Everest Dark

Mount Everest is no fairy tale. It has become the highest graveyard on the planet. Since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first summited Everest in 1953, more than 6,000 people have summited Everest, over 300 climbers have perished in the attempt, 200 frozen bodies remain abandoned and encased in ice – and one third of those bodies are sherpa guides.

Revered in Nepal as a national hero, Mingma Tsiri Sherpa is one of the best high-altitude climbers of all time. Over the years, Mingma has led many missions on Everest to rescue climbers in distress, and, sadly, witnessed many of their final moments. Mingma has seen many of his brethren die on the mountain. Too many. He’s also had his own close calls with death.

After a devastating 2015 earthquake killed 21 people in Basecamp, Mingma had a dream – if he summited Everest again he would die there. Two summits away from achieving the world record, he swore off climbing forever. But when 15 more climbers perish in 2019, Mingma believes that the sacred mountain is angry. It’s been desecrated. Mingma, along with a small team of elite Sherpa climbers, decides to embark on a never-before-seen life-threatening and heroic mission to recover a body from the hostile face of Everest to appease the mountain gods.

Director, Jereme Watt’s masterful direction allows us to accompany Mingma on his journey to reclaim the sacred mountain from decades of exploitation, exploring enduring questions about individual glory, human courage, and the greater good along the way. Everest Dark pulls no punches as it examines the impacts of the climbing industry on Mount Everest and the Sherpa people – their culture, their lives today, and their future.

Oscar nominated executive producer, Ina Fichman (Fire of Love) joins veteran producer, Merit Jensen Carr to tell the extraordinary story of revered mountaineer and national hero Mingma Tsiri Sherpa and his team of elite sherpa climbers as they risk everything to recover a body, cleanse the sacred mountain, and restore peace to the Nepali people.

Mingma believes that by telling his story, he can expose the dark side of Everest. With more and more crowds of people elbowing their way to the summit and more and more people dying, now is the time to examine the ‘business’ of climbing Mount Everest and reveal the life-threatening risks the Sherpa guides take with every climb. His greatest hope is that people who watch this film will come to respect the mountain.