The IMAX Team Waits

The Climb

This flow follows the IMAX/IWERKS expedition’s deliberate retreat when weather appears unstable, offering a contrasting model of patience.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Separate Objective A Separate Objective from "The Climb". A Separate Objective Film and Climbing David Breashears leads an expedition whose summit effort is tied to a large-format film project.

A Separate Objective from "The Climb". A Separate Objective Film and Climbing David Breashears leads an expedition whose summit effort is tied to a large-format film project.

A Separate Objective Film and Climbing David Breashears leads an expedition whose summit effort is tied to a large-format film project. Different Constraints The team seeks both a safe ascent and suitable filming conditions, giving it reasons to wait rather than follow commercial teams’ schedule.

Watching the Weather Watching the Weather from "The Climb". Watching the Weather Unstable Winds The team spends a windy night high on the mountain and recognizes that conditions do not match the window it hoped for.

Watching the Weather from "The Climb". Watching the Weather Unstable Winds The team spends a windy night high on the mountain and recognizes that conditions do not match the window it hoped for.

Watching the Weather Unstable Winds The team spends a windy night high on the mountain and recognizes that conditions do not match the window it hoped for. Deliberate Retreat Rather than press on, its leaders choose to descend and wait for better weather.

A Warning on the Route A Warning on the Route from "The Climb". A Warning on the Route Encounter Ed Viesturs meets Anatoli Boukreev as the commercial groups climb toward the higher camps and explains that his team has…

A Warning on the Route from "The Climb". A Warning on the Route Encounter Ed Viesturs meets Anatoli Boukreev as the commercial groups climb toward the higher camps and explains that his team has…

A Warning on the Route Encounter Ed Viesturs meets Anatoli Boukreev as the commercial groups climb toward the higher camps and explains that his team has turned back. Diverging Choices The encounter gives the other team a clear example of a respected expedition choosing patience over its planned summit date.

Watching the Late Climbers Watching the Late Climbers from "The Climb". Watching the Late Climbers Telescope View From Camp II, Ed Viesturs sees climbers still moving upward late in the day, with cloud streamers crossing the…

Watching the Late Climbers from "The Climb". Watching the Late Climbers Telescope View From Camp II, Ed Viesturs sees climbers still moving upward late in the day, with cloud streamers crossing the…

Watching the Late Climbers Telescope View From Camp II, Ed Viesturs sees climbers still moving upward late in the day, with cloud streamers crossing the summit. Foreboding He recognizes the danger of exhausted climbers running out of oxygen and daylight during the descent.

A Contrast in Judgment A Contrast in Judgment from "The Climb". A Contrast in Judgment Patience Vindicated The team’s retreat stands in contrast to the summit push that ends in the storm, though it does not make the tragedy…

A Contrast in Judgment from "The Climb". A Contrast in Judgment Patience Vindicated The team’s retreat stands in contrast to the summit push that ends in the storm, though it does not make the tragedy…

A Contrast in Judgment Patience Vindicated The team’s retreat stands in contrast to the summit push that ends in the storm, though it does not make the tragedy simple or fully predictable. A Lesson in Timing Its choice strengthens the book’s argument that waiting can be a decisive form of mountaineering skill.

spring 1996 at Everest Base Camp

May 7, 1996, at Camp III

May 8, 1996

afternoon of May 10, 1996

after the disaster in May 1996