Abu Dhabi: A documentary showing a team from the UAE Armed Forces conquering Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, will air on December 7.
In May this year, after a gruelling climb through icy temperatures and treacherous winds, a group of soldiers from a team of 16 planted the UAE flag on Everest’s peak.
Their conquest of the 8,848-metre Everest — higher than 10 stacked-up Burj Khalifa skyscrapers — was to celebrate four decades of a unified armed forces.
But the team faced several challenges, including a spell of bad weather, as they neared the peak.
On Everest, temperatures can drop as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius. One of the major challenges climbers face is the risk of altitude sickness. Other physical risks common to Everest climbers include hypothermia, extreme sunburn, frost bite and snow blindness.
Last year, 22 climbers were killed in an avalanche — triggered by the devastating earthquake that killed 9,000 in Nepal — that struck the mountain’s base camp.
“Everest is by far one of the most challenging locations in the world for any documentary crew,” said Alex Al Chami, National Geographic Abu Dhabi’s executive producer.
“The harsh environment and extreme weather conditions can turn a simple click of the record button into a nightmare,” the executive added.
“The production team had to not only shadow every move of the UAE Armed Forces but also carry the camera and audio gear all the way up the mountain.”
Another executive from the channel, which was launched in 2009, called the documentary “the biggest and toughest production that National Geographic Abu Dhabi has ever done”.
National Geographic Abu Dhabi filmed the expedition in association with the General Headquarters of the UAE Armed Forces.
The Documentary, titled Mission Everest - The UAE Military Team, will premiere on the free-to-air National Geographic Abu Dhabi channel at 10pm on December 7.
