two canes, | 0:08:00 | 0:08:05 | |
"they all proudly decided to walk on their own. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:08 | |
"Last week, I told them already that I wanted to write to you | 0:08:08 | 0:08:13 | |
"to ask if you would like to come to Tibet..." | 0:08:13 | 0:08:16 | |
Sabriye's first letter was the most powerful letter I'd ever listened to. | 0:08:16 | 0:08:20 | |
I was just so touched by her work and by her description of the kids. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:28 | |
She's a blind lady from Germany who tried to join the German equivalent of the peace corps, | 0:08:28 | 0:08:35 | |
and they said, "We don't send blind people overseas," so she funded her own way to Tibet. | 0:08:35 | 0:08:41 | |
She travelled through China and Tibet by herself. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:44 | |
I mean, just her and her cane, and rode horseback through these remote villages and found blind kids. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:49 | |
She asked their parents to send these kids to her centre. | 0:08:49 | 0:08:54 | |
It is the most remarkable thing. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
I climbed Mount Everest and climbed mountains all around the world, and I felt like a coward. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:03 | |
She just wanted me to come over and visit the school, but I wanted to do something. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:08 | |
And then I said, "Maybe the kids could do their own expedition? | 0:09:08 | 0:09:12 | |
"Maybe we could get them to the top of the peak next to Everest?" | 0:09:12 | 0:09:16 | |
And she said, "Great!" | 0:09:16 | 0:09:18 | |
She had six kids who were very interested and fit and motivated, | 0:09:18 | 0:09:22 | |
and she thought could really handle the experience. | 0:09:22 | 0:09:25 | |
I said, "What about permission from their parents?" | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
MEN CHANT SOFTLY | 0:10:27 | 0:10:29 | |
MUSIC PLAYS ON RADIO | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
The major mountains of the world range from the Rockies, my hometown, | 0:13:23 | 0:13:28 | |
that are about 14,000 feet, | 0:13:28 | 0:13:30 | |
to the Alps that rise to just under 16,000 feet, | 0:13:30 | 0:13:34 | |
Africa, a little above 19,000 feet, to the Andes, where there might be a handful of peaks above 22,000 feet. | 0:13:34 | 0:13:41 | |
But the Himalayas, they're the big daddies. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:45 | |
They're the rooftop of the world. | 0:13:45 | 0:13:47 | |
The highest is Everest at 29,035 feet. | 0:13:47 | 0:13:52 | |
The goal for this expedition is Lhakpa Ri. | 0:13:53 | 0:13:57 | |
It's a 23,000-foot peak, right next door to Mount Everest. | 0:13:57 | 0:14:01 | |
To get there, we'll travel west by bus | 0:14:02 | 0:14:04 | |
across the Tibetan Plateau to Tingri, | 0:14:04 | 0:14:07 | |
where, at about 13,000 feet, | 0:14:07 | 0:14:09 | |
we'll start our trek to Everest. | 0:14:09 | 0:14:11 | |
It may seem flat, but we're already into extreme altitude. | 0:14:12 | 0:14:16 | |
The body is working very hard, | 0:14:16 | 0:14:18 | |
because we only have about half the oxygen we'd have at sea level. | 0:14:18 | 0:14:22 | |
You're gasping for air, you feel like you're suffocating | 0:14:22 | 0:14:25 | |
and that's just part of the altitude experience. | 0:14:25 | 0:14:28 | |
And then on top of that, you take away their eyesight - it's tough, | 0:14:28 | 0:14:32 | |
there's no doubt about it. | 0:14:32 | 0:14:34 | |
From Everest Base Camp, it's a long hard journey. | 0:14:34 | 0:14:38 | |
It's 13 miles on rocks and scree, crossing rivers and over ice. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:43 | |
And you gain over 4,000 feet | 0:14:43 | 0:14:45 | |
till you reach Advance Base Camp, otherwise known as ABC. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:49 | |
At this point, at 21,500 ft, we're just 1,500 ft below our goal, | 0:14:52 | 0:14:58 | |
the summit of Lhakpa Ri. | 0:14:58 | 0:15:00 | |
'In a way, you might argue, OK, there's one blind guy who can do it, he's some elite Westerner, | 0:15:03 | 0:15:08 | |
'but can these kids that haven't had privileged lives? | 0:15:08 | 0:15:12 | |
'And if they can climb their own Everest, God, what a statement that'll make throughout the world.' | 0:15:12 | 0:15:19 | |
CANE TAPS | 0:15:38 | 0:15:40 | |
Hello. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:50 | |
-Erik? Hey! -Hi! | 0:15:52 | 0:15:55 | |
Wait, wait, wait. I have to give you something. | 0:15:55 | 0:16:00 | |
'Some of my friends I've brought on this trip were with me on Everest. | 0:16:01 | 0:16:06 | |
'They're the best blind guides in the world. | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
'We've got Jack, he's our amazing team doctor. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:14 | |
'We're gonna be going to high altitude, which is called the "death zone" | 0:16:14 | 0:16:18 | |
'and Jeff's really experienced at making split-second life-and-death decisions about altitude sickness. | 0:16:18 | 0:16:24 | |
'He'll also be guiding Tenzin. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:26 | |
'We also have Stephanie. | 0:16:28 | 0:16:30 | |
'She's an extreme endurance athlete, she's like the Energiser bunny, she never stops moving.' | 0:16:30 | 0:16:35 | |
That should always be on the outside of your foot. Does that make sense? | 0:16:35 | 0:16:39 | |
'She'll be guiding Kyila. | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
'Sally's been in and around the mountains her whole life | 0:16:42 | 0:16:45 | |
'but, more important than that, she's sort of... | 0:16:45 | 0:16:48 | |
'It's insulting to say the team mom, but that's in my mind. | 0:16:48 | 0:16:52 | |
'I thought she'd be perfect to guide Sonam Bhumtso. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:56 | |
'We also have Michael. | 0:16:56 | 0:16:58 | |
'He's a high-altitude monster. | 0:16:58 | 0:16:59 | |
'He's been up Everest three times. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:02 | |
'He'll be guiding Gyenshen. | 0:17:02 | 0:17:03 | |
'Charlie has all kinds of experience in the mountain. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:09 | |
'He's climbed K2, and three other 8,000-metre peaks. | 0:17:09 | 0:17:12 | |
'He's also a dad, so he has just the right balance of love and toughness.' | 0:17:12 | 0:17:18 | |
Wiggle your fingers, like this. | 0:17:18 | 0:17:20 | |
'He'll also be guiding Dachung. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:22 | |
'Gavin is my right-hand man. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:24 | |
'He's got no ego, he'll do anything it takes to keep the team safe | 0:17:24 | 0:17:29 | |
'and to get people up the mountain. He'll be guiding Tashi.' | 0:17:29 | 0:17:32 | |
-Does it feel warm? -Yeah. | 0:17:32 | 0:17:35 | |
Pull, push, got it? | 0:17:38 | 0:17:41 | |
So you fall down...OK? | 0:17:41 | 0:17:45 | |
-Got it? -Yeah. -Try now. | 0:17:47 | 0:17:49 | |
The worst outcome is that we all die in an avalanche, | 0:17:51 | 0:17:54 | |
or someone falls into a crevasse. | 0:17:54 | 0:17:58 | |
You've got to take a project like this so seriously. | 0:17:58 | 0:18:01 | |
It is life and death. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:02 | |
Good! Good! | 0:18:03 | 0:18:06 | |
I knew we needed to train the kids and give them a taste of what we're gonna be doing. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:11 | |
