A lot of the stories and images of Everest you鈥檝e seen have been carefully curated by the storytellers to show the rad and beautiful parts of the mountain. This year, photographer 聽and I aim to change that.
This month, the two of us are going to Snapchat various parts of our journey to and up the north side of Everest.聽(My guide company,聽, moved to the north side of the mountain after the 2014 incident in the聽Khumbu聽Icefall聽that聽killed 16 Sherpas.)聽Along the way,聽we鈥檒l post short videos and photos in real-time to depict an unfiltered look at an unfiltered climb during a crucial season on a changing Everest. We chose Snapchat because 鈥渟naps鈥濃攗nlike posts to Instagram or Facebook鈥攎ust be posted immediately from a phone鈥檚 camera. If we鈥檙e successful, you鈥檒l have a complete chronicle of our journey.
We鈥檒l show various points of view by handing the camera to Sherpas, guides, climbers, an expedition doctor, and a philanthropist during our climb. Our goal is to share our perspective and encourage dialog on both the positive and negative sides of climbing Everest. Ultimately what we want is a positive future for Everest, and for those who work and recreate on the mountain. Getting there will require thought, discussion, and effort from everyone involved. We hope our story can help to illuminate some of the issues, and possible solutions.
While over 7,000 ascents of the mountain have been made with bottled oxygen, only 193 have been accomplished without, and Cory and I are going to try going without, too. While I鈥檝e summitted six times, I've always done while guiding鈥攁nd always with supplemental oxygen. Cory has climbed Gasherbrum II and Lhotse without oxygen, but has yet to reach the top of Everest.聽
To see our journey unfold, follow @EverestNoFilter, and mine and Cory鈥檚 personal Snapchat accounts: @adrianjb and @crichardsphoto.