Blindsight Storyville

A three-section ladder over a big crevasse.

Thing is, I never practised it with one rope, OK?

And it leans to the left, the ladder, OK?

I'm going to crawl across.

-I don't want to fall.

-No, you're good, man.

If I fall, though, I'll just dangle on that space, right?

Big gap.

'When I was 15, I went blind completely.

'I hated blindness.

'I wasn't afraid to go blind and see darkness. I think that's a myth.

'I was afraid to be swept to the sidelines and forgotten...

'..to be obsolete.'

It was a few months after that

that I got this newsletter in Braille about a group taking blind kids rock-climbing.

I took my hand and I ran it up the wall in my room and I thought, "That sounds insane.

"Who would be stupid enough to take blind kids rock-climbing?"

-So I signed up.

-LAUGHTER

'There's one thing that hasn't changed

'since that very first time I went rock-climbing almost 20 years ago,

'and that's the reach.

'The fear of climbing blind comes when I'm reaching out to the darkness,

'when I don't know what I'm going to find.

'But I reached out that day and I found what I was looking for.'

We're on top of the world! We are on top of the world, the apex of the planet.

-I can't believe it.

-The centre of the cosmos.

You did it, man. So many people doubted you.

You showed 'em.

Thank you.

We did it!

Blindness in Tibet is a big, big problem.

Buddhist pilgrims and nomads think that blind people are sinners

or are possessed by demons

and that they have done something really terribly wrong in their past life.

Our kids, they had many difficulties to walk on the roads with their canes

because a lot of people were looking at their infected eyes.

And they were shouting

really bad words like, "Blind fool", or something.

In Tibetan, it's called "sha-goh!"

You can hear really how mean this sounds.

These kids are complete outcasts.

So I got the idea to set up the first school for the blind in Tibet,

to educate these blind kids, to give them confidence,

so that they don't have to be ashamed to be blind any more.

Now they can read, write and speak in three languages.

'I talked about Erik Weihenmayer'

and I talked about the book I read, his biography

and I shared all his experience with the kids.

And of course his experience, and also my experience,

and I think the experience of the kids, are very similar.

And I said, "Well, Erik started like you."

He became blind at the age of 12 and he adapted to being blind

and he even managed to climb Everest, which happens to be in Tibet.

And this was something which made a big impression on the kids.

ELECTRONIC SPEECH: "Dear Erik,

"When I told the children in our centre how you have reached the top of the world,

"not by holding the arm of a sighted friend, but with the help of two canes,

"they all proudly decided to walk on their own.

"Last week, I told them already that I wanted to write to you

"to ask if you would like to come to Tibet..."

Sabriye's first letter was the most powerful letter I'd ever listened to.

I was just so touched by her work and by her description of the kids.

She's a blind lady from Germany who tried to join the German equivalent of the peace corps,

and they said, "We don't send blind people overseas," so she funded her own way to Tibet.

She travelled through China and Tibet by herself.

I mean, just her and her cane, and rode horseback through these remote villages and found blind kids.

She asked their parents to send these kids to her centre.

It is the most remarkable thing.

I climbed Mount Everest and climbed mountains all around the world, and I felt like a coward.

She just wanted me to come over and visit the school, but I wanted to do something.

And then I said, "Maybe the kids could do their own expedition?

"Maybe we could get them to the top of the peak next to Everest?"

And she said, "Great!"

She had six kids who were very interested and fit and motivated,

and she thought could really handle the experience.

I said, "What about permission from their parents?"

MEN CHANT SOFTLY

MUSIC PLAYS ON RADIO

The major mountains of the world range from the Rockies, my hometown,

that are about 14,000 feet,

to the Alps that rise to just under 16,000 feet,

Africa, a little above 19,000 feet, to the Andes, where there might be a handful of peaks above 22,000 feet.

But the Himalayas, they're the big daddies.

They're the rooftop of the world.

The highest is Everest at 29,035 feet.

The goal for this expedition is Lhakpa Ri.

It's a 23,000-foot peak, right next door to Mount Everest.

To get there, we'll travel west by bus

across the Tibetan Plateau to Tingri,

where, at about 13,000 feet,

we'll start our trek to Everest.

It may seem flat, but we're already into extreme altitude.

The body is working very hard,

because we only have about half the oxygen we'd have at sea level.

You're gasping for air, you feel like you're suffocating

and that's just part of the altitude experience.

And then on top of that, you take away their eyesight - it's tough,

there's no doubt about it.

From Everest Base Camp, it's a long hard journey.

It's 13 miles on rocks and scree, crossing rivers and over ice.

And you gain over 4,000 feet

till you reach Advance Base Camp, otherwise known as ABC.