A little slippy, I'm slipping, help me. Good! | 0:18:13 | 0:18:16 | |
And so we'll take these kids rock-climbing, work on their bonding and trust | 0:18:16 | 0:18:21 | |
that has to happen in any climbing team. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:23 | |
Good, how about right down there? For your foot? Good. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:36 | |
Excellent. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:38 | |
'Rock-climbing is very, very tactile. | 0:18:47 | 0:18:50 | |
'You have to use your feet, | 0:18:50 | 0:18:53 | |
'your feelings of the hands. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
'You're touching the different surfaces of the rock, | 0:18:55 | 0:18:59 | |
'the very polished ones and also the rough ones. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:05 | |
'And every moment you have a different input, | 0:19:05 | 0:19:09 | |
'so, for the blind, the whole way is really full of experiences.' | 0:19:09 | 0:19:14 | |
Not so close, maybe a bit down here. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:18 | |
'I think, for the kids, the actual trek, | 0:19:18 | 0:19:21 | |
'being together with Erik and the team is the main important thing.' | 0:19:21 | 0:19:26 | |
Tenzin, stand up, stand up. Let go of the rock, lean back. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:31 | |
Tenzin, let go of the rock, lean back. | 0:19:31 | 0:19:35 | |
I thought these kids knew how to lower, so... | 0:19:41 | 0:19:43 | |
I'll get up there and walk him down. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:45 | |
No, it's easy. I'll go up and get him down. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
Stand up, let go of the rock, lean back. | 0:19:58 | 0:20:01 | |
Tenzin, let go of the rock, lean back. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
That's it. | 0:20:04 | 0:20:06 | |
Let go of the rock. That's it, that's it. | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
Yes! There you go! Good boy. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:13 | |
That's it. There you go. Good boy. | 0:20:13 | 0:20:17 | |
ROCKS CLATTER DOWN | 0:20:17 | 0:20:20 | |
(Oh, Jesus!) | 0:20:24 | 0:20:26 | |
I thought these kids had rock-climbed before and knew the basics. | 0:20:26 | 0:20:31 | |
I guess we underestimated a little bit, but they'll get it, they'll get it. | 0:20:31 | 0:20:35 | |
One thing I really want to make clear is Tibet is not Nepal. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:48 | |
And the thing is, like, you said in your e-mails you have an evacuation plan ready. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:56 | |
We weren't so sure if you were informed about the circumstances here in Tibet. | 0:20:56 | 0:21:00 | |
There's no helicopter. | 0:21:00 | 0:21:03 | |
I totally hear you. Our goal is safety. | 0:21:03 | 0:21:06 | |
We're on a climbing expedition. I don't want people to say, "I don't feel like going any more. | 0:21:06 | 0:21:10 | |
"I'm just turning back cos I don't feel like it." | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
We're committed, and if we're feeling good, that's what our goal is, to get to the summit. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:19 | |
I'm sorry, if you're blind, I don't care whether you like it or not, you're a bit of an ambassador. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:24 | |
What you guys have to realise is that Sabriye and me, | 0:21:24 | 0:21:27 | |
we probably have most to lose. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
If something's gonna happen, if something goes wrong, | 0:21:29 | 0:21:33 | |
there are plenty of people out there waiting for us to fall on our nose. | 0:21:33 | 0:21:38 | |
If we bring our kids up to 7,000 metres and they just fall down | 0:21:38 | 0:21:42 | |
and hit their bone on a rock and it's broken, | 0:21:42 | 0:21:46 | |
then people tell them, "Why did you bring them up there?" Do you see what I mean? | 0:21:46 | 0:21:50 | |
It's maybe not about breaking a leg. It's maybe about worse things. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:55 | |
I'm sensitive of that, we're all sensitive of that. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
We talked about that quite a bit last night. | 0:21:58 | 0:22:02 | |
We understand that and are sensitive to that. | 0:22:02 | 0:22:06 | |
That being said, the thing that I want to make sure that the two of you understand | 0:22:06 | 0:22:12 | |
and I speak for all of us, is that we are going to a place that is a little bit dangerous, | 0:22:12 | 0:22:18 | |
by design, and I think Erik will tell you... | 0:22:18 | 0:22:22 | |
I'd use the word, rather than "dangerous", "potentially dangerous". | 0:22:22 | 0:22:29 | |
Tashi! Well done! | 0:22:29 | 0:22:31 | |
'I guess we have different challenges in life. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:36 | |
'The climbing team and Erik, their challenge is adventure.' | 0:22:36 | 0:22:40 | |
Don't mind us, we're just here to take you on a trip. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
'They think we should risk something, we shouldn't be cowards. We should just do it, you know? | 0:22:43 | 0:22:48 | |
'And if we've done it, then we feel even better. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
'And when I hear this, | 0:22:51 | 0:22:54 | |
'then I get a little stone n my stomach.' | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
You've got everything in here? | 0:23:00 | 0:23:02 | |
-You've got your water? -Yes. -What else do you have? | 0:23:03 | 0:23:06 | |
'The thing is, the challenge we have is to get the children here to see, | 0:23:06 | 0:23:10 | |
'to understand, that they actually are equal human beings.' | 0:23:10 | 0:23:14 | |
My name is Kyila. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:22 | |
Kyila means "happy". | 0:23:22 | 0:23:24 | |
Everyone feel my pack. Everyone has a top part of their pack. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:19 | |
What is in here? | 0:26:19 | 0:26:21 | |
Feel that. | 0:26:21 | 0:26:24 | |
Hat. Fleece hat. | 0:26:24 | 0:26:26 | |
And feel this - what's the next thing? | 0:26:26 | 0:26:29 | |
Sunglasses. | 0:26:29 | 0:26:31 | |
If I lay my sunglasses on the ground, I'll never find it. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:36 | |
So always in the top part of your pack. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:38 | |
And because we're all blind, we have to remember where we put our things. | 0:26:40 | 0:26:46 | |
-OK? -OK. -Cool. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:48 | |
# I can't see me lovin' nobody but you | 0:26:51 | 0:26:56 | |
# For all my life | 0:26:56 | 0:27:00 | |
# Me and you, and you and me No matter how they toss the dice | 0:27:00 | 0:27:05 | |
# It's meant to be | 0:27:05 | 0:27:07 | |
# The only one for me is you, and you for me | 0:27:07 | 0:27:11 | |
# So happy together | 0:27:11 | 0:27:14 | |
# How is the weather? | 0:27:14 | 0:27:18 | |
# We're happy together. # | 0:27:18 | 0:27:21 | |
-Are you happy, Sonam? -Yes. | 0:29:43 | 0:29:44 | |
Why? | 0:29:44 | 0:29:47 | |
A little rocky. A little rocky here. | 0:30:18 | 0:30:20 | |
There's a lot of things I'm concerned about. | 0:31:10 | 0:31:12 | |
-You don't know him, man. -He's a 60lb kid. He doesn't need to be carrying a heavy pack. | 0:31:12 | 0:31:19 | |
That's a good point, but he's fine. | 0:31:19 | 0:31:21 | |
If you've got a principle, it's not like you need to get them suffering. | 0:31:21 | 0:31:27 | |
