Sherpa

Currently in Production

On April 18th 2014, sixteen climbing Sherpas were killed in an avalanche, an event that would prove to be the single worst disaster in the history of climbing on Mount Everest.

‘Sherpa’ will chronicle the dramatic parallel story lines of two people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, whose lives become intertwined as they ascend the mountain. The documentary is a candid, intimate view from the climbing Sherpa perspective on what it takes, and what it means, to reach the top of the world.

The principle character is a rookie climbing guide aspirant – a Sherpa - who has left his remote village to attend a mountaineering training camp high in the Rolwaling valley of the Himalaya.

His goal – To acquire the skills necessary to achieve the ultimate Sherpa ambition of becoming a mountain guide on Mount Everest, because the monetary gains of summit success are life-changing.

As a climbing Sherpa, he will earn in two months ten times the average yearly wage of a Nepali, guaranteeing he and his family’s financial future. So he has everything to gain by summiting, but as last spring so vividly shows, he also has everything to lose.

From the training camp to the highest reaches of Everest, the cameras will capture every lung-bursting, nerve-fraying moment of his experience.

The documentary’s other character is a Western female alpinist, who has spent the last fifteen years exploring the Everest region, coming to know the Sherpa people intimately. She was at Everest when the disaster struck and the heart-breaking events of the spring touched her deeply.

Having had her own emotional mountains to climb in the past, summiting Everest will at once bring closure to her demons, while opening a new chapter in her life.

Two people... Two dreams... One mountain.

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