At this point, at 21,500 ft, we're just 1,500 ft below our goal,

the summit of Lhakpa Ri.

'In a way, you might argue, OK, there's one blind guy who can do it, he's some elite Westerner,

'but can these kids that haven't had privileged lives?

'And if they can climb their own Everest, God, what a statement that'll make throughout the world.'

CANE TAPS

Hello.

-Erik? Hey!

-Hi!

Wait, wait, wait. I have to give you something.

'Some of my friends I've brought on this trip were with me on Everest.

'They're the best blind guides in the world.

'We've got Jack, he's our amazing team doctor.

'We're gonna be going to high altitude, which is called the "death zone"

'and Jeff's really experienced at making split-second life-and-death decisions about altitude sickness.

'He'll also be guiding Tenzin.

'We also have Stephanie.

'She's an extreme endurance athlete, she's like the Energiser bunny, she never stops moving.'

That should always be on the outside of your foot. Does that make sense?

'She'll be guiding Kyila.

'Sally's been in and around the mountains her whole life

'but, more important than that, she's sort of...

'It's insulting to say the team mom, but that's in my mind.

'I thought she'd be perfect to guide Sonam Bhumtso.

'We also have Michael.

'He's a high-altitude monster.

'He's been up Everest three times.

'He'll be guiding Gyenshen.

'Charlie has all kinds of experience in the mountain.

'He's climbed K2, and three other 8,000-metre peaks.

'He's also a dad, so he has just the right balance of love and toughness.'

Wiggle your fingers, like this.

'He'll also be guiding Dachung.

'Gavin is my right-hand man.

'He's got no ego, he'll do anything it takes to keep the team safe

'and to get people up the mountain. He'll be guiding Tashi.'

-Does it feel warm?

-Yeah.

Pull, push, got it?

So you fall down...OK?

-Got it?

-Yeah.

-Try now.

The worst outcome is that we all die in an avalanche,

or someone falls into a crevasse.

You've got to take a project like this so seriously.

It is life and death.

Good! Good!

I knew we needed to train the kids and give them a taste of what we're gonna be doing.

A little slippy, I'm slipping, help me. Good!

And so we'll take these kids rock-climbing, work on their bonding and trust

that has to happen in any climbing team.

Good, how about right down there? For your foot? Good.

Excellent.

'Rock-climbing is very, very tactile.

'You have to use your feet,

'your feelings of the hands.

'You're touching the different surfaces of the rock,

'the very polished ones and also the rough ones.

'And every moment you have a different input,

'so, for the blind, the whole way is really full of experiences.'

Not so close, maybe a bit down here.

'I think, for the kids, the actual trek,

'being together with Erik and the team is the main important thing.'

Tenzin, stand up, stand up. Let go of the rock, lean back.

Tenzin, let go of the rock, lean back.

I thought these kids knew how to lower, so...

I'll get up there and walk him down.

No, it's easy. I'll go up and get him down.

Stand up, let go of the rock, lean back.

Tenzin, let go of the rock, lean back.

That's it.

Let go of the rock. That's it, that's it.

Yes! There you go! Good boy.

That's it. There you go. Good boy.

ROCKS CLATTER DOWN

(Oh, Jesus!)

I thought these kids had rock-climbed before and knew the basics.

I guess we underestimated a little bit, but they'll get it, they'll get it.

One thing I really want to make clear is Tibet is not Nepal.

And the thing is, like, you said in your e-mails you have an evacuation plan ready.

We weren't so sure if you were informed about the circumstances here in Tibet.

There's no helicopter.

I totally hear you. Our goal is safety.

We're on a climbing expedition. I don't want people to say, "I don't feel like going any more.

"I'm just turning back cos I don't feel like it."

We're committed, and if we're feeling good, that's what our goal is, to get to the summit.

I'm sorry, if you're blind, I don't care whether you like it or not, you're a bit of an ambassador.

What you guys have to realise is that Sabriye and me,

we probably have most to lose.

If something's gonna happen, if something goes wrong,

there are plenty of people out there waiting for us to fall on our nose.

If we bring our kids up to 7,000 metres and they just fall down

and hit their bone on a rock and it's broken,

then people tell them, "Why did you bring them up there?" Do you see what I mean?

It's maybe not about breaking a leg. It's maybe about worse things.

I'm sensitive of that, we're all sensitive of that.

We talked about that quite a bit last night.

We understand that and are sensitive to that.

That being said, the thing that I want to make sure that the two of you understand

and I speak for all of us, is that we are going to a place that is a little bit dangerous,

by design, and I think Erik will tell you...

I'd use the word, rather than "dangerous", "potentially dangerous".

Tashi! Well done!

'I guess we have different challenges in life.

'The climbing team and Erik, their challenge is adventure.'