It's not training. That's not what this is about. | 0:31:27 | 0:31:31 | |
This is what high altitude does to you. | 0:31:31 | 0:31:36 | |
-No, explain it to me. -Come on, guys. Let's not all get pissy. | 0:31:36 | 0:31:39 | |
I just don't want the kid carrying any more weight than he has to. | 0:31:39 | 0:31:42 | |
In my opinion, he's not. | 0:31:42 | 0:31:44 | |
Enough. Relax. Come on. | 0:31:47 | 0:31:48 | |
Come on. Please. I don't want to get in an argument. I don't want you pissed with me. | 0:31:48 | 0:31:53 | |
Right, right, right! Left! | 0:32:03 | 0:32:05 | |
'Gavin's been guiding Tashi for three days now. | 0:32:07 | 0:32:10 | |
'And he's told me he's worried about his health, both physically and emotionally. | 0:32:10 | 0:32:15 | |
'I think Tashi's always been a bit of an outsider. | 0:32:18 | 0:32:20 | |
'The other kids at the blind school | 0:32:20 | 0:32:22 | |
'didn't want to have anything to do with him in the beginning | 0:32:22 | 0:32:25 | |
'because he came from the streets. | 0:32:25 | 0:32:27 | |
'It's bad enough being blind in Tibet, but there's an extra stigma attached to being a street kid.' | 0:32:27 | 0:32:33 | |
'Tashi's moods have been hard to read and there have been fairly significant swings. | 0:32:33 | 0:32:40 | |
'He'll go from laughing, joking and repeating things | 0:32:40 | 0:32:44 | |
'and then there were a couple of times yesterday where he almost shut down on me completely. | 0:32:44 | 0:32:50 | |
'And we'd stop for a break and he definitely was having a hard time, he was definitely tired. | 0:32:50 | 0:32:55 | |
'And I went to talk to him and he would not answer me in any shape or form. | 0:32:55 | 0:33:01 | |
'He just closed down into his own world.' | 0:33:01 | 0:33:03 | |
-Tashi? -Yes? -Go ahead and get changed, please, and put that on. I'll come back in one minute. | 0:33:04 | 0:33:09 | |
'He has some scars on his chest and his back' | 0:33:09 | 0:33:11 | |
and they sure as hell look like cigarette burns to me | 0:33:11 | 0:33:15 | |
and I don't want to jump to that conclusion but... | 0:33:15 | 0:33:18 | |
they look like them. | 0:33:20 | 0:33:22 | |
They look like them. It looks like he's got 20 or 30 burns on his chest and back. | 0:33:22 | 0:33:28 | |
I think we all learned a lesson today. | 0:36:16 | 0:36:18 | |
It's nice for us to just walk and cruise through these valleys. It doesn't hurt us at all. | 0:36:18 | 0:36:23 | |
I think if you look at a couple of these kids, the distance of today is a lot. | 0:36:23 | 0:36:28 | |
We need to start thinking about some objectives for a couple of the kids | 0:36:28 | 0:36:32 | |
and the reality of where they're going to go. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:34 | |
I don't mean bring it up in front of them but... | 0:36:35 | 0:36:39 | |
There is a philosophy of "weed 'em out early", and I don't want to have that philosophy. | 0:36:39 | 0:36:43 | |
I want to have the philosophy of inclusion, | 0:36:43 | 0:36:47 | |
get them up as high as they can, realistically and safely. | 0:36:47 | 0:36:52 | |
'I relate to Tashi a lot. | 0:36:52 | 0:36:53 | |
'I know that's hard on him, being the last kid into camp. | 0:36:53 | 0:36:57 | |
'And really wanting to be out there in front with the other boys.' | 0:36:57 | 0:37:01 | |
-Tashi! -Tashi! Tashi! | 0:37:01 | 0:37:04 | |
Yeah! Look at the man running. | 0:37:04 | 0:37:06 | |
Don't kill me now! | 0:37:06 | 0:37:07 | |
When I was learning to hike, I struggled and I was awkward and I was kind of gangly, | 0:37:08 | 0:37:14 | |
'trying to figure out how to make the system work | 0:37:14 | 0:37:16 | |
'and really wanting to keep up with my sighted brothers.' | 0:37:16 | 0:37:20 | |
Yeah! | 0:37:20 | 0:37:21 | |
'At first, my dad would actually walk behind me. | 0:37:21 | 0:37:26 | |
'He would take his hand and wrap my shirt and try to direct me, try to pull me left and right. | 0:37:26 | 0:37:31 | |
'And there were a lot of days when we would be hiking on a narrow trail, | 0:37:31 | 0:37:35 | |
'and I'd slip off the trail and he, with his hand wrapped up on my shirt... | 0:37:35 | 0:37:39 | |
'he'd go bouncing down the trail behind me.' | 0:37:39 | 0:37:42 | |
I was always thinking, "There's no reason why he can't do this | 0:37:42 | 0:37:47 | |
"and he can't do that, and we'll work together | 0:37:47 | 0:37:50 | |
"and find a way to do it." | 0:37:50 | 0:37:51 | |
'I don't think it was so much about the mountains as about how to keep us close as a family. | 0:37:54 | 0:37:59 | |
'I remember on McKinley when we stood on top, he was in a Cessna plane circling around us.' | 0:38:02 | 0:38:08 | |
There they are, there they are! Woo! Woo! | 0:38:08 | 0:38:13 | |
'He was always there, always there on the sidelines.' | 0:38:13 | 0:38:17 | |
'The way he thought about us was that I was the broom and his mom was the dustpan. | 0:38:20 | 0:38:26 | |
'Usually at some point in time, he would shatter | 0:38:28 | 0:38:31 | |
'and his mom would be there to sweep up the pieces, put him together. | 0:38:31 | 0:38:35 | |
'The toughest moment was when his mom was killed | 0:38:40 | 0:38:43 | |
'because it happened, coinciding really, with his adjustment as a blind person.' | 0:38:43 | 0:38:48 | |
I don't know how...I don't know how I would ever stay on track, | 0:38:51 | 0:38:55 | |
not only losing my sight... | 0:38:55 | 0:38:56 | |
..but losing my mom. | 0:38:59 | 0:39:00 | |
And then when it gets steep down, come up. | 0:39:05 | 0:39:10 | |
-When it gets steep up, go down. You know? -Yes. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:13 | |
Up and down, up and down. Left, right, left, right. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:16 | |
Left foot, left pole, left foot, right pole. | 0:39:16 | 0:39:19 | |
Good, Tashi. D'you want to keep going? Are you getting it? | 0:39:22 | 0:39:25 | |
'Tashi's gotten stronger. I don't think he's doing that bad. | 0:39:25 | 0:39:30 | |
'He's definitely slower than the other kids' | 0:39:30 | 0:39:35 | |
but I even think we can get Tashi pretty high up this mountain if we allow him to go at a slower pace. | 0:39:35 | 0:39:41 | |
Turn slightly to your right. | 0:39:53 | 0:39:55 | |
That's Everest up there. | 0:39:55 | 0:39:57 | |
-Want to see it? -Yeah. | 0:39:58 | 0:40:00 | |
I'll show you the top. It's a little lower, it's 15 miles from there, so it's about 20 kilometres. | 0:40:00 | 0:40:06 | |
That's the top. And then Lhakpa Ri Summit is going to be up there but it's behind a mountain. | 0:40:06 | 0:40:12 | |
-We can't see it yet. -Uh-huh. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:14 | |
So, this is our expedition. | 0:40:32 | 0:40:35 | |
This is us going up just like those early men from all over the world | 0:40:35 | 0:40:40 | |
used to come right through here on their way up to get blessed, | 0:40:40 | 0:40:43 | |
to go climb the mountain, just like we're about to get blessed from the monks. | 0:40:43 | 0:40:47 | |
We're going to make sure that we are safe and that we are protected when we go on the mountain. | 0:40:47 | 0:40:52 | |
HORNS ARE BLOWN, DRUMS BEAT | 0:40:52 | 0:40:54 | |
CHANTING | 0:41:08 | 0:41:10 | |
'I was 12 years old when I became blind. | 0:42:27 | 0:42:31 | |
'I was in my school with sighted children and they started to tease me | 0:42:31 | 0:42:35 | |
'and they started to try tricks on me. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:38 | |
'I didn't know where I belonged. | 0:42:39 | 0:42:42 | |
'So I decided that I wanted to go to the special school for the blind and visually-impaired | 0:42:44 | 0:42:51 | |
