With my obsession with all things Everest continuing without pause, I am happy to report that Frontline will be airing Storm Over Everest this Tuesday night, May 13. Dang, talk about timing! The doc was made by David Breashears, who was the guy on the mountain back in 1996 on the IMAX team. His team ended up helping many of the stranded climbers, especially when the hideous South African team failed to offer up any help at all. Breashears has summited Everest 11 times by now but he says that tragic day in 1996 continues to haunt him. I’m not sure if Jon Krakauer or Sandy Hill will be interviewed. Hill was a bit of a joke in social circles after Krakauer’s book outed her to be a socialite only there to get Scott Fischer some publicity. She was seen being short-roped up the mountain at a crucial juncture.

At any rate, good old Beck Weathers will be interviewed. This is a guy who laid in the ice and was left for dead. Snowblind and frostbitten he somehow rose from near-death and walked back to camp. It was for Weathers that a brave pilot chose to fly up there and risk his own life. What a night that must have been to live through; it is no wonder that Breashears and others remain haunted by it. I myself am haunted by it anyway. I’m trying to prevent myself from re-reading Into Thin Air. Emma, my lovely child, re-reads books all the time. I think she’s read The Deathly Hollows at least three times. My younger sister also has been known to re-read her favorite Stephen King books. I don’t think I’ve ever re-read a book. I’ve certainly watched films repeatedly.

I probably will read the Krakauer book again in case I missed some crucial details the first time. And anyway, there isn’t a lot of information about that Everest tragedy. A few movies and a couple of books. The TV movie of Into Thin Air is pretty awful. Someone could make a magnificent one with enough money, although it is pretty sad. The sinking of Titanic was sad too and look how that turned out.