Don't mind us, we're just here to take you on a trip.

'They think we should risk something, we shouldn't be cowards. We should just do it, you know?

'And if we've done it, then we feel even better.

'And when I hear this,

'then I get a little stone n my stomach.'

You've got everything in here?

-You've got your water?

-Yes.

-What else do you have?

'The thing is, the challenge we have is to get the children here to see,

'to understand, that they actually are equal human beings.'

My name is Kyila.

Kyila means "happy".

Everyone feel my pack. Everyone has a top part of their pack.

What is in here?

Feel that.

Hat. Fleece hat.

And feel this - what's the next thing?

Sunglasses.

If I lay my sunglasses on the ground, I'll never find it.

So always in the top part of your pack.

And because we're all blind, we have to remember where we put our things.

-OK?

-OK.

-Cool.

# I can't see me lovin' nobody but you

# For all my life

# Me and you, and you and me No matter how they toss the dice

# It's meant to be

# The only one for me is you, and you for me

# So happy together

# How is the weather?

# We're happy together. #

-Are you happy, Sonam?

-Yes.

Why?

A little rocky. A little rocky here.

There's a lot of things I'm concerned about.

-You don't know him, man.

-He's a 60lb kid. He doesn't need to be carrying a heavy pack.

That's a good point, but he's fine.

If you've got a principle, it's not like you need to get them suffering.

It's not training. That's not what this is about.

This is what high altitude does to you.

-No, explain it to me.

-Come on, guys. Let's not all get pissy.

I just don't want the kid carrying any more weight than he has to.

In my opinion, he's not.

Enough. Relax. Come on.

Come on. Please. I don't want to get in an argument. I don't want you pissed with me.

Right, right, right! Left!

'Gavin's been guiding Tashi for three days now.

'And he's told me he's worried about his health, both physically and emotionally.

'I think Tashi's always been a bit of an outsider.

'The other kids at the blind school

'didn't want to have anything to do with him in the beginning

'because he came from the streets.

'It's bad enough being blind in Tibet, but there's an extra stigma attached to being a street kid.'

'Tashi's moods have been hard to read and there have been fairly significant swings.

'He'll go from laughing, joking and repeating things

'and then there were a couple of times yesterday where he almost shut down on me completely.

'And we'd stop for a break and he definitely was having a hard time, he was definitely tired.

'And I went to talk to him and he would not answer me in any shape or form.

'He just closed down into his own world.'

-Tashi?

-Yes?

-Go ahead and get changed, please, and put that on. I'll come back in one minute.

'He has some scars on his chest and his back'

and they sure as hell look like cigarette burns to me

and I don't want to jump to that conclusion but...

they look like them.

They look like them. It looks like he's got 20 or 30 burns on his chest and back.

I think we all learned a lesson today.

It's nice for us to just walk and cruise through these valleys. It doesn't hurt us at all.

I think if you look at a couple of these kids, the distance of today is a lot.

We need to start thinking about some objectives for a couple of the kids

and the reality of where they're going to go.

I don't mean bring it up in front of them but...

There is a philosophy of "weed 'em out early", and I don't want to have that philosophy.

I want to have the philosophy of inclusion,

get them up as high as they can, realistically and safely.

'I relate to Tashi a lot.

'I know that's hard on him, being the last kid into camp.

'And really wanting to be out there in front with the other boys.'

-Tashi!

-Tashi! Tashi!

Yeah! Look at the man running.

Don't kill me now!

When I was learning to hike, I struggled and I was awkward and I was kind of gangly,

'trying to figure out how to make the system work

'and really wanting to keep up with my sighted brothers.'

Yeah!

'At first, my dad would actually walk behind me.

'He would take his hand and wrap my shirt and try to direct me, try to pull me left and right.

'And there were a lot of days when we would be hiking on a narrow trail,

'and I'd slip off the trail and he, with his hand wrapped up on my shirt...

'he'd go bouncing down the trail behind me.'

I was always thinking, "There's no reason why he can't do this

"and he can't do that, and we'll work together

"and find a way to do it."

'I don't think it was so much about the mountains as about how to keep us close as a family.

'I remember on McKinley when we stood on top, he was in a Cessna plane circling around us.'

There they are, there they are! Woo! Woo!

'He was always there, always there on the sidelines.'

'The way he thought about us was that I was the broom and his mom was the dustpan.

'Usually at some point in time, he would shatter

'and his mom would be there to sweep up the pieces, put him together.

'The toughest moment was when his mom was killed

'because it happened, coinciding really, with his adjustment as a blind person.'

I don't know how...I don't know how I would ever stay on track,

not only losing my sight...

..but losing my mom.

And then when it gets steep down, come up.

-When it gets steep up, go down. You know?