'and to experience what is life as a blind person. | 0:42:51 | 0:42:56 | |
'We had teachers who said, "OK, we can give you all the techniques and all the methods you need." | 0:42:56 | 0:43:01 | |
'And they taught us very difficult things, for example, white water kayaking and downhill skiing. | 0:43:01 | 0:43:08 | |
'But they said, "OK, you have to try to figure out if the techniques we give you | 0:43:10 | 0:43:15 | |
' "are the right techniques, and you have to find your own limits." | 0:43:15 | 0:43:19 | |
'And this actually gave me the idea, if I had the techniques, | 0:43:21 | 0:43:25 | |
'then the whole world is open to me and I can do whatever I want to.' | 0:43:25 | 0:43:29 | |
'We're now at Everest Base Camp, at 17,000 feet. | 0:44:07 | 0:44:10 | |
'So far, we've used trucks to haul most of our gear but from here on we have to use yaks. | 0:44:10 | 0:44:16 | |
'But we've just been told our yaks are running late. | 0:44:16 | 0:44:20 | |
'As soon as we hear the sound of those little bells, we'll be out of here. | 0:44:20 | 0:44:23 | |
'We have to stay very sharp above here. | 0:44:29 | 0:44:31 | |
'It gets steeper, colder, the air is thinner and that lack of oxygen can really affect your judgment. | 0:44:31 | 0:44:37 | |
'This is the Mallory-Irvine Memorial. | 0:44:53 | 0:44:55 | |
'This is for all the people who have died on Everest to be honoured.' | 0:44:55 | 0:45:00 | |
There's BS Choi, | 0:45:00 | 0:45:02 | |
September 1997. | 0:45:02 | 0:45:06 | |
8th September. | 0:45:06 | 0:45:08 | |
September, wow! | 0:45:08 | 0:45:10 | |
-Here's Bruce Andrews. Want to have a look at that one? -Yeah. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:17 | |
He was one of my good friends. | 0:45:21 | 0:45:23 | |
Oh, right. It says, "In memory of." | 0:45:23 | 0:45:26 | |
-There's lots of them, eh? -People make mistakes. | 0:45:26 | 0:45:28 | |
Everyone's human, so you get that fear that runs through you | 0:45:28 | 0:45:32 | |
and you just say, "Don't make mistakes." | 0:45:32 | 0:45:35 | |
But, you know, we wouldn't be... | 0:45:35 | 0:45:37 | |
..we wouldn't at all ever consider, you know, | 0:45:38 | 0:45:43 | |
-trying to make any kind of statement with these kids... -No. -..or any craziness. | 0:45:43 | 0:45:48 | |
Because here, you see, all these people died here. | 0:45:48 | 0:45:51 | |
-I think we've soaked up enough sadness. -Yeah, I think so. | 0:45:59 | 0:46:03 | |
-Let's head back to camp, eh? -Yeah. | 0:46:03 | 0:46:04 | |
What does this summit mean to the kids? Because we were talking about this a little while ago | 0:46:17 | 0:46:23 | |
and Tashi's co-ordination, once he puts crampons on his boots | 0:46:23 | 0:46:26 | |
is a very big issue, because when you're on steep terrain, you can't be bumbling around. | 0:46:26 | 0:46:31 | |
And communicate to them that this is about to get a lot more serious. | 0:46:31 | 0:46:36 | |
It's not just singing songs. | 0:46:36 | 0:46:38 | |
And also relate back to us, or help them figure out, | 0:46:38 | 0:46:44 | |
if it's appropriate for them to stop today or to continue on. | 0:46:44 | 0:46:50 | |
Sure. | 0:46:50 | 0:46:51 | |
I think we should be more willing - it's hard to think like this - | 0:46:51 | 0:46:55 | |
I think we should be more willing to pull the plug, than we should say, "Go up." | 0:46:55 | 0:47:01 | |
I feel ultimately, it comes down to that. | 0:47:01 | 0:47:03 | |
You've got to understand, this is the difference between Westerners and Easterners, | 0:47:03 | 0:47:08 | |
If you look at the Sherpas and the Tibetans, | 0:47:08 | 0:47:11 | |
they could care less about the summits. | 0:47:11 | 0:47:13 | |
They didn't climb them before Westerners came and started doing them. | 0:47:13 | 0:47:16 | |
Because it's not important. But for us Westerners, we want to stand on top. | 0:47:16 | 0:47:20 | |
That's what we want to do. | 0:47:20 | 0:47:23 | |
Because it's ingrained in our make-up. | 0:47:23 | 0:47:25 | |
That's why I think there's a difference in attitude and perception about a summit. | 0:47:25 | 0:47:29 | |
I'm going to say something, you might say this is shallow, but I don't think so. | 0:47:29 | 0:47:34 | |
With these kids being blind, and getting to the top of a mountain, it is sort of symbolism, I think. | 0:47:34 | 0:47:41 | |
It is just a great thing to ingrain into your mind and body | 0:47:41 | 0:47:47 | |
what you're capable of doing. | 0:47:47 | 0:47:49 | |
The top is not important. OK? | 0:47:50 | 0:47:52 | |
It is important that we're all together and having fun. | 0:47:52 | 0:47:55 | |
This is important. | 0:47:55 | 0:47:57 | |
-And be safe. -And we are very safe. | 0:47:57 | 0:47:59 | |
And very happy together, OK? | 0:47:59 | 0:48:02 | |
This is very important. But the top is not important. | 0:48:02 | 0:48:05 | |
If you go up there, it's nice. If you don't, it doesn't matter. | 0:48:05 | 0:48:09 | |
Yes? Very, very important. | 0:48:13 | 0:48:15 | |
BELLS CHIME | 0:48:15 | 0:48:16 | |
All right, let's go, you guys. Let's walk this place. | 0:48:23 | 0:48:26 | |
Let's go! | 0:48:26 | 0:48:28 | |
Is that a drop-off? | 0:49:11 | 0:49:12 | |
It dropped off to the right. | 0:49:12 | 0:49:15 | |
Be really careful here, OK? | 0:49:15 | 0:49:18 | |
Really feel where the side of that ridge is. | 0:49:18 | 0:49:20 | |
-Great, OK? Really feel with your poles... -To the left or right? -To the right. | 0:49:20 | 0:49:25 | |
Listen very closely. It is very narrow, OK? | 0:49:31 | 0:49:36 | |
It drops away to the right. | 0:49:36 | 0:49:38 | |
OK, right here is a big rock. You want to step over. | 0:49:40 | 0:49:44 | |
Bring your right foot along. | 0:49:44 | 0:49:47 | |
When I'm walking, I see in my mind, Tashi stumbling over his own feet. | 0:49:53 | 0:49:58 | |
If he does it here, and it's narrow like this, then it's over. | 0:49:58 | 0:50:02 | |
But you're wasting energy by worrying so much. | 0:50:02 | 0:50:06 | |
At this point, you need to just trust us, OK? | 0:50:06 | 0:50:09 | |
We're going to take care of you. | 0:50:09 | 0:50:11 | |
We're not going to let anything happen to any of these kids. | 0:50:11 | 0:50:14 | |
Sabriye, I'm just going to say, I understand the whole concern. | 0:50:14 | 0:50:19 | |
I'm a parent, I know how you feel, but we're in good shape. | 0:50:19 | 0:50:22 | |
We want you guys to feel good and have fun, because this really is about having fun. | 0:50:22 | 0:50:27 | |
I'm not so sure. Where is the fun right now? | 0:50:27 | 0:50:30 | |
You're not having fun? | 0:50:30 | 0:50:31 | |
Give me a hug. | 0:50:35 | 0:50:37 | |
-I've four boys, so... -OK. | 0:50:37 | 0:50:41 | |
-It's very difficult. -It's very difficult. -And dangerous. -Dangerous, yes. | 0:50:41 | 0:50:46 | |
You have to think. | 0:51:03 | 0:51:04 | |
You don't have thought rights now. | 0:51:09 | 0:51:11 | |
'We had a last talk last time, | 0:51:11 | 0:51:13 | |
'and Tashi became really shy and he started to become very, very nervous.' | 0:51:13 | 0:51:19 | |
'And then we said, "OK, we'll just leave him. It's a big decision." | 0:51:26 | 0:51:31 | |
'After all, if I were treated like that by my parents, | 0:51:31 | 0:51:35 | |
'I'm not so sure if I'd have the guts to face them again.' | 0:51:35 | 0:51:39 | |
You don't know. | 0:51:43 | 0:51:44 | |
'But then,' | 0:51:44 | 0:51:45 | |
he came to us and he was saying, "Hey, I really have to talk to you | 0:51:45 | 0:51:51 | |
"and please don't get angry at me and I don't know how to do it." | 0:51:51 | 0:51:57 | |
And I said, "Tashi, what's wrong?" And he said, "I lied." | 0:51:57 | 0:52:00 | |
