YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Gene Scheer In Conversation with Beck Weathers - Everest

Gene Scheer In Conversation with Beck Weathers - Everest — Transcript

by Opera Parallèle · 11,168 words · 1,573 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00hi everyone thank you so much for being
0:01here tonight uh my name is Daniel Javi
0:04I'm the artistic and Community manager
0:05for upper parallel
0:07um and it's my great pleasure to welcome
0:09you to this conversation this evening
0:11um so just to give you a little context
0:13on about why we're here tonight if
0:15you're if you're not aware uh op is very
0:18excited to be presenting our next
0:19production which is called Everest and
0:21immersive experience which is opening
0:23next Friday February 3rd at z-space here
0:25in San Francisco
0:27um it's running through to February 12th
0:28and there's plenty of different
0:29performance times and plenty of great
0:31tickets available still
0:33um check out our website for those
0:34that's operaparallel.org Everest
0:38um so to start with I just want to tell
0:39you a little bit about the background of
0:41this production
0:42um so Ops Productions will always take
0:44you on a journey that's guaranteed
0:46um and this production itself has had
0:48its own Journey uh so when we started
0:52developing the product the sorry the
0:53concept of a graphic novel opera or
0:56combining the two mediums of graphic
0:57novels and Opera together we decided
0:59developing that Concept in 2012 uh with
1:02when our creative director Brian staff
1:04and Bill and conductor an artistic
1:06director of Nicole paymore uh
1:07commissioned a short Opera and did a
1:09presented a workshop performance of that
1:11using graphic novel images uh as part of
1:14the the background and the scenery for
1:16that Workshop
1:17um that that concept sort of was put to
1:19bed for a few years in 20 after 2012 uh
1:22but then it was brought back in 2020
1:24during the pandemic uh in 2020 we
1:26decided to to do an excerpt from Everest
1:29uh for our virtual Gala uh and we did a
1:3310 minute scene uh presented in the
1:35style of a graphic novel Opera and it
1:38was it was such a great hit uh people
1:40loved it and we we loved it as well uh
1:42that we decided to really to keep going
1:44and do the whole Opera and turn it into
1:46a feature-length animated film uh which
1:49we premiered in 2021 uh with the Dallas
1:51Opera
1:52uh and then you know as as Opera
1:55parallel likes to do we keep pushing
1:56ideas further and further and we we
1:58decided to use all the assets that we
2:00created for the film in 2021 and turn it
2:03into this immersive experience that that
2:05is opening uh next week uh so we using
2:08all the illustrations the recording uh
2:10and the performances from our incredible
2:12cast and putting them into a full 360
2:14degree projected experience with the
2:16audience in the middle uh and with
2:18special surround sound design so it
2:20feels like you're really there uh in in
2:22the middle of the action quite literally
2:23in the middle of the action
2:25uh so
2:27please do make sure you get your tickets
2:29for for that
2:30um but before any of that happened
2:32before any before before we even had
2:34that idea the story really started with
2:36our two guests who were here today
2:39um so it's my great pleasure to welcome
2:40uh virtually at least to Upper parallel
2:43these two guests to share their
2:44incredible stories
2:46uh so with us is Gene shear Gene Shear
2:50is a celebrated librettist Lyricist and
2:52songwriter uh and is of course the
2:54liberatist for the Opera Everest his
2:57other operatic Works include Therese
2:59Racine with Tobias picker Moby Dick and
3:02It's a Wonderful Life with Jake Hagee
3:04and Cold Mountain with Jennifer Higdon
3:07Gene was Jean also wrote the song
3:10American Anthem which has gone on to
3:12become a well-loved part of the
3:14Contemporary American Songbook
3:16and was also recited by President Joe
3:18Biden in his inaugural address
3:21ing Gene in conversation tonight is of
3:24course BEC Webbers
3:25Beck is a retired pathologist based in
3:28Dallas Texas and author of the book left
3:30for dead my journey home from Everest
3:33which describes his incredible
3:35experiences as a survivor of the 1996
3:37Mount Everest disaster
3:39Beck and Jean met while Gene was
3:41researching and developing the Libretto
3:43for the Opera Everest and backstory
3:46story forms one of the central
3:48storylands of the Opera
3:50so without further Ado uh please join me
3:53in welcoming Jean Shia and Beck weathers
3:56we started discussing subjects and I had
3:59been thinking about
4:01um the story of uh what happened on
4:03Everest in 1996 for a while of course I
4:06read the book as many people had because
4:08it was a big bestseller Into Thin Air
4:10John krakauer's book so I knew the
4:13outline of the story and I I posed the
4:16idea to Joby and he was instantly uh
