Original subtitles

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Are you available for lessons?

Why not?

- How's that? - Not bad... for a beginner.

- I might go a bit higher. - Suit yourself.

Gidday, squire.

- George Lowe. - Ed Hillary.

This is easy. Tomorrow's gonna be a real bugger.

You all right?

You ever thought about the Himalayas?

- There you go. - Thanks.

Ed.

You need to stop gallivanting about in the mountains and, uh,

pull your weight in the honey business.

- I do my share. - Only just.

You need to start thinking about moving out too.

You're over 30.

It's a ridiculous age to still be living at home with your parents.

- Percy, please. - Well, it is.

June's married with two children.

Rex is about to become a father again.

You just need to find a nice girl and marry her.

When was the last time you asked a girl out?

Louise, that's Ed Hillary. He's the most amazing climber.

He doesn't just cut steps; he builds staircases.

- Oh. - Ah.

- Ed, hello. - Hi, Jim.

the last great terrestrial challenge on Earth.

The roof of the planet has always

traditionally been attempted from the north,

the Tibetan side.

But when the Red Army occupied Tibet,

British climbing legend Eric Shipton

has been forced to look elsewhere.

Very fortunately for us,

the previously closed mountain kingdom of Nepal

is opening her borders,

so I'm mounting a reconnaissance expedition

to see if the southern approaches will provide

the key to the citadel of Everest.

The permits came through, sir, thank you.

Glad to be of help.

- We're off to India next month. - Yes.

Mukut Parbat's never been climbed. We're hoping to be the first.

Everest is the next. That's the one I'm gunning for.

Join the queue, George.

Well, it all sounds very exciting.

Gentlemen, I'm taking my daughter out to supper.

You're very welcome to join us.

Oh, it's very kind of you, sir.

Sounds good to me.

Light supper could be the ticket. Ed, what do you think?

Sorry, I've got an early start tomorrow.

Oh, that's a shame. Maybe next time.

Excuse me one moment.

Ed. You all right?

I'm good, George.

We're nearly there, mate.

- What's wrong, George? - Oh, I think my bloody foot's frozen.

I'll have a look. She'll be right.

I told you not to buy such cheap boots.

It's gonna be your own stupid fault if you lose your toes.

Christ.

Easy, easy, easy.

Oh Christ.

Sorry, Ed.

I don't think there's enough daylight for them

to reach the summit anyway.

Well, I wouldn't count on that.

Hey, lads.

Everything all right?

Oh, bloody hell, George.

Up! Long way coming. Summit close getting.

- All right. Well, we might carry on for a bit. - Good idea.

- Take it easy, guys. - Yeah, good luck.

Hey, uh, great steps, Ed. Thanks.

Yeah, bloody good lead, Ed.

Mukut Parbat will keep.

- Any sign of them? - No. Nothing.

Hey! Hey!

Hey!

Hey!

We made it! We got to the top!

Oh, bloody good work.

- Well done. Good job. - Cheers.

- Congratulations! - Oh, thanks, Ed.

- Congratulations! - Well done.

- Oh, you bloody beauty! - Well done!

- We made it! - Oh, we did it!

Mate!

Hey, misery guts. You still not speaking to me?

We're stronger than Riddiford and Cotter,

and we should have been the first to summit Mukut Parbat.

My feet were frozen. You ever lost all feeling in your toes?

It's not the mountain that you conquer, George, but yourself.

If you're not scared out of your wits by something,

then you're not paying attention.

I'm not getting any younger,

and this was my chance to bag a Himalayan peak,

and I've just let it slip through my fingers.

I'm done. I'm done with climbing.

I'm gonna go home, settle down and get married.

Married?

I think you'll find having a girlfriend's

the minimum requirement for that.

Casanova speaks

Uh, Riddiford, that's for you.

I think you might have inherited another farm, mate.

- Cotter? - Yes?

That's for you. You have another woman heavy with child.

I hope not.

'Course not. We know you're a virgin.

Hillary, that's for you, mate. It's from your mum.

And the bees, I think they miss you.