I said, "What about?" | 0:52:00 | 0:52:02 | |
And then he was really shy and he said, "Because I'm not half-Tibetan. | 0:52:02 | 0:52:09 | |
"I'm actually Chinese. | 0:52:09 | 0:52:11 | |
"I thought I'd better tell you that I'm half-Tibetan | 0:52:11 | 0:52:16 | |
"because I thought maybe you'd take only Tibetan children." | 0:52:16 | 0:52:20 | |
'And now he's someone totally different. He even changed his name.' | 0:52:20 | 0:52:24 | |
Tashi, what's your real name? | 0:52:24 | 0:52:27 | |
HE ANSWERS | 0:52:27 | 0:52:28 | |
SABRIYE REPEATS NAME | 0:52:28 | 0:52:30 | |
I think we have a little confusion about the village of, erm, of Tashi. | 0:52:34 | 0:52:42 | |
You go through. | 0:52:52 | 0:52:54 | |
You walk straight. You walk straight. OK? | 0:52:56 | 0:52:59 | |
BEEPING | 0:52:59 | 0:53:01 | |
Just so you know, | 0:53:07 | 0:53:08 | |
there will be a mask and you can put it in front of your mouth like this. | 0:53:08 | 0:53:14 | |
Then you can breathe. | 0:53:14 | 0:53:16 | |
-Tashi, do you hear the water? -Yes. | 0:53:29 | 0:53:32 | |
-Your village isn't so far from here? -Yes. | 0:53:38 | 0:53:40 | |
How long does it take to walk? | 0:53:40 | 0:53:44 | |
-Walk now. -To your village from here? -One day. | 0:53:44 | 0:53:47 | |
-One day. -OK. Let's start walking. -Yes. -Yes! | 0:53:47 | 0:53:51 | |
There's the sink. Water. | 0:53:53 | 0:53:56 | |
OK. Toilet. | 0:53:56 | 0:53:59 | |
Here is the bathtub. | 0:54:00 | 0:54:04 | |
OK? | 0:54:04 | 0:54:06 | |
OK, take care. | 0:54:07 | 0:54:10 | |
We have arrived at Old British Camp ahead of our yaks. | 0:55:15 | 0:55:18 | |
This is where Mallory and Irvine came in the '20s, | 0:55:18 | 0:55:21 | |
on one of the very first expeditions to Mount Everest. | 0:55:21 | 0:55:24 | |
It also marks the beginning of what people call the "death zone", | 0:55:24 | 0:55:27 | |
and the very real danger of people getting cerebral or pulmonary oedema. | 0:55:27 | 0:55:31 | |
That's when your brain or your the lungs fill up with fluid | 0:55:31 | 0:55:35 | |
and you literally have got hours to get down, or you die. | 0:55:35 | 0:55:39 | |
Headaches and coughing are pretty common at this altitude. | 0:55:39 | 0:55:42 | |
But they could be signs of oedema. | 0:55:42 | 0:55:45 | |
Jeff is keeping a close eye to make sure no one develops any life-threatening conditions. | 0:55:45 | 0:55:50 | |
We should be OK if we move up slowly and we take time to acclimatise. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:55 | |
Today was a tough day for a bunch of reasons but we're here | 0:55:56 | 0:56:01 | |
and we're getting warmer. | 0:56:01 | 0:56:04 | |
Tomorrow is another day. That said, I'm going to handover to Jeff. | 0:56:04 | 0:56:08 | |
I think it goes without saying, we're over 18,000 feet. | 0:56:08 | 0:56:13 | |
Tonight, I'd say that at least one person will get a headache. | 0:56:13 | 0:56:16 | |
If you do get a headache that doesn't go away, | 0:56:16 | 0:56:19 | |
and you wake up in the middle of the night and get a headache | 0:56:19 | 0:56:22 | |
and it won't go away, and you can't go back to sleep, | 0:56:22 | 0:56:24 | |
you need to know where my tent is. | 0:56:24 | 0:56:26 | |
-Right, Tashi? Dachung? -Yeah. -Good. | 0:56:26 | 0:56:28 | |
There are things we can do to make it better | 0:56:30 | 0:56:33 | |
but I want to make it better before it gets worse. | 0:56:33 | 0:56:36 | |
Good bread, good meat, good gosh, let's eat! | 0:56:39 | 0:56:42 | |
-Paul? -Yes, I'm here. -Oh, yeah. | 0:56:45 | 0:56:47 | |
-Sabriye? -Yeah. -Cool. | 0:56:47 | 0:56:50 | |
So, you guys know that Michael has this thing that forecasts weather, | 0:56:50 | 0:56:55 | |
and it says that a storm will be coming in the day after tomorrow. | 0:56:55 | 0:57:01 | |
The consensus is that we should try to do | 0:57:01 | 0:57:04 | |
what we were going to do in two days, in one day. | 0:57:04 | 0:57:07 | |
It's about 2,000 feet. | 0:57:07 | 0:57:09 | |
It's a longer day | 0:57:09 | 0:57:10 | |
but we'll all probably be pretty tired when we get into camp tonight. | 0:57:10 | 0:57:15 | |
The Sherpas and the Tibetan staff are going to run ahead | 0:57:15 | 0:57:17 | |
and have the tents and everything set up by the time we get there. | 0:57:17 | 0:57:21 | |
We're just going to come into camp, pile into our tents, | 0:57:21 | 0:57:24 | |
eat dinner and go to bed. | 0:57:24 | 0:57:26 | |
It's still going to be a fun day and it'll be a challenging day. | 0:57:26 | 0:57:31 | |
You know, I'm happy. I'm excited. I think we're all good. | 0:57:33 | 0:57:36 | |
TIBETAN SONG PLAYS | 0:58:08 | 0:58:10 | |
-Tashi? -Yes. -I want to show you something. | 0:58:20 | 0:58:23 | |
Up there, is a very big mountain. | 0:58:23 | 0:58:26 | |
-Mountain? -Yeah, which one? | 0:58:26 | 0:58:28 | |
Which is the biggest? | 0:58:28 | 0:58:29 | |
This is Erik's mountain. | 0:58:36 | 0:58:38 | |
This is Erik's mountain. | 0:58:41 | 0:58:43 | |
Tashi's mountain. | 0:58:46 | 0:58:47 | |
OK, are you ready for lunch? | 0:58:50 | 0:58:53 | |
-Lunch! -Yeah, I'm hungry. | 0:58:53 | 0:58:55 | |
Legs tired? | 0:59:05 | 0:59:07 | |
Little bit. Chest tired? | 0:59:09 | 0:59:11 | |
Ask him if his legs are tired. | 0:59:12 | 0:59:14 | |
Sabriye, what do you think the best way for us to assess the kids is right now? | 0:59:20 | 0:59:24 | |
I think really tired is tired. | 0:59:24 | 0:59:28 | |
That's pretty much a sign. | 0:59:28 | 0:59:32 | |
We need to make a call. | 0:59:32 | 0:59:33 | |
Let's go. | 0:59:33 | 0:59:35 | |
All right, Sabriye? | 0:59:47 | 0:59:49 | |
Come on up, boys. | 0:59:55 | 0:59:57 | |
'For me, blindness has a lot to do with imagining things. | 1:00:04 | 1:00:08 | |
'It's a constant imagination, actually. | 1:00:08 | 1:00:11 | |
'You imagine everything - what you'd smell, feel or hear.' | 1:00:11 | 1:00:15 | |
We'll keep going up. | 1:00:19 | 1:00:20 | |
'Sometimes we want to really stop and enjoy with all our senses. | 1:00:20 | 1:00:27 | |
'The kids told me that it is not so much fun to just climb or to just walk, | 1:00:28 | 1:00:35 | |
'because they had never really time to tell a story or think of a story | 1:00:35 | 1:00:40 | |
'or to just smell or to listen. | 1:00:42 | 1:00:44 | |
'For example, icicles falling down. | 1:00:44 | 1:00:47 | |
'And the whole herd of yaks with the different bells. | 1:00:47 | 1:00:51 | |
'It's beautiful. | 1:00:51 | 1:00:52 | |
'And so I had the feeling, is it really the right thing, | 1:01:01 | 1:01:05 | |
'this goal to get every child to the summit? | 1:01:05 | 1:01:09 | |
'Is it really something we would do for the kids, | 1:01:09 | 1:01:13 | |
'or is it just something we would do to show something?' | 1:01:13 | 1:01:18 | |
Everyone got in safe last night | 1:01:59 | 1:02:01 | |
but the gap between the strongest and weakest is definitely widening. | 1:02:01 | 1:02:06 | |
At 20,000 ft, the oxygen is so low you have to stop every few steps to take a breath. | 1:02:06 | 1:02:12 | |
But Gyenshen is in high spirits and is motivating his buddies, Tenzin and Dachung. | 1:02:12 | 1:02:17 | |
I think these three guys will get to the top first. | 1:02:18 | 1:02:21 | |
How does your head feel right now? | 1:04:22 | 1:04:24 | |
All better? No headache, no headache at all? | 1:04:26 | 1:04:30 | |
-It's totally gone. -Totally gone? -Yeah. | 1:04:36 | 1:04:39 | |
We are packing up to move on to our last camp. | 1:04:59 | 1:05:03 | |
I know we've reached a critical point in the expedition. | 1:05:03 | 1:05:06 | |
The bad weather Michael is predicting hasn't materialised but I know it's coming. | 1:05:06 | 1:05:11 | |
