Am I the only one who said, "You might want to turnaround and head back to the plane?" I mean, how could he realistically think he was going to make it up Everest in bad weather, when he could barely make it up some stairs at a much lower altitude and in good weather?
shareMaybe some of us bring too much background knowledge to the film. I already knew that Beck was an extremely fit guy who had summited six of the Seven Summits already and had been into climbing and extreme training for more than a decade. Even Sandy Pittman had a lot of mountaineering experience.
However, long airplane trips can be hard on the respiratory system and can give people coughs and minor dehydration so that could be a possible explanation of why he appeared to be winded. He would have had a 13-14 hour flight to someplace like Seoul or Shanghai then another flight of 6+ hours to Kathmandu. I didn't notice it.
Look up "acclimatizing" (Beck even mentions it while huffing up the steps). There is a reason they had to spend 5-6 weeks in the environment getting ready to make the summit attempt.
shareThis brings up something that raised a question in my mind,namely the alcohol consumption, partying that was going on in the base camp.Doesn't that seem counter productive when trying to acclimatize oneself and when contrasted to the potential health risks associated with the altitudes highlighted in the film ?
This is why I had a problem with Jake Gyllenhaal's performance. He came across as a cocky, arrogant, reckless party animal, hardly the type of guide one would entrust with his life during such an endeavor.
This is why I had a problem with Jake Gyllenhaal's performance. He came across as a cocky, arrogant, reckless party animal, hardly the type of guide one would entrust with his life during such an endeavor.
I read this link earlier on here and appreciated it as confirmation to my common sense and intuition. Hollywood can be so despicable at times with how it twists the truth !
share