4:20taken with the idea I think if Joby were
4:22here he would say that the first thing
4:24that sort of uh sort of uh caught his
4:28imagination was the idea of depicting
4:31through music what it's like to be in
4:33the death zone that and that can speak
4:35to what the death zone is but it's this
4:38place at a this very high altitude where
4:40it's it's uh you can't you there's
4:43almost no oxygen and it's very very hard
4:45to breathe and that kind of incredible
4:47effort to uh to move your body uh a few
4:51feet with something that Jacoby thought
4:53that music could really explore anyway
4:56so I we we uh soon sort of said on the
5:00idea of doing this story and
5:02um rather than I had the idea of rather
5:05than uh using John krakauer's book I
5:08mean there were other issues with that I
5:09don't think John cracker or spec can
5:11speak to this at this point uh at time
5:14wanted any more to do with uh the story
5:18um there's so there's I'll let Beck uh
5:20describe that if he wants
5:22um uh but so I decided to go around the
5:26country uh hopefully to go around the
5:28country and then go around the world
5:29through there wasn't Zoom but through
5:31telephone calls and that in-person
5:32interviews and interview as many
5:35um some of the survivors as I could and
5:38you know it's uh what happens is when
5:42when someone just phone call you get a
5:44phone call from someone with this crazy
5:45idea of doing an opera uh it's and then
5:48people are very very busy and uh it's
5:51it's very hard to get any sort of
5:53purchases as you say to get any uh yeah
5:55uh anyone to take you seriously but
5:58luckily Beck uh Beck was uh was open to
6:03the idea he lives in uh he lives in
6:05Dallas and it was from the Dallas Opera
6:07and um he was incredibly generous uh
6:11with his time and uh I went over to
6:14Beck's house and we started what turned
6:16out to be 30 hours of conversation in
6:18multiple visits and he allowed me to
6:20record him and much of what he said well
6:22his whole story but much of his even his
6:25language wove its way into into the
6:27Opera so uh and then the way it works is
6:31once I had back that I could call other
6:33people and said hey I got back and they
6:35said you talked to Beck weathers I said
6:36well then I'll talk to you too and so I
6:38uh Neil beitelman and Aspen I parked my
6:42car and I had an hour he said I'll give
6:44you 30 minutes and I and I parked my car
6:47in an hour a lot in an hour a lot and at
6:504 and a half hours later uh you know I I
6:53finished my interview with Neil
6:54beitelman who was one of the guides on
6:56the South Pole and Beck can speak to
6:58that story and then it went off from
7:00David Brashears and reaching out to Jan
7:02Arnold uh in New Zealand and uh uh and
7:06and and and others uh uh all the way
7:09through I got I got through to as many
7:11as I could but but this whole story
7:13started with uh Beck and his incredible
7:16generosity to me so without further Ado
7:18I should uh have a shut up and let back
7:20sorry to tell this story in fact I asked
7:23you I'll start with this what was it
7:24like when I called you to say I want to
7:26do this were you ever thinking this was
7:28going to be an Opera
7:30well I got to say of all the many things
7:32that came after 96 Everest uh and there
7:36were a lot of unusual appearances you
7:39know you have to meet the great the
7:41mighty and you go all sorts of places
7:42you can sort of expect in a story that
7:45captivates people's imagination the way
7:48that particular event did that those
7:51were sort of slow-ons that you would uh
7:53think would be perfectly reasonable but
7:55when you called me up
7:57that came totally out of the blue and I
7:59was absolutely intrigued just with the
8:02whole idea of it and of course I but we
8:06sat down and we started talking and it
8:10was such an easy conversation uh it was
8:13such a you know it's just like somebody
8:15you know in your entire life and you
8:17just sit there and you pour your guts
8:20out and you tell your story and you tell
8:22you what you're what you were thinking
8:24and what got you there and the the
8:26trials and tribulations the upsides the
8:29downsides the the horror and the and the
8:32jubilations and all the full gamut of
8:36emotions that this kind of a story
8:38entails uh and so
8:41uh
8:43I still didn't know how this was going
8:44to turn out and eventually you came back
8:47with a recording
8:49uh that so I could get a listen to how
8:53this was going to sound
8:54uh and I was so moved I basically kind
8:59of just shook me uh to the core and I
9:01and I just really uh
9:06had trouble holding it together it was
9:08such an emotional event
9:10hearing the story and done in such a way
9:12with such beautiful words and such
9:15beautiful music
9:17uh that I you know I thought it was
9:19it was a singular experience and then of
9:22course we got to see this
9:24uh when the Opera premiered uh in uh
9:29Dallas in 2015.
