What is happening on the Roof of the World? Every spring, between 500 and 1,000 people set foot on the summit of Everest, at 8,848 metres above sea level.
From one end of the Himalayas to the other, the fourteen summits above 8,000 metres are opening up to mass tourism. The "death zone" is becoming commonplace. In 2019, one man put a face to the altitude revolution.
Nirmal Purja, born in Nepal and trained in the British special forces, shattered the speed record for ascending all fourteen 8,000-metre peaks and propelled the Himalayas into a new era.
Nepal has found its hero, its tourism agencies reign over high altitude. Highly professional Sherpas equip the ascent routes with fixed ropes, carry oxygen bottles and clients' equipment, supported by a relay of helicopters up to base camps that resemble temporary cities.
Industrialisation? Decolonisation of the 8,000-metre peaks? François Carrel has conducted the investigation and recounts this moment of historic shift that is transforming Nepal and our perspective on the land of snow.
Main features
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A thorough investigation by François Carrel into a pivotal historical moment.
- François Carrel, journalist and alpinist from Grenoble, has been producing reportages and investigations in the Alps and around the world for nearly thirty years, with a particular fondness for the Himalayas. A regular contributor to Libération, Montagnes Magazine and Alpes Magazine, among others, he is the author for Guérin of Pierre Beghin, l'homme de tête (2014) and A corde tendue, an illustrated biography of the Huber brothers.
22.00 €
22.00 €