Ah, and this is for me, from Louise Rose. Lovely.

It's from her family.

In your dreams.

- Gentlemen, I've got a letter from Shipton. - What?

Eric Shipton has written to me.

- Shipton? - He's leading...

... a reconnaissance to Everest. We know. What does he want?

"We are about to leave Darjeeling and head north to Nepal."

Some of his climbers are unwell,

and they would like some more manpower...

Ah! Wonderful!

- ... providing we bring our own food and supplies. - Of course.

Any two of our climbers are welcome to join them.

- Two of us? - Correct.

Obviously, I'll be going, and I'll...

I'll decide later who will join me.

Like hell you will.

I did most of the organising for this trip.

No, you didn't. You did most of the talking.

Who's the letter addressed to?

Earle, it doesn't matter who the letter is addressed to.

- The point is we should be... - Guys, guys, guys! Guys!

The letter's written to me, asking...

It's Everest, OK? It's something we've all dreamt about.

Well, every climber has.

But if we can only send two, they should probably be our best.

Absolutely.

I don't know who second-best is, but... Ed's definitely the strongest.

Well, I have been going OK at the moment.

You wanted to go back to your bees yesterday.

Well, I've changed my mind, George.

- Look, I can keep up with Ed. - Keep up?

Who got to the top of Mukut Parbat, George?

Earle, that's beside the point.

I am the better climber and you know it.

Please, remind me: who got to the top of Mukut Parbat?

Mukut Parbat has nothing to do with it. I'm the better climber, Earle.

It has everything to do with it!

Guys! You sort it out, OK? I'm gonna get something to eat.

Ed, who's the stronger climber, me or Earle?

Doesn't matter. Do you have the money?

Allow me to pay for these, gentlemen.

Oh, it's fine. Fine.

"Dear Dad, I've been invited on Shipton's expedition to Everest.

Chance of a lifetime for any climber. I simply couldn't refuse.

Apologies for the short notice. .

I didn't mean to leave you and Rex in the lurch

It all happened very quickly."

This is crazy.

Ed.

Ed!

Do you realise, by the time we get back,

we'll have been away from home five months?

Five months!

Need our bloody heads read.

"Please forgive your erring son.

Love, Ed."

Come on, Earle. Pull finger.

Namaste!

- Namaste. - Namaste.

- You Kiwi? - Yes, we Kiwi.

- Shipton sahib waiting, close getting. - Oh, thank God.

Hold your horses, Earle.

I stole a library book once.

- Well, I won't tell anyone if you don't. - Nanda Devi by Eric Shipton.

The man's a legend.

What's he gonna think of a couple of rag-arsed Kiwis

from back of beyond?

Maybe this isn't such a good idea.

Take a deep breath, Ed, for Christ's sake.

- Come! Come! - Yes, yes!

- Namaste. - Namaste.

- Namaste. - Namaste.

Eric Shipton. Glad you chaps could make it at such short notice.

Riddiford. Earle Herbert Riddiford. Pleasure to meet you, sir.

Likewise. It's Eric.

Ed Hillary.

- Pleased to meet you, Ed. - You too, Eric.

You chaps must have motored.

Bush telegraph said you were still days away.

- Charles Evans. - Ed Hillary.

Michael Ward.

Tom, Ed.

A toast, I think, to Everest.

To Everest.

It's brewed downstairs. Doesn't travel.

For 30 years, Everest has repelled a succession of assaults,

including several of mine.

It's as if there's an invisible barrier at 28,000ft.

Beyond, mere mortals are not permitted to tread.

Could very well be the upper limits of human endurance. Who knows?

What we do know for sure is...

you pay the ultimate price for the simplest of mistakes.

In 1935, I was ascending the north ridge

when I found poor Maurice Wilson,

vanished without trace a year before.

His knees were drawn up.

He was in the shreds of a jacket, flannel trousers.

One of his boots was missing.

I retrieved his diary. We wrapped his body in the remains of his tent,

dragged it to the lip of a crevasse and tipped it in.

He's up there still, moving in the belly of a glacier,

slowly being ground to paste.