Sabriye thinks Tashi and Kyila need a rest and wants to stay here for another night. | 1:05:11 | 1:05:16 | |
The yakkers are freaking out as there's nothing for the yaks | 1:05:16 | 1:05:20 | |
to eat up here and they're out of food. | 1:05:20 | 1:05:22 | |
They've said if they don't drop our gear off at Advanced Base Camp today, they are heading down. | 1:05:22 | 1:05:28 | |
So we have to get there tonight or we lose our shot at Lhakpa Ri. | 1:05:28 | 1:05:32 | |
He feels like he needs to throw up. | 1:05:43 | 1:05:45 | |
OK. I tell you what, Tashi, | 1:05:45 | 1:05:48 | |
today we've got at least three or four hours' walk uphill, OK? | 1:05:48 | 1:05:53 | |
Do you feel like you have enough energy in your legs | 1:05:53 | 1:05:56 | |
to walk uphill for three to four hours? | 1:05:56 | 1:05:59 | |
-You want to walk up? -Yes. -OK. | 1:06:03 | 1:06:05 | |
Do you have the exact name? | 1:06:24 | 1:06:25 | |
-OK. -It's a family name? -Yeah. OK. | 1:06:30 | 1:06:32 | |
It's not that easy, Tashi, | 1:07:01 | 1:07:03 | |
because there's nobody here called Dong. | 1:07:03 | 1:07:06 | |
OK. You got something. | 1:07:31 | 1:07:34 | |
-Really? -Yes. | 1:07:41 | 1:07:42 | |
Really? They go looking for him? | 1:07:44 | 1:07:46 | |
He will first go in. | 1:08:14 | 1:08:17 | |
He will ask your parents to come out, OK? | 1:08:17 | 1:08:22 | |
Are you a little bit afraid? | 1:08:23 | 1:08:25 | |
-A little bit. -A little bit! | 1:08:26 | 1:08:28 | |
Don't worry. | 1:08:28 | 1:08:29 | |
I think a little bit. | 1:08:31 | 1:08:33 | |
Don't worry. | 1:08:34 | 1:08:36 | |
Somebody is coming out. | 1:08:37 | 1:08:40 | |
-OK, Tashi? -Yes. | 1:08:54 | 1:08:56 | |
Is this your father? | 1:08:56 | 1:08:58 | |
"Thank you," he says. | 1:09:54 | 1:09:56 | |
What does he say? | 1:10:00 | 1:10:01 | |
I'm... How do you say? Um... | 1:10:01 | 1:10:04 | |
Yeah. Here's your brother, here. | 1:10:12 | 1:10:14 | |
He's looking, like, "Whoa!" | 1:10:16 | 1:10:17 | |
You look very much alike. | 1:10:17 | 1:10:20 | |
-Like me? -Yes, like you. | 1:10:20 | 1:10:23 | |
What's his name? | 1:10:23 | 1:10:25 | |
TASHI ANSWERS | 1:10:25 | 1:10:26 | |
His brother, yes. | 1:10:27 | 1:10:29 | |
Did you ask if your mother is around? | 1:10:29 | 1:10:32 | |
-She go to the shop? -No, no, no. | 1:10:36 | 1:10:37 | |
So, he didn't know what happened to Tashi? | 1:10:56 | 1:10:58 | |
He didn't know what happened to Tashi. | 1:11:03 | 1:11:06 | |
-Would you like to... -Would you like to tell him now what has happened? | 1:11:16 | 1:11:20 | |
Do you remember this, when you were little? | 1:11:20 | 1:11:24 | |
I know it's not really like it should be. | 1:11:48 | 1:11:52 | |
What would you do, if you were in his situation? | 1:11:52 | 1:11:55 | |
It's very difficult, huh? You understand their situation? | 1:11:57 | 1:12:00 | |
-Don't worry, yeah? -It doesn't matter. | 1:12:03 | 1:12:06 | |
It's too important, everything, that you've found them, to be angry. Right? | 1:12:06 | 1:12:11 | |
A little bit. A little bit. | 1:12:11 | 1:12:13 | |
I really wish, without telling you I don't trust you, I trust you. | 1:12:13 | 1:12:18 | |
-Trust is not... -But I really wish to have some opinions from the other guides as well. | 1:12:18 | 1:12:24 | |
Who do you want to bring in? | 1:12:24 | 1:12:26 | |
-I want to bring in Ollie. -Ollie's never been to the Himalayas before. -Sorry? | 1:12:26 | 1:12:32 | |
-Can you understand that? -I understand that completely. | 1:12:32 | 1:12:35 | |
I've already given my input for how to get Tashi down, | 1:12:35 | 1:12:38 | |
-which is maybe he could get on a yak and go down. -Yeah. | 1:12:38 | 1:12:43 | |
How about Tashi? | 1:12:45 | 1:12:46 | |
There's one boy who has no appetite, | 1:12:46 | 1:12:49 | |
-he didn't eat. -We might send him down. | 1:12:49 | 1:12:51 | |
It's a logistical nightmare to split the team. | 1:12:56 | 1:12:59 | |
The only concern with me, with that, believe me, I'm all for us sticking together, | 1:13:02 | 1:13:07 | |
but medically, I feel like it is my responsibility to make sure that no-one gets really bad. | 1:13:07 | 1:13:12 | |
And I've seen people die from altitude illness before. | 1:13:12 | 1:13:15 | |
That's why I don't have any reservations about sending people down. | 1:13:15 | 1:13:20 | |
Tonight, we're way up there. | 1:13:20 | 1:13:23 | |
We're very, very high. | 1:13:23 | 1:13:25 | |
One option is that we all turn back right now. | 1:13:25 | 1:13:28 | |
Wait! Before you get frustrated, | 1:13:28 | 1:13:30 | |
when you come to the mountains, you come with a certain amount of a commitment. | 1:13:30 | 1:13:34 | |
You're doing something, because if you get cold feet and decide to go home, | 1:13:34 | 1:13:38 | |
nobody would ever climb any mountains. | 1:13:38 | 1:13:40 | |
And I don't think we're at the point - | 1:13:40 | 1:13:42 | |
I don't even think we're close to the point - where we consider turning the team back. | 1:13:42 | 1:13:47 | |
Look out for the rock. | 1:14:09 | 1:14:11 | |
Slow down a bit, Tashi, and concentrate. | 1:14:21 | 1:14:25 | |
Stop. Just stop. | 1:14:47 | 1:14:49 | |
-Does something hurt? -No. -Are you sure? -Yes. -Where did you fall? | 1:14:51 | 1:14:54 | |
Jeff, do you copy? Over. | 1:14:58 | 1:15:00 | |
Jeff, I have an extremely tired Tashi down here. | 1:15:08 | 1:15:13 | |
We've stopped several times. I would like a second opinion, please. Over. | 1:15:13 | 1:15:17 | |
I'm just gonna go up on to the top, Ollie, and just indicate our... | 1:15:24 | 1:15:28 | |
Just tell me if you get any colder. | 1:15:37 | 1:15:40 | |
How are your legs? Are they nice and warm now? | 1:15:40 | 1:15:42 | |
You don't think so? | 1:16:13 | 1:16:14 | |
I'm not being influenced by this. | 1:16:17 | 1:16:19 | |
-No. -I'm going to make the call and I think we're gonna go. | 1:16:19 | 1:16:22 | |
OK, I'm with you. Saddle him up, let's get going. | 1:16:22 | 1:16:25 | |
Sitting right here's not doing us any good. | 1:16:25 | 1:16:27 | |
Mike, what's the story here? | 1:16:27 | 1:16:29 | |
We could have turned back today, | 1:17:38 | 1:17:40 | |
but I thought it was premature to turn back. So, we all kind of made this collective decision to push on, | 1:17:40 | 1:17:47 | |
and, you know, we hope the kids really do well throughout the night and tomorrow, | 1:17:47 | 1:17:53 | |
especially tomorrow and the next day, which are primarily rest days. | 1:17:53 | 1:17:58 | |
And everyone will hopefully recover their energy and be ready to maybe look at a summit. | 1:17:58 | 1:18:04 | |
But we're really going to have to take a hard look | 1:18:04 | 1:18:08 | |
at who are the kids that have the co-ordination to wear crampons | 1:18:08 | 1:18:12 | |
and manoeuvre around crevasses and be roped up. | 1:18:12 | 1:18:15 | |
I don't want this trip to do the opposite of what we intended, which is to separate people. | 1:18:15 | 1:18:20 | |
But so many expeditions of the past, there might be 20 people | 1:18:20 | 1:18:25 | |
and if they can get one person to the summit, everyone succeeds. | 1:18:25 | 1:18:29 | |
Yay, Tashi! | 1:18:31 | 1:18:33 | |
We're here. Congratulations, Tashi. | 1:18:33 | 1:18:36 | |
Let's bring him in here and we'll get a mattress. | 1:18:37 | 1:18:41 | |
Do you want to lie down? | 1:18:45 | 1:18:47 | |
You're here. You made history, 21,000 feet. | 1:18:47 | 1:18:50 | |
I'm proud of you. We're here. | 1:18:50 | 1:18:53 | |
The mountain right behind me is Lhakpa Ri. That's our target. | 1:18:54 | 1:18:58 | |
Let's draw this together, real quick. | 1:19:05 | 1:19:07 | |
We got very excited about the fact we were at base camp. We're at ABC. | 1:19:07 | 1:19:12 | |
