Everest Unmasked (1979)
52 min
Record of the first ascent of Everest made without the use of oxygen equipment, made in May 1978 by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. Could it be done? Would their blood vessels burst? Would they suffer brain damage leading to madness? Nobody was sure. Messner: 'I would never come here for trying Everest with oxygen. That is not a challenge for me.' A fascinating piece of history, well filmed by Leo Dickinson and Eric Jones (above the South Col Messner used a cine camera to continue the filming), featuring Messner and Habeler's thoughts. The film follows the usual sequence from Namche to Base Camp, through the Icefall, to Camps I, II and III. It also shows historical footage of the pioneering Mallory and Shipton expeditions.
- Release date
- April 11, 1979
- Country of origin
- United States
Cast
- Reinhold Messner as Self
- Peter Habeler as Self
- Eric Jones as Self
- Leo Dickinson as Self
- Sky du Mont as Narrator
- Ian McNaught-Davis as Self - Narrator
Crew
- George Mallory · Archive footage
- Hugh Rutledge · Archive footage
- Leo Dickinson · Director
- Leo Dickinson · Cinematographer
- Peter Habeler · Cinematographer
- Reinhold Messner · Cinematographer
- Leo Dickinson · Editor
- Terry Elgar · Editor