Everest VR: Breathtaking VR film shows extreme mountaineers

Everest VR is a VR documentary produced by Oculus for Oculus Quest and Oculus Go. The three-part VR film is dedicated to the Swiss extreme mountaineer Ueli Steck, who died almost three years ago while attempting to climb both Everest and the neighbouring Lhotse without artificial oxygen - something that no one had ever managed before.

It lies in the middle of the Himalayas, it takes weeks to reach its summit and, at 8848 metres, it is the highest mountain in the world: Mount Everest. A mere mortal could hardly imagine what it's really like to climb to the summit. Or maybe now they can?

The three-part VR film Everst VR, which was dedicated to the Swiss former mountaineer Ueli Steck, gives an idea of what it means to climb up there. The documentary was filmed by his close friend, experienced mountaineer and filmmaker Jonathan Griffith, who sets off on the arduous journey with Sherpa Tenji, one of Steck's protégés, to complete the Swiss climber's daring attempt.

Extreme turning conditions

The documentary shows no consideration for the viewer and gets off to a flying start: In the first episode, Griffith's friends and extreme mountaineers are seen heaving themselves up seemingly insurmountable mountain and ice walls under their own steam and sometimes without safety equipment.

Filming under these extreme conditions, and even getting the equipment up there in the first place, must have been incredibly time-consuming. The team from Concept360 would probably say something similar. They filmed on the Eiger, as our report on the successful project by Mammoth and also on the Everest - the southern route.

The medium is not deceptive

Filmmaker Griffith says that he loves virtual reality because it cannot be faked: the colours of a sunset cannot be reworked, otherwise you would notice it under the VR glasses. It is also impossible to film a slope in such a way that it appears steeper. You can't do tricks in VR, says Griffith in an interview in which he talks about the challenges of production.

Griffith once held out for 13 days so that a Himalayan avalanche would capture the 360-degree camera and we as viewers would be standing right in it. And for one of the breathtaking night-time time-lapse shots, he stayed awake for a whole night in freezing temperatures to shoot individual images at regular intervals.

Everest VR: Journey to the Top of the World is available for free in Oculus TV available for Oculus Quest.

For Oculus Go you can use the links to Episode 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3 and click on "Save to VR".

Source: Mixed / Youtube