His last entry was...

"Off again. Gorgeous day."

Well, I'm glad he got that, at least.

Sherpas call her Chomolungma, Mother Goddess of the World.

Tibetan monks believe that a golden sparrow

and a turquoise lion stand guard at the summit.

They believe Chomolungma is sacred, out of bounds.

Old wives' tale.

An old lama's tale - not quite the same thing.

Tomorrow, Ed, you and I will team up to scout for a new route.

Oh my God.

Ed! Ed, look!

That's amazing.

No one's ever seen this before.

We're the first humans to ever lay eyes upon this vista.

Not even the Sherpas?

Not even the Sherpas. They don't come this high. Why would they?

It's above the yak pastures; it's freezing; it's the abode of the gods.

I think I can see a route up through there.

Stay there. I'm gonna take a picture.

Ed, my boy, this is what we came for.

This is the key to the citadel of Everest.

Mountaineering's greatest prize is within our grasp, gentlemen.

Next spring, when the snow's arrived,

we'll have a decent crack at Everest.

I presume you chaps are starters?

Oh, you bet, if Jenny agrees.

Oh, Rosemary's always pleased to see the back of me.

- Ed? - Footloose and fancy-free: that's me.

Oh, Eric, dear boy, how splendid to see you again.

- Christopher. - Welcome to Kathmandu, gentlemen.

Well, we're not all gentlemen. Some of us are just Kiwis.

Quite.

Mr Summerhayes. Earle Riddiford. Pleasure to meet you.

- Excuse me. - Oh, sure.

Could I have a word, Eric, in private?

- You made the front page. - They used it? Good show.

When I sent the story, I didn't think they would.

- It was front-page news in Zurich as well. - Really?

Yes, unfortunately.

Is everything OK?

The Swiss have applied for and have been granted

exclusive access to Everest next year,

using our route.

They can't do that.

Can they?

They can, and they are.

So no Everest, then?

Oh, it's just a mountain, Ed.

Good to see you, Ed. Come here. Thanks for coming. Welcome home.

Heard about the Swiss.

Rotten luck. I'm so sorry.

- Ed, this is my wife, Phyllis. - Oh, hello, Mr Hillary.

Jim goes on about you so much, I feel I know you already.

Oh.

And-Oh, this is my daughter, Louise, who I think you've already met.

Yes, you came to the Alpine Club,

but not to supper.

- You played beautifully, this evening. - Thank you.

Uh, we're going on a tramp this weekend. You should come along.

I think you should come this time.

Slow down, you two. It's not a race.

- Hello. - Hi. -

What took you so long?

That wasn't long.

You're doin' very well, Jim.

Yeah, thank you, Ed.

Now, we were just saying it'd be lovely if you'd come round

and tell us about your adventures in the Himalayas.

Thank you.

- I'd really like that. - Mm. Terrific. Why don't you come for dinner?

Later on in the week.

- It'll be good fun. - Yes.

- Is that you? - That's me.

Typical of the Brits to assume that Everest was theirs, that

nobody else would consider climbing it.

Yes, well...

Ooh, they'll give it a good nudge, that's for sure.

- Oh, they are superb - ice climbers.

I wouldn't put it past them to do it.

- You two. - Oh, sorry. Sorry, Ed.

So, what are you gonna do now?

Shipton's planning an attempt at Cho Oyu in the spring.

- George and I will tag along for that. - That's the ticket, yeah.

Just best to keep fit, isn't it?

Just in case the Swiss don't actually, you know...

- I better be shooting off. - Well, nice to see you, Ed. Drop by again.

Thanks, Jim.

- Phyllis. - Um, bye, Ed. Lovely to see you.

I'll walk you outside.

Everest is only 25 miles from Cho Oyu,

so I'll have that looming over me every day.

And I'll probably spend every spare second

tormenting myself about the Swiss.

Try not to let that worry you.

Just focus on the things you can control.

True.

Easier said than done, though.

You'll be great.

Good luck, Ed.

The best chance of reaching the summit, Eric,

is to go straight up the north ridge.