-Yes.

Up and down, up and down. Left, right, left, right.

Left foot, left pole, left foot, right pole.

Good, Tashi. D'you want to keep going? Are you getting it?

'Tashi's gotten stronger. I don't think he's doing that bad.

'He's definitely slower than the other kids'

but I even think we can get Tashi pretty high up this mountain if we allow him to go at a slower pace.

Turn slightly to your right.

That's Everest up there.

-Want to see it?

-Yeah.

I'll show you the top. It's a little lower, it's 15 miles from there, so it's about 20 kilometres.

That's the top. And then Lhakpa Ri Summit is going to be up there but it's behind a mountain.

-We can't see it yet.

-Uh-huh.

So, this is our expedition.

This is us going up just like those early men from all over the world

used to come right through here on their way up to get blessed,

to go climb the mountain, just like we're about to get blessed from the monks.

We're going to make sure that we are safe and that we are protected when we go on the mountain.

HORNS ARE BLOWN, DRUMS BEAT

CHANTING

'I was 12 years old when I became blind.

'I was in my school with sighted children and they started to tease me

'and they started to try tricks on me.

'I didn't know where I belonged.

'So I decided that I wanted to go to the special school for the blind and visually-impaired

'and to experience what is life as a blind person.

'We had teachers who said, "OK, we can give you all the techniques and all the methods you need."

'And they taught us very difficult things, for example, white water kayaking and downhill skiing.

'But they said, "OK, you have to try to figure out if the techniques we give you

' "are the right techniques, and you have to find your own limits."

'And this actually gave me the idea, if I had the techniques,

'then the whole world is open to me and I can do whatever I want to.'

'We're now at Everest Base Camp, at 17,000 feet.

'So far, we've used trucks to haul most of our gear but from here on we have to use yaks.

'But we've just been told our yaks are running late.

'As soon as we hear the sound of those little bells, we'll be out of here.

'We have to stay very sharp above here.

'It gets steeper, colder, the air is thinner and that lack of oxygen can really affect your judgment.

'This is the Mallory-Irvine Memorial.

'This is for all the people who have died on Everest to be honoured.'

There's BS Choi,

September 1997.

8th September.

September, wow!

-Here's Bruce Andrews. Want to have a look at that one?

-Yeah.

He was one of my good friends.

Oh, right. It says, "In memory of."

-There's lots of them, eh?

-People make mistakes.

Everyone's human, so you get that fear that runs through you

and you just say, "Don't make mistakes."

But, you know, we wouldn't be...

..we wouldn't at all ever consider, you know,

-trying to make any kind of statement with these kids...

-No.

-..or any craziness.

Because here, you see, all these people died here.

-I think we've soaked up enough sadness.

-Yeah, I think so.

-Let's head back to camp, eh?

-Yeah.

What does this summit mean to the kids? Because we were talking about this a little while ago

and Tashi's co-ordination, once he puts crampons on his boots

is a very big issue, because when you're on steep terrain, you can't be bumbling around.

And communicate to them that this is about to get a lot more serious.

It's not just singing songs.

And also relate back to us, or help them figure out,

if it's appropriate for them to stop today or to continue on.

Sure.

I think we should be more willing - it's hard to think like this -

I think we should be more willing to pull the plug, than we should say, "Go up."

I feel ultimately, it comes down to that.

You've got to understand, this is the difference between Westerners and Easterners,

If you look at the Sherpas and the Tibetans,

they could care less about the summits.

They didn't climb them before Westerners came and started doing them.

Because it's not important. But for us Westerners, we want to stand on top.

That's what we want to do.

Because it's ingrained in our make-up.

That's why I think there's a difference in attitude and perception about a summit.

I'm going to say something, you might say this is shallow, but I don't think so.

With these kids being blind, and getting to the top of a mountain, it is sort of symbolism, I think.

It is just a great thing to ingrain into your mind and body

what you're capable of doing.

The top is not important. OK?

It is important that we're all together and having fun.

This is important.

-And be safe.

-And we are very safe.

And very happy together, OK?

This is very important. But the top is not important.

If you go up there, it's nice. If you don't, it doesn't matter.

Yes? Very, very important.

BELLS CHIME

All right, let's go, you guys. Let's walk this place.

Let's go!

Is that a drop-off?

It dropped off to the right.

Be really careful here, OK?

Really feel where the side of that ridge is.

-Great, OK? Really feel with your poles...

-To the left or right?

-To the right.

Listen very closely. It is very narrow, OK?

It drops away to the right.

OK, right here is a big rock. You want to step over.

Bring your right foot along.

When I'm walking, I see in my mind, Tashi stumbling over his own feet.

If he does it here, and it's narrow like this, then it's over.

