Watching: The Himalayas

Overview

This is the story, in eight episodes, of the conquest of Mount Everest in the Himalayas and its impact on the world. We meet the climbers who reached the summit and those who perished attempting the ascent. We encounter the Sherpa people, an ethnic group originating from Tibet, explore high-altitude mountaineering techniques, and hear the stories of expedition leaders and team members throughout their journey, while cameras capture every danger on the icy peaks. Viewers will remember that Everest is a world of illusions, a world that can become hostile in an instant, swept by fierce winds and deadly ice slides. A more recent, political, ecological, and economic perspective focuses primarily on present-day Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan and their economies, including the Tibetan carpet industry and the Chinese occupation.