Filming On Everest

Climbing Mount Everest (1922) was the first film of an Everest expedition, and the earliest documentary filmed in Tibet.

As well as depicting the high-altitude climb, which ended disastrously when seven porters (six of them Sherpas) lost their lives in an avalanche, the film contains extended sequences of masked ritual dances in Rongbuk (Rongphu) monastery at the foot of Everest.

Its first public showing in Central Hall was apparently spoiled by the London fog. Subsequent showings in the Philharmonic Hall, accompanied by music from Tibet arranged for orchestra by Howard Somervell, one of the climbers, were more successful.

Included in the gallery are scenes depicting the appointment of sixty Sherpas in Darjeeling; an audience with the Head Lama of Rongbuk monastery, Zatul Rimpoche; and a climbing scene at 22,000 feet.

The second of these clips, supposed to represent the blessing of the expedition, was actually taken after the descent from Everest. It includes a brief glimpse of a small statue of a White Tara, wrapped in a scarf presented to Gen. Charles Bruce. The expedition interpreter, Karma Paul, is shown explaining the nature of the gift.

Note
The footage from the Everest film can also be found in the Gallery.