The Man Who Skied Down Everest

Before extreme skiing gained popularity there was Yuichiro Miura of Japan who pulled off the most and still extreme downhill run of all. A shot down the earth's highest peak Mt Everest. An interesting documentary which shows the preparations, ascent and eventual descent down Everest on skis. This 1975 film is rarely shown and with the apparent decline of skiing interest in the United States a film such as this one certainly can excite people about the sport. While the actual footage of Miuras descent on his skis is short in length the film essentially is about the determination of an individual to achieve a goal that seems both challenging and unrealistic. If you're a fan of skiing films the likes of what Warren Miller produces then you'll enjoy this one.

"The Man Who Skied Down Everest" won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature back in 1976. I most of this is because of the amazing cinematography. That's because apart from that, I found the film a bit pretentious, boring and disingenuous.

The film consists of a western actor reading the journal entries of a Japanese guy who loves skiing in extreme situations. Some of these entries are insightful and interesting, others extremely pretentious. Regardless, you get LOTS of talk, when the film would have been so much better had it had some quiet moments. Additionally, when he eventually gets to this feat, you learn that he only went NEAR the top of this huge mountain and then skied down a very small portion. It's an amazing act, but not at all what you'd expect given the film's title. The bottom line is that I found myself nodding off a lot as I watched this film and that is not a good sign. Easy to skip.

I saw this movie many years ago on TV, and thoroughly enjoyed it. As a previous reviewer said, the title is somewhat misleading; I usually refer to it as "The Man Who Fell Down Everest"!

What struck me about this film is that the expedition is so *Japanese*. For example, all the equipment is stencilled "JESE" for "Japanese Everest Ski Expedition". They carry collapsible bridges for crossing crevasses. And they lugged old-style videotape equipment up the mountain so the skier could record and critique his practice runs; there is a funny scene of the Sherpas watching _Bonanza_ tapes dubbed into Japanese.

All in all, I found it fascinating. And it won the Oscar for best documentary that year.

This follows Japanese adventurer Yuichiro Miura as he attempts to ski down Mount Everest. That's it. That's all there is and it's great. This has an Englishman narrating his diary entries. It's a neverending train of thought. He is part of a large group of Japanese scientists, fellow travelers, and local porters.

Real life Everest adventures are usually compelling although Miura's destination isn't all the way to the iconic top. That part is rather unusual. The visuals are amazing and I love the 70's aesthetics. He does need a 1st POV camera shoot going downhill. The cameras of that time may be too heavy for him to carry.

This one has the reality of the people. Miura makes himself very personable. There are real deaths and real bodies. This gets real real fast. I feel like I went on a journey with him and that is one of the highest praise for a documentary.

The movie is well made with great photography and narration. However, the subject of the film takes himself way too seriously. His actual feat of skiing "down Everest" is massively exaggerated. From what I could tell, he appears to be skiing down about half of the Lhotse face. The narrator claims that he is skiing from a level where the 1952 Swiss expedition reached. Not true. They reached 28,500 feet, just short of the Hillary step. Miuri starts from somewhere below the South Col (26,000 feet) with the aid of a parachute too slow him down. He tries to hold a wedge shape (an amateur move to control speed) then sits down on a traverse at about 24,000 feet and subsequently slides/bounces on his butt another 500 to 1,000 feet. I figure he skied from about 25,500 to 23,000 feet.

This is presented as a successful and amazing run. Miuri states "I cant believe I'm alive" and "why have I been allowed to survive?", blah blah blah...etc. I'd like to know how the 800 porters, sherpas, other climbers, and families of the 6 dead men feel about this. I'm surprised the Japanese expedition didn't try to put some climbers on the summit while they were there. Apparently, it was all about Miuri and his lame ski run.