What a thrill it was last night to relive the Everest experience through Discovery’s amazing footage, in the company of many friends and family — made that much nicer without the cold, dehydration, malnutrition and hypoxia of the high Himalayas! I saw the first three episodes at a friend’s house, complete with a deluxe home theater and DVR — which allowed for several rewinds because of the banter and heckling in my general direction… When the narrator said something to the effect that my 2008 season was the first time I’d ever failed at something, the room erupted in laughter — and all sorts of suggestions kindly came forward! At this point I think we had to rewind at least 5 times to restore normal breathing patterns and focus… And there were the standard quips like: “Does this down suit make my butt look fat?”

Overall, I thought Discovery and Tigress Productions did a fantastic job capturing the essence of the climb, particularly the physical and mental challenge of approaching the mountain. It’s very hard to tell the full story of any given summit bid, but my only regret is that they didn’t tell more of the Sherpa side of the story, and that of the Discovery film crew. I climbed with my good friend, Danuru Sherpa, now an 11x summitteer and one of my personal heroes. Ed Wardle, Matt Green and Jamie Berry, along with Sanduk Sherpa and others, climbed with the added burden of an HD camera and the responsibility to film. Keeping my eyes on the mountain was enough for me to manage… I’m also thankful to Eric Simonsen, Mark Tucker and all my other Sherpa compadres who helped set and stock camps, and made the dream possible.

Alan Arnette, very well versed in Himalayan expeditions, hosted a Twitter conversation (#EV09) last night, and posted a review on his blog that’s worth reading: http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/archives/1750. My take on this 3rd season of the program is that this year’s series is about the climbing, and not about the interpersonal conflicts and related drama as in the first two seasons. I’m definitely OK with this, even though “Biker Tim” was better-than-average entertainment…!

I thought the coverage of John Golden’s attempt was really eye-opening. John’s one seriously tough guy who overcame an enormous amount to arrive at Everest. He was fit, well prepared technically, and deserved to be there — but I didn’t realize until just recently that he’d actually cracked 3 ribs and fractured his hand during his fall! I don’t know that I’d take another trip to the mountain in his boots, but this is a question that only he (and his outfitter) can answer. I wish him well, whatever the outcome… http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/345273/John_Golden

I’ve exchanged email with my friend Rejean in recent weeks, and I understand he’ll be headed back for another attempt this spring. As it was for me, I hope and believe the 2nd time will be the charm for him…

On belay,

Scott