Come on, let's double the cheer! | 1:19:12 | 1:19:14 | |
Base camp, yeah! | 1:19:14 | 1:19:15 | |
And I would like everyone, with the exception of our young team members, | 1:19:17 | 1:19:21 | |
to stand up, raise your glass, please, to these fine young people, these young team members. | 1:19:21 | 1:19:27 | |
-Come on. -Kyila's not feeling well. | 1:19:27 | 1:19:29 | |
She's just got a really splitting headache. | 1:19:29 | 1:19:33 | |
So we were just sitting in the tent with her. | 1:19:33 | 1:19:36 | |
SABRIYE COUGHS | 1:19:36 | 1:19:37 | |
He's checking her lungs. | 1:19:37 | 1:19:39 | |
How are her lungs? | 1:19:51 | 1:19:53 | |
-I'm walking her down tomorrow morning. -OK. | 1:19:53 | 1:19:56 | |
It's tough, it's tough, it's not good. | 1:20:58 | 1:21:02 | |
So, after three hours of debate, we came up with a great plan. | 1:21:15 | 1:21:19 | |
Sonam Bhumtso has a headache, the altitude is getting to her. | 1:21:21 | 1:21:25 | |
We thought Kyila needed a companion as well. | 1:21:25 | 1:21:29 | |
They like to walk together anyway. | 1:21:29 | 1:21:31 | |
We're going to send Tashi and Sonam and Kyila down. | 1:21:31 | 1:21:36 | |
They'll have two days to get down. | 1:21:36 | 1:21:38 | |
She has many more peaks to come. | 1:21:49 | 1:21:51 | |
And when you go down, you'll feel stronger. | 1:22:17 | 1:22:21 | |
Your head will stop hurting, | 1:22:21 | 1:22:23 | |
and your stomach will feel better. | 1:22:23 | 1:22:25 | |
And you'll go down and you'll feel better and then you can go to Shigatse. | 1:22:25 | 1:22:30 | |
We'll meet you. We'll come down and meet you in a few days. We'll be down there with you. | 1:22:30 | 1:22:34 | |
We'll all go back. | 1:22:34 | 1:22:35 | |
We'll all go back to Lhasa together, right? | 1:22:38 | 1:22:40 | |
Are you excited to go down? | 1:22:45 | 1:22:47 | |
It'll get warmer too. | 1:22:48 | 1:22:50 | |
Do you know how high we are? | 1:22:56 | 1:22:57 | |
21,000 feet. | 1:22:59 | 1:23:02 | |
21... | 1:23:02 | 1:23:04 | |
21,000 feet. | 1:23:04 | 1:23:06 | |
So you can tell your families you came to 21,000 ft, | 1:23:06 | 1:23:12 | |
Advanced Base Camp on Mount Everest. | 1:23:12 | 1:23:14 | |
Smile, please. | 1:23:15 | 1:23:17 | |
Don't be so sad. | 1:23:17 | 1:23:19 | |
We have two sad girls. | 1:23:24 | 1:23:26 | |
Anyway... | 1:23:30 | 1:23:31 | |
We're going to do a couple of pictures. | 1:23:33 | 1:23:36 | |
This is one of those where whoever wants to be in the picture gets in there. | 1:23:36 | 1:23:40 | |
What's going on? | 1:23:40 | 1:23:43 | |
-Someone help her sit down. -Have you got something like a dam jacket that I can put under her, somebody? | 1:23:43 | 1:23:48 | |
Kyila? Hey, honey, does your head hurt again? | 1:23:50 | 1:23:53 | |
If you don't speak to us, we don't know. | 1:23:55 | 1:23:57 | |
Please talk to us so that we know what's wrong. | 1:23:57 | 1:24:02 | |
If she's this bad, | 1:24:02 | 1:24:05 | |
I'm going to go ahead and give her an injection. | 1:24:05 | 1:24:08 | |
Kyila, talk to me. | 1:24:08 | 1:24:10 | |
Say something, please. What's my name? | 1:24:10 | 1:24:12 | |
Huh? What's my name? | 1:24:13 | 1:24:15 | |
Say something, please. What's my name? | 1:24:17 | 1:24:20 | |
Huh? What's my name? | 1:24:22 | 1:24:24 | |
Is it your head? | 1:24:28 | 1:24:30 | |
What's going on there? | 1:24:30 | 1:24:32 | |
There she is. | 1:24:37 | 1:24:39 | |
Stop crying and put a smile on your face, OK? | 1:24:48 | 1:24:51 | |
OK? | 1:24:51 | 1:24:53 | |
Say goodbye to Erik. | 1:24:53 | 1:24:55 | |
OK, I hope you have a smile on your face today when you get down. | 1:24:57 | 1:25:01 | |
Take care, huh? | 1:25:06 | 1:25:08 | |
Goodbye. | 1:25:08 | 1:25:10 | |
The most important thing, for me at least, was | 1:25:47 | 1:25:50 | |
that the kids learn about solidarity | 1:25:50 | 1:25:53 | |
and that they really get into the whole thing that we should look out for the weakest | 1:25:53 | 1:25:59 | |
and that we should really be concerned about the weakest. | 1:25:59 | 1:26:03 | |
Therefore, I'd have wished very secretly that we'd have all gone down today | 1:26:03 | 1:26:11 | |
and down as a team. | 1:26:11 | 1:26:14 | |
They are not here really because they wanted to climb on the top. | 1:26:14 | 1:26:19 | |
They wanted to be with us and they wanted to be with the team | 1:26:19 | 1:26:22 | |
and they wanted to get to know Erik and they wanted to get new friends. | 1:26:22 | 1:26:27 | |
It's exactly what we wanted with this whole trip. | 1:26:27 | 1:26:30 | |
Let's get out of here. | 1:26:30 | 1:26:32 | |
We don't have to prove another 300 metres. | 1:26:32 | 1:26:34 | |
We've proved 6,500 metres and that's enough. | 1:26:34 | 1:26:39 | |
-And the kids, they climbed the mountains already. -Exactly. | 1:26:39 | 1:26:43 | |
And they've proved that they can survive in this world as blind people. | 1:26:43 | 1:26:47 | |
Yes. | 1:26:47 | 1:26:49 | |
Exactly. | 1:26:50 | 1:26:52 | |
Good. | 1:26:52 | 1:26:54 | |
What I want to make certain of this evening is that every single person in this tent | 1:27:09 | 1:27:13 | |
is on the same page about where we're going over the next few days. | 1:27:13 | 1:27:17 | |
I think it's critically important that we put our cards on the table | 1:27:17 | 1:27:23 | |
and we're clear about where we're going and what we're doing | 1:27:23 | 1:27:27 | |
and that we're saying the same things publicly as we're saying privately and honestly. | 1:27:27 | 1:27:32 | |
We're saying privately, in front of the camera, and out on these meetings. | 1:27:32 | 1:27:37 | |
I have an extreme level of concern that that's not always the case. | 1:27:37 | 1:27:40 | |
-I think you're pointing at us. -I'm not pointing at any one, Paul. | 1:27:40 | 1:27:44 | |
Wait, wait, Gavin. | 1:27:44 | 1:27:46 | |
Erik talked to us and I think you picked up a few words out of a conversation or an interview | 1:27:46 | 1:27:51 | |
that might have pissed you off. | 1:27:51 | 1:27:52 | |
What I heard was 45 minutes' worth | 1:27:52 | 1:27:56 | |
of...of talk about the neglect that the guides had shown towards the kids. | 1:27:56 | 1:28:02 | |
Gavin, we're not talking behind the scenes something different than we're talking here. | 1:28:02 | 1:28:09 | |
If there's something which bothers you, | 1:28:09 | 1:28:11 | |
we probably would tell it to you right away in your face and we'd say, | 1:28:11 | 1:28:15 | |
"We mean it's like that and that and that." | 1:28:15 | 1:28:17 | |
I don't know that you've trusted us from the start. | 1:28:17 | 1:28:20 | |
We did. | 1:28:20 | 1:28:22 | |
You asked everyone around us and I'm a little upset. | 1:28:22 | 1:28:26 | |
Gavin, I want to say one thing. | 1:28:26 | 1:28:29 | |
We talked to the kids, we talked to them today, these three here. | 1:28:29 | 1:28:32 | |
We said, "There are a few options. | 1:28:32 | 1:28:34 | |
"If you stay here, you've got to do the climbing, or we could call it off and then we go down." | 1:28:34 | 1:28:39 | |
And they all said, "Then we go down." | 1:28:39 | 1:28:42 | |
From the start, I think we were all clear that we were going to go to the summit of Lhakpa Ri | 1:28:42 | 1:28:48 | |
and see how high we could get. | 1:28:48 | 1:28:50 | |
I think that was always very clearly communicated. | 1:28:50 | 1:28:54 | |
I think that you guys want to protect your kids so much that maybe the reality of what we were doing | 1:28:54 | 1:29:00 | |
didn't quite equate with what we were all getting at, being mountaineers, and it scared you. | 1:29:00 | 1:29:05 | |
OK, the one statement I want to make is I had the feeling right now | 1:29:05 | 1:29:11 | |