Now, that's the route we have to take if we're gonna have any chance.

I can't allow that. We... We'd be crossing into Tibet.

Chinese border guards are heavily armed, notoriously trigger-happy...

The Red Army's not gonna be patrolling at 22,000ft, Eric. Come on.

I'm not gonna allow an international incident. Sorry.

How are Tom and Charles?

Still got the squitters. Earle might have pneumonia.

Jesus. The Sherpas?

Four down, three coming down, two on the mend.

- How are we on the oxygen front? - That's what I wanna talk to you about.

The second batch are faulty as well.

We're gonna have to call this expedition off.

Well, if that's the case, then George and I might scoot over to Everest

and see how the Swiss are getting on.

You two are gluttons for punishment.

- Namaste. - Namaste.

Uh...

Chomolungma. Uh, Swiss top?

Everest.

- Everest. - I don't...

- I don't know what that means. - Swiss.

- Uh, top? Swiss? - Top.

Seven sahib. Top getting.

- Seven? Seven sahib? - Seven?

How did they get seven to the top?

No, they... they can't. That's not possible. Um...

Uh, Swiss sahib.

Top getting?

Swiss sahib top getting?

Not top. Uh, shoulder.

- Shoulder? - Shoulder getting. Shoulder getting.

Oh, shoulder getting? Oh, Swiss sahib shoulder, not top?

Oh, they didn't make it. They didn't make it.

That's... that's... Thank you!

- Thank you. Namaste. - Thank you. Thank you. Namaste.

- No top. No top. - Namaste.

- No top. - Sahib... getting winter.

Yeah. What?

Sahib getting winter.

- The Swiss? Coming back this winter? - Yeah.

- Oh. - This winter?

Two goes. Bloody hell.

Um, namaste. Thank you.

Namaste.

Ooh, sounds like Louise is home.

So, what brings you up our way, Mr Lowe?

- Uh, lectures at teachers training college. - Oh, what are you studying?

Oh, no, I'm not attending them, Mrs Rose. I... I'm giving them.

It's far less taxing, you'll find.

Oh, Louise would like to be a music teacher, wouldn't you, darling?

Maybe.

Will she have to go to training college to do that, Mr Lowe?

Uh, well, in... in the first instance,

she needs to be a very, um, talented musician,

and she... she already is.

- I'll make another pot. - Oh, I'll help you.

I'll supervise. It's my forte.

What went wrong on Cho Oyu, Ed?

You mean apart from the poor planning, the poor food,

the poor oxygen equipment and the poor fitness of the English climbers?

Hmm. When you put it like that,

is Shipton the best man

to lead the British expedition to Everest next year,

assuming the Swiss fail again?

You've got to be joking.

Eric wrote the bible on climbing in the Himalayas.

He drove us mad at times, but...

assuming the Swiss fail again.

Thank God.

Raymond Lambert. And Tenzing Norgay.

He's the Sherpa they call the Tiger of the Snows.

Now, the Swiss made a tremendous effort,

they got very high up on the south-eastern ridge,

and they had a... a terrible night up there.

They had no sleeping bags, no food.

They had no stove, so they couldn't melt snow, so they had no fluids.

Lambert, he shook and slapped Tenz all night

to stop him from falling asleep,

because he knew that if they nodded off, they would freeze to death.

In the morning, they kept going for five hours

in a howling gale, crawling on their hands and knees.

And they only turned back when they knew

that if they carried on, then... they would die.

You'd turn back, wouldn't you?

Well, if I was close enough, I might give it a nudge.

- Promise me you'd turn back. - Even two steps from the top?

Yes, even two steps from the top.

Ed, do you dance?

Uh...

I have once. And I think I've claimed more toes than frostbite.

Well, I love dancing.

And I bet you're really good at it too.

A bunch of us are going to the Roxy next Saturday, and anyone can come.

That sounds great.

I like Ed.

Me too.

Do you think it matters that he's 31?

No.

Me neither.

