dflowerz I first saw this beautifully filmed documentary many years ago and never forgot it. The most interesting parts for me were the trek to base camp and traversing the ice fall. Many of the shots in the movie offered unique perspectives that really showcased the scale and grandeur of the region. I felt that sometimes the thoughts of Miura were overly philosophical and romantic, but what I was hearing was a translation from Japanese to English, so final conclusions are not possible without understanding Japanese. The actual skiing down Everest sequence was short but dramatic. I think that skiers could empathize more with the difficulties of trying to stay in control on such hard and bumpy ice! Crazy stuff! One reviewer had noted that Miura had died shortly afterward but this is not the case. Apparently he became the oldest person to summit Everest when he did it at age 75 in 2008. Quite a man! All these years later, The Man Who Skied Down Everest is as much about climbing Everest in 1970 as about actually skiing down Everest.

Vic_max This was a serious mountain expedition movie. I really appreciate what was done here. Climbing Everest in 1970 (the actual date this was done) is one horrifically challenging thing, but attempting to ski straight down 40-45 degrees of hardened snow and ice rocks is unreal. Kudos to Miura for showing the world what it is like.This is a documentary about Japanese skier Yuichiro Miura who launched an expedition to ski down Everest's South Col face (26,000 feet). His expedition consisted of 800 men and 2 tons of equipment. The poetic narration (done by Douglas Rain - the voice of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey) is taken from his diary and writings.The first thing to note is that Miura is an amazing individual. He was the world speed record holder in skiing in 1964 and became the oldest person to climb Everest in 2003 at the age of 70.Just getting to the top of the South Col of Everest is an achievement. The tragic deaths that occurred during the expedition only underscore the risk involved. Performing the physically and mentally demanding activity of vertically skiing down the face with a parachute is amazing. He is lucky to be alive.This is not a high-energy, rock music-filled extreme sports movie. Most people would probably die doing something like this. This is about a disciplined, world-class athlete near the peak of his skills doing something extraordinary. If you like Everest expedition movies, definitely watch this.

David Hart (dhart-2) If you are looking for a movie with beautiful shots of Mount Everest, then you may enjoy this movie. Just skip ahead to the views of the mountain.(Spoiler Alert) However, if you, like me, believe that lives are precious and not to be wasted then this movie will leave a bad taste in your mouth. 6 people died, 5 Sherpas and a member of the Japanese party just so that one man could attempt to ski down Mount Everest.The question is raised in the movie about whether the continuation of the expedition to meet his personal goal was still worth the cost in lives, and he answers an emphatic "Yes".The part about skiing is in the last 15 minutes. He skis for a short time, then falls the rest of the way until he comes to a stop in the snow.

edt-9 spoiler warning -- I reveal everything about what happened I'm a huge fan of skiing and mountain climbing, and if you're like me there's always this urge to combine the two, it's this itch that you just want to scratch. I'm also tired of the whole climb mount everest because it's the tallest mountain thing.What a magnificent goal. To climb 3/4 of the way up Everest and then ski down to the bergschrund (the huge crevasse between the mountain and a glacier). Just the idea tantalizes.Of course, if you do any skiing you have to realize, the actual ski event is nothing much. For instance, Blackcolme/Whistler has a vertical drop of somewhere around 5,000 feet, and I've done it a couple of times, the peak to creek trail, back when it was still out of bounds, it's an utterly magnificent run, and then I took the chair back up to the top and did it again! Anyway, the run on Everest would be less than 3,000 vertical feet, it would be all ice and rock, it would be quick and fast, and deadly. If he missed his stop he would fly into a crevasse. Needless to say he lived. Now the event itself was a mess, he got started, tried to do a plow, tried to do some turns, nothing would slow him down, so right from the start he realized he was in a hell of a position, so he just sat on his edges to try to stop, this ice was just as slick and hard as rock, of course his skis popped off, flying off into the air. He lived.Wow. He was the first to try. Since then a dozen skiers and snowboarders have attempted to shred their way down mount everest. On Oct 7, 2000 Davo Karnicar succeeded skiing from the top of everest to base camp, including skiing over the khumbu icefall. But someone had to be first, and that someone was Yuichiro Miura. I'm pretty sure nobody since Miura has used a parachute, it doesn't do anything useful, but I guess he had to try it out.If you have to ask yourself why spend weeks and months climbing a mountain, only to ski down it in minutes, then this movie is not for you.