But you're wasting energy by worrying so much.

At this point, you need to just trust us, OK?

We're going to take care of you.

We're not going to let anything happen to any of these kids.

Sabriye, I'm just going to say, I understand the whole concern.

I'm a parent, I know how you feel, but we're in good shape.

We want you guys to feel good and have fun, because this really is about having fun.

I'm not so sure. Where is the fun right now?

You're not having fun?

Give me a hug.

-I've four boys, so...

-OK.

-It's very difficult.

-It's very difficult.

-And dangerous.

-Dangerous, yes.

You have to think.

You don't have thought rights now.

'We had a last talk last time,

'and Tashi became really shy and he started to become very, very nervous.'

'And then we said, "OK, we'll just leave him. It's a big decision."

'After all, if I were treated like that by my parents,

'I'm not so sure if I'd have the guts to face them again.'

You don't know.

'But then,'

he came to us and he was saying, "Hey, I really have to talk to you

"and please don't get angry at me and I don't know how to do it."

And I said, "Tashi, what's wrong?" And he said, "I lied."

I said, "What about?"

And then he was really shy and he said, "Because I'm not half-Tibetan.

"I'm actually Chinese.

"I thought I'd better tell you that I'm half-Tibetan

"because I thought maybe you'd take only Tibetan children."

'And now he's someone totally different. He even changed his name.'

Tashi, what's your real name?

HE ANSWERS

SABRIYE REPEATS NAME

I think we have a little confusion about the village of, erm, of Tashi.

You go through.

You walk straight. You walk straight. OK?

BEEPING

Just so you know,

there will be a mask and you can put it in front of your mouth like this.

Then you can breathe.

-Tashi, do you hear the water?

-Yes.

-Your village isn't so far from here?

-Yes.

How long does it take to walk?

-Walk now.

-To your village from here?

-One day.

-One day.

-OK. Let's start walking.

-Yes.

-Yes!

There's the sink. Water.

OK. Toilet.

Here is the bathtub.

OK?

OK, take care.

We have arrived at Old British Camp ahead of our yaks.

This is where Mallory and Irvine came in the '20s,

on one of the very first expeditions to Mount Everest.

It also marks the beginning of what people call the "death zone",

and the very real danger of people getting cerebral or pulmonary oedema.

That's when your brain or your the lungs fill up with fluid

and you literally have got hours to get down, or you die.

Headaches and coughing are pretty common at this altitude.

But they could be signs of oedema.

Jeff is keeping a close eye to make sure no one develops any life-threatening conditions.

We should be OK if we move up slowly and we take time to acclimatise.

Today was a tough day for a bunch of reasons but we're here

and we're getting warmer.

Tomorrow is another day. That said, I'm going to handover to Jeff.

I think it goes without saying, we're over 18,000 feet.

Tonight, I'd say that at least one person will get a headache.

If you do get a headache that doesn't go away,

and you wake up in the middle of the night and get a headache

and it won't go away, and you can't go back to sleep,

you need to know where my tent is.

-Right, Tashi? Dachung?

-Yeah.

-Good.

There are things we can do to make it better

but I want to make it better before it gets worse.

Good bread, good meat, good gosh, let's eat!

-Paul?

-Yes, I'm here.

-Oh, yeah.

-Sabriye?

-Yeah.

-Cool.

So, you guys know that Michael has this thing that forecasts weather,

and it says that a storm will be coming in the day after tomorrow.

The consensus is that we should try to do

what we were going to do in two days, in one day.

It's about 2,000 feet.

It's a longer day

but we'll all probably be pretty tired when we get into camp tonight.

The Sherpas and the Tibetan staff are going to run ahead

and have the tents and everything set up by the time we get there.

We're just going to come into camp, pile into our tents,

eat dinner and go to bed.

It's still going to be a fun day and it'll be a challenging day.

You know, I'm happy. I'm excited. I think we're all good.

TIBETAN SONG PLAYS

-Tashi?

-Yes.

-I want to show you something.

Up there, is a very big mountain.

-Mountain?

-Yeah, which one?

Which is the biggest?

This is Erik's mountain.

This is Erik's mountain.

Tashi's mountain.

OK, are you ready for lunch?

-Lunch!

-Yeah, I'm hungry.

Legs tired?

Little bit. Chest tired?

Ask him if his legs are tired.

Sabriye, what do you think the best way for us to assess the kids is right now?

I think really tired is tired.

That's pretty much a sign.

We need to make a call.

Let's go.

All right, Sabriye?

Come on up, boys.

'For me, blindness has a lot to do with imagining things.

'It's a constant imagination, actually.

'You imagine everything - what you'd smell, feel or hear.'

We'll keep going up.

'Sometimes we want to really stop and enjoy with all our senses.