♪ Be cool, ♪

♪ let her forget you. ♪

♪ You're lovely beyond belief. ♪

♪ I'm enchanted so, ♪

♪ but I'm happy to show this time, ♪

♪ because you'll never be mine. ♪

- Whoa. - Watch where you're going.

Parents usually wait outside.

Um, sorry, I've...I've just seen a friend of mine.

Oh. OK. Excuse me.

- May I have this dance? - Oh, uh, excuse me. I've just seen a friend of mine.

Oh, um, excuse me. Is there... ?

Is there a taller, older gentleman in there?

Uh, how old? Uh, 20, 25?

31. Um, over 6ft?

Uh, no, sorry.

Hey, uh, can I have the pleasure of your company in the next dance?

Oh, no. Th... thank you.

♪ You're lovely beyond belief. ♪

I've heard one or two things about it, but I don't know...

- _ - I've written to Ed and George.

- They're keen as mustard. - Eric, dear boy.

Heard about Cho Oyu. Rum business, eh?

- Had trouble with oxygen, they tell me. - Sir Malcolm, there were...

Serves you right. Damn filthy stuff.

Ah, quick word, Eric? Alone, if I may.

- Excuse me. - Mm, as you wish.

Your report on the Cho Oyu expedition

is highly critical of the campaign.

Yes, it is. A lot of things went wrong. Bit of a shambles, really.

For God's sake, Eric.

It was your expedition. You ran it.

You've done yourself no favours with this.

I have to warn you - there are moves afoot to replace you

as leader of next year's expedition.

The old notion of gallant failure on Everest is no longer acceptable.

Our young queen will be crowned next year,

and we owe it to her and to Great Britain

to place the Union Jack on the summit.

The French have booked it the year after, so this is our last chance,

Eric, our last chance...

which is why we've invited Col Hunt to join us today.

He was chief instructor of the Commando Mountain

and Snow Warfare School during the war.

Top chap.

You'll like him.

Real mountaineering is about man pitting himself

against nature on an equal footing.

Only a rotter would resort to oxygen.

Well, that's not how the Swiss and the French see it, sir.

Why should we be any different?

Because we're British.

For my part, I'd much rather fail on a mountain

without oxygen than succeed with it.

I've been offered dual leadership of the expedition.

What the hell does that mean?

I'm to share command with a Colonel Hunt,

who they assure me is a tremendous thruster.

You can't have two leaders on a show like Everest.

That's what I told them.

Best of British, gentlemen.

Good luck.

Now, if Everest is to be climbed, it's absolutely essential

we work together as a team.

To that end, I will only be selecting men

I have met and assessed in person.

What about the Kiwis?

It is impossible to meet them in time now, so no, they won't be coming.

Hillary and Lowe are outstanding climbers.

They know all about giant ice falls. We don't.

I don't doubt that, but there can be no exceptions.

- You do that, Colonel... - John, please. Call me John.

You do that, Colonel,

and you'll be gifting the mountain to the French.

Good luck.

They replaced Eric with a British army colonel,

which makes me suspicious, for a start.

Don't be too hasty, Ed. You don't know the man.

Exactly. That's my point.

I told London I'm resigning unless they reinstate Eric.

- You can't do that. - I have, Jim, and I'm sticking to my guns on this.

Ooh, is that the time?

Hello, Louise.

- How are you? - I'm fine, thank you.

Are you off somewhere?

I'm going to Sydney.

Sydney?

Yes. She's won a three-year scholarship to the Conservatorium of Music.

- Congratulations. - Come on. We'll be late.

Louise.

Louise.

Louise.

You left me on my own at the dance.

I know, and I'm very sorry.

I looked everywhere for you. I was worried about you.

I saw how young everybody was.

I thought you deserved somebody closer to your own age,

somebody with better prospects.

- George is keen on you. - Well, I decide who's right for me.

I decide.

It's my choice.

I tried so many times to pluck up the courage to ask you out.

Well, you should've.

Ed, you should've.

Three years in Sydney?

It'll pass quickly. You'll have Everest to think about.

I'm not going.

I resigned.

But it's what you've always wanted.

It's not all I've always wanted.

Will you write to me?

Do you promise?

I promise.

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