DavidBreashers

Everest has been a big part of my life since 1981. A big part of my professional & mountaineering life let's say. I have made a living there on its slopes as a film maker / mountaineer and each time I've stood o the top I've stood there with a film or video camera doing my work. I made the first live broadcast from the Summit in 1983 - my team took an Imax camera to the Summit in 1996 and in 2004 we filmed on the Summit for the current film Everest which is why the imagery in the film looks authentic

My advice would be that its very important to know your own limits - physically & mentally. And to put yourself into the worst conditions you might encounter on your objective during your training and preparation period. That way you will be prepared to cope with any surprises or extreme conditions you may face along the way. I have encountered several very dangerous situations in the mountains over the years. One of them was caused by the mountain itself when a huge slab avalanche fell near our group but it luckily didn't drag any of us down with it. The other situation was caused by me. As I hadn't take the time or spent the energy to understand the challenges and potential risks I would encounter by climbing a big peak. So in that case it wasn't the mountain that was dangerous it was my own lack of preparation.

1. Thank you for your compliments - we're very proud of the film 2.The story of 1996 was so strong that the studio already had an interest in it so it was not a hard sell
2. It took around 4 months for production
3. The Northern Alps of Italy in Winter, Rome and London were some of the filming locations
4. No, none of the actors ever abonded the project - in fact the more we filmed the more committed and fitter they became. In fact it was extrordinary their devotion to the film and getting the story right. And no we never ran out of anything - but we did have too much of one thing - SNOW. It snowed almost every day for two and a half weeks!!!!
5. We ended up very close to our forecasted budget owing to a very disciplined and experienced Producer who kept us on the straight and narrow

No we didn't see any corpses while we were filming but yes I have seen them over the years

I've many favourite climbs but nothing will ever match the first time I stood on top of Everest in 1983. It was a tremendously gratifying moment full of rewards and very poignant too as 16 years earlier at the age of 11 I had seen a picture of Tenzing Norgay standing on the Summit and had wanted to climb Everest since that day