'The kids told me that it is not so much fun to just climb or to just walk,

'because they had never really time to tell a story or think of a story

'or to just smell or to listen.

'For example, icicles falling down.

'And the whole herd of yaks with the different bells.

'It's beautiful.

'And so I had the feeling, is it really the right thing,

'this goal to get every child to the summit?

'Is it really something we would do for the kids,

'or is it just something we would do to show something?'

Everyone got in safe last night

but the gap between the strongest and weakest is definitely widening.

At 20,000 ft, the oxygen is so low you have to stop every few steps to take a breath.

But Gyenshen is in high spirits and is motivating his buddies, Tenzin and Dachung.

I think these three guys will get to the top first.

How does your head feel right now?

All better? No headache, no headache at all?

-It's totally gone.

-Totally gone?

-Yeah.

We are packing up to move on to our last camp.

I know we've reached a critical point in the expedition.

The bad weather Michael is predicting hasn't materialised but I know it's coming.

Sabriye thinks Tashi and Kyila need a rest and wants to stay here for another night.

The yakkers are freaking out as there's nothing for the yaks

to eat up here and they're out of food.

They've said if they don't drop our gear off at Advanced Base Camp today, they are heading down.

So we have to get there tonight or we lose our shot at Lhakpa Ri.

He feels like he needs to throw up.

OK. I tell you what, Tashi,

today we've got at least three or four hours' walk uphill, OK?

Do you feel like you have enough energy in your legs

to walk uphill for three to four hours?

-You want to walk up?

-Yes.

-OK.

Do you have the exact name?

-OK.

-It's a family name?

-Yeah. OK.

It's not that easy, Tashi,

because there's nobody here called Dong.

OK. You got something.

-Really?

-Yes.

Really? They go looking for him?

He will first go in.

He will ask your parents to come out, OK?

Are you a little bit afraid?

-A little bit.

-A little bit!

Don't worry.

I think a little bit.

Don't worry.

Somebody is coming out.

-OK, Tashi?

-Yes.

Is this your father?

"Thank you," he says.

What does he say?

I'm... How do you say? Um...

Yeah. Here's your brother, here.

He's looking, like, "Whoa!"

You look very much alike.

-Like me?

-Yes, like you.

What's his name?

TASHI ANSWERS

His brother, yes.

Did you ask if your mother is around?

-She go to the shop?

-No, no, no.

So, he didn't know what happened to Tashi?

He didn't know what happened to Tashi.

-Would you like to...

-Would you like to tell him now what has happened?

Do you remember this, when you were little?

I know it's not really like it should be.

What would you do, if you were in his situation?

It's very difficult, huh? You understand their situation?

-Don't worry, yeah?

-It doesn't matter.

It's too important, everything, that you've found them, to be angry. Right?

A little bit. A little bit.

I really wish, without telling you I don't trust you, I trust you.

-Trust is not...

-But I really wish to have some opinions from the other guides as well.

Who do you want to bring in?

-I want to bring in Ollie.

-Ollie's never been to the Himalayas before.

-Sorry?

-Can you understand that?

-I understand that completely.

I've already given my input for how to get Tashi down,

-which is maybe he could get on a yak and go down.

-Yeah.

How about Tashi?

There's one boy who has no appetite,

-he didn't eat.

-We might send him down.

It's a logistical nightmare to split the team.

The only concern with me, with that, believe me, I'm all for us sticking together,

but medically, I feel like it is my responsibility to make sure that no-one gets really bad.

And I've seen people die from altitude illness before.

That's why I don't have any reservations about sending people down.

Tonight, we're way up there.

We're very, very high.

One option is that we all turn back right now.

Wait! Before you get frustrated,

when you come to the mountains, you come with a certain amount of a commitment.

You're doing something, because if you get cold feet and decide to go home,

nobody would ever climb any mountains.

And I don't think we're at the point -

I don't even think we're close to the point - where we consider turning the team back.

Look out for the rock.

Slow down a bit, Tashi, and concentrate.

Stop. Just stop.

-Does something hurt?

-No.

-Are you sure?

-Yes.

-Where did you fall?

Jeff, do you copy? Over.

Jeff, I have an extremely tired Tashi down here.

We've stopped several times. I would like a second opinion, please. Over.

I'm just gonna go up on to the top, Ollie, and just indicate our...

Just tell me if you get any colder.

How are your legs? Are they nice and warm now?

You don't think so?

I'm not being influenced by this.

-No.

-I'm going to make the call and I think we're gonna go.

OK, I'm with you. Saddle him up, let's get going.

Sitting right here's not doing us any good.

Mike, what's the story here?

