The Climb - Documentary

THE CLIMB

Tuesday October 1 at 2 pm on CBC-TV

On October 3th, 1983, Laurie Skreslet scaled more than twenty-nine thousand feet to become the first Canadian on Mount Everest. For Canadians, it was moment of unadulterated pride. For Skreslet and his fellow climbers, it was a triumph littered with bitterness, broken relationships and the bodies of four dead men.

Laurie Skreslet with fellow Everest summiter Pat Morrow.

The Climb takes Skreslet and fellow summiter Pat Morrow back to Base Camp, reliving the traumatic and triumphant events of 1982. But this is no stroll back to the mountain. Pat Morrow faces the challenge of a mystery illness that might prevent his return to the mountain. And Laurie Skreslet has brought his nineteen year old daughter, Natasha – a young woman who has hardly seen her father in ten years.
The Climb traces the build-up to the 1982 Canadian climb of Everest, tracks the drama of the journey up the mountain, and follows Skreslet and Morrow as they piece together their recollections during an emotional trip back to Nepal and Everest's storied base camp.

Burial mound in Nepal where fellow climbers are layed to rest.

The film delivers the immediacy of the events as they unfolded on the mountain through the use of unique archival footage shot in 1982, while gripping the audiences with a present-day narrative of those still haunted by those tragic and triumphant days as they re-visit Base Camp together for the first time since The Climb.
"The journey with these two climbers was powerful," Johnston says. "It was a chance for them to come to terms with the disasters that hit their expedition all those years ago." "Ultimately," Johnston says, "the film is about mortality, about what we leave behind."

Laurie Skreslet with his daughter in Nepal.

Everest is a topic that fascinates countless millions around the world. The Climb is a chance to tell one of the most compelling chapters in the history of Everest expeditions –a dramatic and purely Canadian story of courage, disaster, compassion and ultimate triumph.
The Climb is a co-production between director Mark Johnston's Nomad Films and drama producers Screen Door.

PAT MoRROW

Pat Morrow is one of Canada's most accomplished mountain climbers. He is based in the Canadian Rockies in Canmore, Alberta. Pat is well known for their documentation of mountain cultures and adventures through his photography, video and film work. He works in concert with his wife of 23 years, Baiba. Their deep desire to search out and document remote, wild places has led them on assignments and expeditions to all seven continents, averaging six months a year in the field for the past 25 years.

Pat and Laurie on their return trip to Everest, 25 years later.

Together Pat and Baiba have won eight national magazine awards. Their books include Beyond Everest: Quest for the Seven Summits; Himalayan Passage; The Yukon; and Footsteps in the Clouds – Kangchenjunga a Century Later. In 1987, Pat received the Order of Canada in recognition of his achievement of climbing the highest mountains on all seven continents.
Over the last twelve years Pat has expanded his tools of the trade to include video and film, and now works exclusively in that medium. He has worked on more than 50 mountain films for such broadcasters as National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Outdoor Life Network, ESPN, and the Canadian International Development Agency.

LAURIE SKRESLET

On October 5th, 1982, Laurie Skreslet became the first Canadian to summit Mount Everest. Laurie has been a professional mountaineer for over 3 decades with extensive experience in the North American Rockies, South American Andes and Asian Himalayas. His expertise spans technical ice climbing, rock climbing, alpine and high altitude mountaineering. But Laurie hasn't retired from climbing.
Over the years he has participated in more than 30 world-class expeditions into the Canadian Rockies, Nepal, South America and India. Laurie has led over 21 guided trips to climb Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere and one of the Seven Summits.
Laurie is a Certified ACMG Guide (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides), with over 32 high altitude expeditions to his credit. He has also been an instructor at the Colorado and Canadian Outward Bound Mountain Schools, teaching over 45 courses.
Since 1982, Laurie has recognized the parallel between climbing the mountain and the challenges people face daily in the business community. By sharing these similarities with 2000 organizations, Laurie has become an expert motivational speaker and touched the lives of more than 500,000 people. Laurie has written a bestselling book To the Top of Everest. It was nominated for both the Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award and the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award in 2004. It has also been added to the Children's Literature Choice List.