Everest: the first ascent

Synopsis

1953. A British expedition sets out to conquer Everest, a legendary summit that no one has ever reached. Today, you are part of the team. Tenzing Norgay, leader of the Sherpas, guides you through an adventure that will make History. Journey with him through a hidden Nepal of temples and ancient traditions, before facing the cold, the lack of oxygen and glaciers swept by violent storms. The mountain sets the rules: every day brings new surprises and dangers. Who will reach the summit? Who will make it back? Experience from within one of the greatest expeditions of the 20th century.

Statement

Everest today is a name worn thin: auctioned summits, queues in the death zone, a mountain reduced to a trophy shelf. Adding another voice to that argument wasn’t the goal. What we wanted was to go back to the story that made the mountain a legend in the first place - a story most people today have never fully heard. In 1953, the top of the mountain was reached by two men. History remembers Edmund Hillary, a Kiwi mountaineer, and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa who had tried to reach the summit for many years. But a whole group carried them there, and Tenzing was the hinge between two worlds: his own, where Chomolungma is a sacred mountain, and the westerners’, who wanted to “conquer” it. Without the Sherpas - their strength, their knowledge of the mountain - there is no ascent, no headline, no legend. That is why we chose to walk before we chose to climb, taking part in the expedition, its rituals, its silences. No one arrives at Chomolungma without first crossing the world that gave it its name. It was also a different kind of risk. No satellite forecasts, no rescue helicopters, just heavy, experimental oxygen systems and the unknown in front of them. That fragility and fear is something we wanted people to stand close to. This is an experience to feel, not to watch. Not a story you hear, one you live.

More online

• Everest: experience page · Eclipso

Credits

Director

Jean Dellac, Benjamin Auriche

Production

Eclipso-Entertainment (Antoine Lieutaud, Chloé Ressy), Small Creative (Voyelle Acker, Vincent Guttmann, Vincent Dudouet, Blanche Cahagne)

Running Time

37'

Language

English

Country

France

Main Cast

Thomas Espinera

Screenplay

Pierre-Edouard Nobels

Editor

Pierre Didier

Music

Blanktone

Sound

Blanktone, Native Primes

Art director

Elora Meunier

Lead developers

Thomas Hertrich, Leonard Allain-Launay

Designers

Sofiane Tihdaini, Galilée Mason

Environment modeling

Bruno Roux Dit Buisson, Nicolas Appenzeller, Maxime Neko, Simon Chassanne, Maxime Ponnelle, Jekhiel Boyer

Character modeling

Cecile Regis, Margaux Latapie, Valentin Tournebize, Maximilien Bougeois, Clara Bouis

Props modeling

Apolline Brulebeaux

Tech art and layout

Laura Lassus-Pigat, Sebastien Marie, Maxence Stephan, Victor Soulie

Rigging and animation

Valerian Delamare, Lucas Ferrer, Thomas Wiegand, Louis Doudard

Writing support

Charlie Buffet, Catherine (Katia) Buffetrille, San Bah

Technical team

Leo Tavarès, Olivia Chang