9:32and seeing it with the full staging and
9:36all the Magnificent voices uh and the
9:39great score that goes with it I was just
9:41overwhelmed and it really is one of the
9:44highlights
9:45of my last years and it just been
9:48wonderful and I got a chance to see into
9:52a world uh with such creativity and
9:55interesting people that was not part of
9:58my experience normally uh but it was you
10:01know it's just a fantastic experience
10:04and it turned out to be a great Opera
10:07well thank you so much I appreciate that
10:09and if it's if it's any of those things
10:11it's in large measure due to your help
10:13with it you know one of the things I
10:14think you all might be interested to
10:16know is that you know when I'm
10:18interviewing someone like backdoor when
10:20I'm when I interviewed back of course I
10:22wanted to know the story I wanted to
10:24know it from you know the person who
10:26experienced it and and I'm sure you
10:29actually all know the the basic outline
10:31of this story uh we can we can go over
10:33that some but we talked Beck and I talk
10:35a lot about
10:36um his work as a pathologist I asked him
10:41things I don't think he was probably uh
10:43because I don't you you never know uh
10:45when you're writing what is going to
10:47weave its way and what tributary is
10:49going to weave its way into this river
10:51that you're uh that you're you know you
10:53know Sailing sailing forth on and so
10:56like just one thing that sort of Pops to
10:57mind as I'm sort of casting my mind back
10:59on this was I remember I said I said
11:01well Beck tell me uh uh tell me about
11:05what you do uh when you're in the lab
11:07and uh um and he was explaining he said
11:11to me something which wound up being in
11:13the Opera when he said uh well you have
11:15to understand Gene when you're looking
11:17at cells and back help me out here you
11:19you can't see them unless you add dies
11:22to them to uh suit suit to sort of
11:25discern what is uh uh what's there and
11:29uh and it seems and not I wouldn't say
11:32all of a sudden but as I was doing my
11:34work it seemed like an incredible
11:36metaphor for Beck's life who as he was
11:40you know he Everest was the die that
11:43allowed him to see and recontextualize
11:45his life I don't want to put words in
11:46your mouth back so you can jump in at
11:48any time but you know I think that uh
11:51used with the interesting thing maybe
11:53you can speak to this is that you've
11:54said in in
11:57um I'm gonna bungle to this whatever's
12:00kind of saved your life in a way uh and
12:02not just the experience of it but it
12:04changed your life and maybe you could
12:05speak to that
12:07but well I think there's a tendency to
12:10look at Everest and see this as just a
12:13bunch of ciphers going up there trying
12:16to bag a mountain so they can pound
12:18their chest uh and you know
12:22declared themselves to the world but the
12:26reality of the individuals who are there
12:28is vastly more complex than any of those
12:32kind of simpleton stories would suggest
12:35uh because these are real people and
12:37every single one of them brings their
12:40own hopes and dreams and problems uh and
12:44searching for something uh to in their
12:48life to you know Find meaning
12:51uh and you know certainly in my own case
12:55every it was a long journey to get there
12:59this was not a one-year event to go in
13:03this Sunday go climb a mountain this was
13:05a very long period uh and it came out of
13:09a uh a fairly long lifelong uh
13:14depression and trying to struggle and
13:16stay alive during all those uh years
13:19uh and the exertion and the physical
13:24Drive
13:26was very healing and that really got
13:28expressed in my going into the mountains
13:32where just the sheer physical drive
13:34would was calming uh to me into my soul
13:39and to
13:41being able to put out the pain of the
13:45day-to-day existence and so much of what
13:49I you know was seeing when we were
13:51talking we were talking about the world
