Finding Our Level
We will never climb Mount Everest, or any of the “6K club” (i.e., mountains 6,000 meters and above). We will never climb the Himalayas, the Swiss Alps or the Rockies. We might hike a bit in the Catskills, but that’s about it.
There are a lot of reasons we won’t be tackling Everest: the lack of oxygen, the altitude sickness, the sheer expense. But perhaps the most compelling reason of all has recently made the news. Mount Everest has gotten so crowded, it’s evidently cover in poop.
Fortunately, technology is stepping up to the plate. Not to clean up the mountain—God no—but to allow us to enjoy the view. Check out this astonishingly high-res film shot in the Himalaya by Teton Gravity Research. Using gyro-stabilized cameras, and filming from a helicopter that went up to 24,000 feet (5,000 shy of the Everest summit, admittedly), this film provides all the glorious vistas you can handle, while keeping you firmly at sea level (or thereabouts).