We could have turned back today,

but I thought it was premature to turn back. So, we all kind of made this collective decision to push on,

and, you know, we hope the kids really do well throughout the night and tomorrow,

especially tomorrow and the next day, which are primarily rest days.

And everyone will hopefully recover their energy and be ready to maybe look at a summit.

But we're really going to have to take a hard look

at who are the kids that have the co-ordination to wear crampons

and manoeuvre around crevasses and be roped up.

I don't want this trip to do the opposite of what we intended, which is to separate people.

But so many expeditions of the past, there might be 20 people

and if they can get one person to the summit, everyone succeeds.

Yay, Tashi!

We're here. Congratulations, Tashi.

Let's bring him in here and we'll get a mattress.

Do you want to lie down?

You're here. You made history, 21,000 feet.

I'm proud of you. We're here.

The mountain right behind me is Lhakpa Ri. That's our target.

Let's draw this together, real quick.

We got very excited about the fact we were at base camp. We're at ABC.

Come on, let's double the cheer!

Base camp, yeah!

And I would like everyone, with the exception of our young team members,

to stand up, raise your glass, please, to these fine young people, these young team members.

-Come on.

-Kyila's not feeling well.

She's just got a really splitting headache.

So we were just sitting in the tent with her.

SABRIYE COUGHS

He's checking her lungs.

How are her lungs?

-I'm walking her down tomorrow morning.

-OK.

It's tough, it's tough, it's not good.

So, after three hours of debate, we came up with a great plan.

Sonam Bhumtso has a headache, the altitude is getting to her.

We thought Kyila needed a companion as well.

They like to walk together anyway.

We're going to send Tashi and Sonam and Kyila down.

They'll have two days to get down.

She has many more peaks to come.

And when you go down, you'll feel stronger.

Your head will stop hurting,

and your stomach will feel better.

And you'll go down and you'll feel better and then you can go to Shigatse.

We'll meet you. We'll come down and meet you in a few days. We'll be down there with you.

We'll all go back.

We'll all go back to Lhasa together, right?

Are you excited to go down?

It'll get warmer too.

Do you know how high we are?

21,000 feet.

21...

21,000 feet.

So you can tell your families you came to 21,000 ft,

Advanced Base Camp on Mount Everest.

Smile, please.

Don't be so sad.

We have two sad girls.

Anyway...

We're going to do a couple of pictures.

This is one of those where whoever wants to be in the picture gets in there.

What's going on?

-Someone help her sit down.

-Have you got something like a dam jacket that I can put under her, somebody?

Kyila? Hey, honey, does your head hurt again?

If you don't speak to us, we don't know.

Please talk to us so that we know what's wrong.

If she's this bad,

I'm going to go ahead and give her an injection.

Kyila, talk to me.

Say something, please. What's my name?

Huh? What's my name?

Say something, please. What's my name?

Huh? What's my name?

Is it your head?

What's going on there?

There she is.

Stop crying and put a smile on your face, OK?

OK?

Say goodbye to Erik.

OK, I hope you have a smile on your face today when you get down.

Take care, huh?

Goodbye.

The most important thing, for me at least, was

that the kids learn about solidarity

and that they really get into the whole thing that we should look out for the weakest

and that we should really be concerned about the weakest.

Therefore, I'd have wished very secretly that we'd have all gone down today

and down as a team.

They are not here really because they wanted to climb on the top.

They wanted to be with us and they wanted to be with the team

and they wanted to get to know Erik and they wanted to get new friends.

It's exactly what we wanted with this whole trip.

Let's get out of here.

We don't have to prove another 300 metres.

We've proved 6,500 metres and that's enough.

-And the kids, they climbed the mountains already.

-Exactly.

And they've proved that they can survive in this world as blind people.

Yes.

Exactly.

Good.

What I want to make certain of this evening is that every single person in this tent

is on the same page about where we're going over the next few days.

I think it's critically important that we put our cards on the table

and we're clear about where we're going and what we're doing

and that we're saying the same things publicly as we're saying privately and honestly.

We're saying privately, in front of the camera, and out on these meetings.

I have an extreme level of concern that that's not always the case.

-I think you're pointing at us.

-I'm not pointing at any one, Paul.

Wait, wait, Gavin.

Erik talked to us and I think you picked up a few words out of a conversation or an interview

that might have pissed you off.

What I heard was 45 minutes' worth

of...of talk about the neglect that the guides had shown towards the kids.

Gavin, we're not talking behind the scenes something different than we're talking here.

If there's something which bothers you,

we probably would tell it to you right away in your face and we'd say,

"We mean it's like that and that and that."

I don't know that you've trusted us from the start.

We did.

You asked everyone around us and I'm a little upset.

Gavin, I want to say one thing.

We talked to the kids, we talked to them today, these three here.

