'40 Days at Base Camp' kicks off 2013 Utah Film Center season
On Jan. 31, the Utah Film Center kicked off its 2013 season with a showing of “40 Days at Base Camp.” The event was standing room only in the Salt Lake City Library’s theater and featured a talk and question and answers afterwards with Marshall Thompson, communications manager for the team featured in the movie.
Jerry Mika talked about the Apa Sherpa Foundation and what it means to Apa Sherpa, who holds the world record for summiting Mt. Everest with 21 summits in 23 years. “It’s a matter of a guy giving back to his community,” says Mika. Sherpa moved to Utah to give his children the opportunity at a good education. Mika says that education is the only way for Sherpas to avoid having to do such dangerous, hard work as guiding people to the top of Mt. Everest. “The Sherpas are the backbone of Everest,” says Mika. The film does little to document the Sherpas contribution to the expedition’s success though it does say that each expedition requires between 20 and 25 tons (44,000 to 55,000 pounds) of supplies and that the supplies are hauled up 30 kilos (about 66 pounds) at a time by the Sherpas. In spite of feeling sick, Apa Sherpa made an appearance before the film began. “The base camp is very close to my home,” says Sherpa. The Utah Film Center treated its members to a meal provided by the Himalayan Kitchen before the movie. This article originally appeared at examiner.com. |
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