Reality of human adventure

New Delhi, May 9 (UNI) Mount Everest, also known as Mother Goddess of the World, shows the grace of great dreams, fears overcome and sometimes triumph. Whether on summit, or wandering by its foot or simply at home gaining knowledge from the testimony of others, Everest narrates the journey of human life to one and all associated with it.

In order to uncover these experiences, Discovery Channel has come out with a series of reality show ''Everest Beyond the Limit'' that gives an account of the Everest summit attempt from start to finish.

It will present every step of the gruelling April-May 2006 expedition by a group of people from different walks of life who deal with thier own physical and mental struggles. The team comprises of eleven members including a double amputee who lost his legs to frostbite while climbing Mount Cook many years ago, an asthamatic man who tried to summit without supplemental oxygen, a fire fighter and several others like them.

The programme which took two years to mature will share plethora of events including not only the glory and accomplishment of reaching the summit but also the intense limitations and difficulties that the expedition placed on the body, mind and spirit of its achievers.

The premiere shown here today included the angst ridden and candid conversations of the climbers and dealt with the problems faced by them, the struggle, death and tragedy that hovered around them during their expedition.

Padma Shri Major H P S Ahluwalia, President Indian Mountaineering Foundation and member of the first Indian team to climb Everest was present at the occasion and with misty eyes remembered his tryst with mountaineering saying, ''the man who climbs the mountains becomes conscious of his smallness and loneliness in the cosmos.'' Those were the romantic days of climbing, he added feeling nostalgic.

Padma Shri Santosh Yadav , the first woman in the world to twice scale Mountain Everest, said this adventure sport had been a personality development package that informs the climber of his or her achievments and limitations.

However, the unsung heroes in the whole episode remained the production team who went along with the expeditors, only to bring the first hand account of the risks and challenges of the Everest to the viewer.

UNI