that you were telling us we were over-protective. | 1:29:11 | 1:29:14 | |
-No, we're not. -No... -I think the fact... Maybe you didn't say it, but I had the feeling you said it. | 1:29:14 | 1:29:21 | |
-She had the feeling, she said. -"I had the feeling," I said and I'm allowed to have feelings. | 1:29:22 | 1:29:26 | |
If it's not like that, I'm very happy. | 1:29:26 | 1:29:29 | |
But there's always a thin line between over-protection and and letting go, yes, there is. | 1:29:29 | 1:29:35 | |
Finally, close to the last night of the expedition, we're finally communicating. | 1:29:37 | 1:29:42 | |
Good. That's good. | 1:29:42 | 1:29:44 | |
We're only 1,500 ft from the top of Lhakpa Ri. | 1:30:26 | 1:30:29 | |
We had done... | 1:30:30 | 1:30:32 | |
99 per cent of the journey. | 1:30:32 | 1:30:34 | |
We just had one per cent to go. | 1:30:34 | 1:30:37 | |
We weren't that far, but we were done. | 1:30:37 | 1:30:39 | |
For me, I'm a traditional mountain climber, | 1:30:39 | 1:30:43 | |
I want to get to the summit, so part of me felt like failure. | 1:30:43 | 1:30:47 | |
But for these kids I think it was different and I kind of had to change my perspective. | 1:30:47 | 1:30:52 | |
Say something in Tibetan to get the kids to look over again. | 1:30:52 | 1:30:55 | |
WORDS SPOKEN IN TIBETAN | 1:30:55 | 1:30:58 | |
Come on, dude, just take a photo. | 1:31:05 | 1:31:07 | |
'I think this summer should be something else. | 1:31:12 | 1:31:16 | |
'There are other things which are much more beautiful. | 1:31:16 | 1:31:20 | |
'I don't know exactly how to describe it, | 1:31:20 | 1:31:23 | |
'but Erik came with the brilliant idea to visit the ice palace | 1:31:23 | 1:31:29 | |
'right underneath the Lhakpa Ri Summit.' | 1:31:29 | 1:31:31 | |
This could be a fish. | 1:31:32 | 1:31:34 | |
It was something very special. | 1:31:42 | 1:31:44 | |
The kids, they were destroying things with their ice axes, | 1:31:44 | 1:31:50 | |
but also they made new things and new sounds. | 1:31:50 | 1:31:54 | |
There was a big pile of ice which was discovered by the kids | 1:32:02 | 1:32:05 | |
and the kids, they were jumping on those big piles and they said, "This is the ice elephant." | 1:32:05 | 1:32:10 | |
And they were saying Dachung was the princess of the ice palace | 1:32:13 | 1:32:18 | |
and Gyenshen was the big king and they had beautiful costumes | 1:32:18 | 1:32:22 | |
and the costumes looked like silk, but they were actually made of ice and snow. | 1:32:22 | 1:32:27 | |
You could feel everywhere where you put your hand, you could feel glass or ice sculptures. | 1:32:29 | 1:32:37 | |
You could feel different things hanging down or coming up. | 1:32:37 | 1:32:41 | |
That was the real blind summit. | 1:32:41 | 1:32:45 | |
That's a dagger. | 1:32:51 | 1:32:54 | |
And you climb holes like that? | 1:33:05 | 1:33:07 | |
Oh, yes. | 1:33:07 | 1:33:08 | |
How do you know it doesn't fall against you? | 1:33:12 | 1:33:14 | |
It sometimes does fall down. Yeah. Yeah, but the whole thing doesn't fall down. | 1:33:14 | 1:33:19 | |
Big chunks of it will fall down and they'll go past you. | 1:33:19 | 1:33:22 | |
CRASH! | 1:33:26 | 1:33:28 | |
'We woke up to one of the coldest mornings I've ever felt in the mountains. | 1:34:15 | 1:34:19 | |
'Dachung can't feel his feet.' | 1:34:19 | 1:34:21 | |
One degree Fahrenheit. | 1:34:21 | 1:34:23 | |
'The yaks are finally back and we're so ready to pack up and get down. | 1:34:23 | 1:34:27 | |
'I honestly thought in my mind when we were talking about coming down in one day, | 1:34:34 | 1:34:39 | |
'I was thinking, "About halfway, we're going to set up a camp." And it didn't happen. | 1:34:39 | 1:34:44 | |
'The kids were ahead of us by an hour the whole day. | 1:34:48 | 1:34:52 | |
'We got down to about 8.30 at night, and walked into the tea house.' | 1:34:56 | 1:35:02 | |
-The first blind female one-day descent. -One-day descent. | 1:35:02 | 1:35:06 | |
'I think the kids have experienced the mountains to the fullest' | 1:35:06 | 1:35:11 | |
and they worked as hard as they possibly could and gave everything they had. | 1:35:11 | 1:35:16 | |
That's all you can ask for. | 1:35:16 | 1:35:18 | |
It's funny, because people always talk about freedom of the mountains, how it makes you feel so free. | 1:35:21 | 1:35:26 | |
But when I stand on the summit, I don't feel free. | 1:35:26 | 1:35:30 | |
The mountains make me feel human. | 1:35:31 | 1:35:34 | |
It connects me to all those human frailties, like the warmth that I need | 1:35:34 | 1:35:39 | |
and the food and the water and the friends around me. | 1:35:39 | 1:35:42 | |
Sabriye said something that has really sunk in over the last few days. | 1:35:45 | 1:35:51 | |
It's the idea that when you suffer together, | 1:35:51 | 1:35:54 | |
that's when you make the closest connections with the people around you. | 1:35:54 | 1:35:59 | |
For me, this trip has been a little different from what I thought. | 1:36:00 | 1:36:04 | |
It was a lot more about friendship and about togetherness than it was about mountains. | 1:36:04 | 1:36:09 | |
GYENSHEN SINGS | 1:36:24 | 1:36:27 | |
'Gyenshen has changed to a very, very different person. | 1:36:34 | 1:36:38 | |
'Before the mountain, he was rather shy. He easily cried. | 1:36:38 | 1:36:42 | |
'At the end of the whole trip, he started to laugh a lot. | 1:36:42 | 1:36:47 | |
'He started to sing a lot. | 1:36:47 | 1:36:49 | |
'He was getting up, and playing the crazy rock star, you know. | 1:36:49 | 1:36:54 | |
"The Totnes School of English is pleased to invite Kyila from Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, PR China, | 1:38:14 | 1:38:20 | |
"to attend a general English course..." | 1:38:20 | 1:38:23 | |
'Kyila has a similar drive to do something, to change something, than me. | 1:38:23 | 1:38:29 | |
'Now, she's going to England to start her real future.' | 1:38:29 | 1:38:34 | |
Congratulations! | 1:38:34 | 1:38:36 | |
'When she comes back, I'm very confident that she, | 1:38:36 | 1:38:40 | |
'together with our house parents and other staff members, that she can mainly run the centre.' | 1:38:40 | 1:38:48 | |
Good night! | 1:38:58 | 1:39:00 | |
# Imagine me and you, I do | 1:39:10 | 1:39:14 | |
# I think about you day and night | 1:39:14 | 1:39:18 | |
# It's only right | 1:39:18 | 1:39:20 | |
# To think about the girl you love | 1:39:20 | 1:39:22 | |
# To hold her tight | 1:39:22 | 1:39:25 | |
# So happy together | 1:39:25 | 1:39:27 | |
# If I should call you up | 1:39:27 | 1:39:29 | |
# Invest a dime | 1:39:29 | 1:39:30 | |
# And you say you belong to me | 1:39:30 | 1:39:33 | |
# I lose my mind | 1:39:33 | 1:39:35 | |
# Imagine how the world could be | 1:39:35 | 1:39:37 | |
# So very fine | 1:39:37 | 1:39:39 | |
# So happy together | 1:39:39 | 1:39:42 | |
# I can't see me lovin' nobody but you | 1:39:42 | 1:39:47 | |
# For all my life | 1:39:47 | 1:39:50 | |
# When you're with me | 1:39:50 | 1:39:53 | |
# Baby, the skies will be blue | 1:39:53 | 1:39:56 | |
# For all my life | 1:39:56 | 1:39:58 | |
# Me and you, and you and me | 1:39:58 | 1:40:01 | |
# No matter how they toss the dice | 1:40:01 | 1:40:03 | |
# It's meant to be | 1:40:03 | 1:40:05 | |
# The only one for me is you | 1:40:05 | 1:40:07 | |
# And you for me | 1:40:07 | 1:40:08 | |
# So happy together | 1:40:08 | 1:40:12 | |
# How is the weather? | 1:40:12 | 1:40:15 | |
# Be happy together. # | 1:40:15 | 1:40:19 | |
Thank you. | 1:40:19 | 1:40:21 | |
Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing by Red Bee Media Ltd | 1:40:48 | 1:40:52 |