We said, "There are a few options.

"If you stay here, you've got to do the climbing, or we could call it off and then we go down."

And they all said, "Then we go down."

From the start, I think we were all clear that we were going to go to the summit of Lhakpa Ri

and see how high we could get.

I think that was always very clearly communicated.

I think that you guys want to protect your kids so much that maybe the reality of what we were doing

didn't quite equate with what we were all getting at, being mountaineers, and it scared you.

OK, the one statement I want to make is I had the feeling right now

that you were telling us we were over-protective.

-No, we're not.

-No...

-I think the fact... Maybe you didn't say it, but I had the feeling you said it.

-She had the feeling, she said.

-"I had the feeling," I said and I'm allowed to have feelings.

If it's not like that, I'm very happy.

But there's always a thin line between over-protection and and letting go, yes, there is.

Finally, close to the last night of the expedition, we're finally communicating.

Good. That's good.

We're only 1,500 ft from the top of Lhakpa Ri.

We had done...

99 per cent of the journey.

We just had one per cent to go.

We weren't that far, but we were done.

For me, I'm a traditional mountain climber,

I want to get to the summit, so part of me felt like failure.

But for these kids I think it was different and I kind of had to change my perspective.

Say something in Tibetan to get the kids to look over again.

WORDS SPOKEN IN TIBETAN

Come on, dude, just take a photo.

'I think this summer should be something else.

'There are other things which are much more beautiful.

'I don't know exactly how to describe it,

'but Erik came with the brilliant idea to visit the ice palace

'right underneath the Lhakpa Ri Summit.'

This could be a fish.

It was something very special.

The kids, they were destroying things with their ice axes,

but also they made new things and new sounds.

There was a big pile of ice which was discovered by the kids

and the kids, they were jumping on those big piles and they said, "This is the ice elephant."

And they were saying Dachung was the princess of the ice palace

and Gyenshen was the big king and they had beautiful costumes

and the costumes looked like silk, but they were actually made of ice and snow.

You could feel everywhere where you put your hand, you could feel glass or ice sculptures.

You could feel different things hanging down or coming up.

That was the real blind summit.

That's a dagger.

And you climb holes like that?

Oh, yes.

How do you know it doesn't fall against you?

It sometimes does fall down. Yeah. Yeah, but the whole thing doesn't fall down.

Big chunks of it will fall down and they'll go past you.

CRASH!

'We woke up to one of the coldest mornings I've ever felt in the mountains.

'Dachung can't feel his feet.'

One degree Fahrenheit.

'The yaks are finally back and we're so ready to pack up and get down.

'I honestly thought in my mind when we were talking about coming down in one day,

'I was thinking, "About halfway, we're going to set up a camp." And it didn't happen.

'The kids were ahead of us by an hour the whole day.

'We got down to about 8.30 at night, and walked into the tea house.'

-The first blind female one-day descent.

-One-day descent.

'I think the kids have experienced the mountains to the fullest'

and they worked as hard as they possibly could and gave everything they had.

That's all you can ask for.

It's funny, because people always talk about freedom of the mountains, how it makes you feel so free.

But when I stand on the summit, I don't feel free.

The mountains make me feel human.

It connects me to all those human frailties, like the warmth that I need

and the food and the water and the friends around me.

Sabriye said something that has really sunk in over the last few days.

It's the idea that when you suffer together,

that's when you make the closest connections with the people around you.

For me, this trip has been a little different from what I thought.

It was a lot more about friendship and about togetherness than it was about mountains.

GYENSHEN SINGS

'Gyenshen has changed to a very, very different person.

'Before the mountain, he was rather shy. He easily cried.

'At the end of the whole trip, he started to laugh a lot.

'He started to sing a lot.

'He was getting up, and playing the crazy rock star, you know.

"The Totnes School of English is pleased to invite Kyila from Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, PR China,

"to attend a general English course..."

'Kyila has a similar drive to do something, to change something, than me.

'Now, she's going to England to start her real future.'

Congratulations!

'When she comes back, I'm very confident that she,

'together with our house parents and other staff members, that she can mainly run the centre.'

Good night!

# Imagine me and you, I do

# I think about you day and night

# It's only right

# To think about the girl you love

# To hold her tight

# So happy together

# If I should call you up

# Invest a dime

# And you say you belong to me

# I lose my mind

# Imagine how the world could be

# So very fine

# So happy together

# I can't see me lovin' nobody but you

# For all my life

# When you're with me

# Baby, the skies will be blue

# For all my life

# Me and you, and you and me

# No matter how they toss the dice

# It's meant to be

# The only one for me is you

# And you for me

# So happy together

# How is the weather?

# Be happy together. #

Thank you.

Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing by Red Bee Media Ltd