13:53that I exist in which is an artificial
13:55one in so many ways uh because what I do
13:59is an idiot savant skill that has no
14:02real
14:04uh counterpart in essence in the real
14:07world I I know what a human being looks
14:09like in three dimensions cut at five
14:12microns from birth to Resurrection in
14:15health and in thousands and thousands of
14:17diseases and that has absolutely no use
14:20whatsoever unless you do what I do
14:24uh and I think and it's all done with
14:28dyes and you know artificial cuts and
14:32that and it's in that world provides
14:35real answers but through a very
14:38artificial lens and so as we
14:42talked about this we were able to
14:45incorporate some of those images
14:48uh from just the my own life struggles
14:53and the day-to-day reality that I you
14:56know have as a physician and and then to
15:00weave those into the story and often all
15:04those conversations are very much
15:05represented uh in the in the Opera
15:09there's even things like I asked Beck
15:11about the most beautiful or these or
15:14Most Beautiful Moments and also these
15:16unusual moments in his climbing career
15:18because as Beck just uh suggested or
15:21just mentioned this wasn't a one-off he
15:23had climbed you know or many of the
15:26significant uh you know climbs in the
15:28world and he talked to me about the
15:31quiet in Antarctica and how he could
15:33feel his heart he could hear his heart
15:35because there's no sound there and I I
15:38thought that was a and seeing three sons
15:40in the sky this this kind of uh those uh
15:43what are they called it's in the Opera
15:45dog Sun dogs and they and that's sort of
15:49what was like the most beautiful this
15:51incredible image that he uh described to
15:53me in that woven uh into the Opera as
15:56well but when he's you know sort of
15:58giving him so that the audience and the
16:00Opera understands the context of this is
16:02again not a one-off that this is Beck's
16:04uh this is part of the Arc of his uh
16:07climbing uh climbing career the the uh
16:11it was you know one of the other things
16:12that we had to choose or I had to choose
16:15um you know what I I think if anyone's
16:17going to since there have been
16:18dramatizations I haven't seen the film
16:20but I know that there's a film now and
16:22stuff and Beck's story is clearly uh
16:24Beck and and Jan and Rob Hall's uh story
16:27are the are the are incredibly dramatic
16:29uh stories and I can see why I you know
16:32chose them and I can see why others have
16:34as well because they're so uh they're so
16:36compelling and and but there's but so
16:39many stories that of everyone who was
16:42there are very compelling and the story
16:44of Doug uh which is also Chronicles or
16:47cited in the Opera and his relationship
16:50to Rob Hall is something that was just
16:52sort of heartbreaking for those of you
16:54who don't know and you can speak to this
16:56because you knew him uh back but uh Doug
16:59was a climber who had climbed in 1995 uh
17:04he was a working-class guy a lot of the
17:07people who who were there were uh are
17:10sort of major professionals who could
17:14afford to take the time off and also the
17:17the 65 000 fee in the 1960s in the 1990s
17:20but Doug was a postal worker and he
17:22mortgages house and in 1995 he he got
17:25300 vertical feet from the uh top of
17:29Everest and they then he was turned uh
17:32turned around and uh um and uh one of
17:36the things one of my conversations was
17:38with Ed visters who is one of the great
17:40maybe the greatest BEC you can speak to
17:42this but he's certainly one of the
17:44greatest climbers in American history
17:45and in 1995 Ed was the uh guide for Rob
17:52Hall and it's like you know it's like uh
17:55you imagine you're on a team and you're
17:57and you've hired as your support person
17:59Michael Jordan and uh and when the
18:02decision was made to turn Doug around
18:04and this is actually not in that this is
18:07not in this is actually not part of the
18:08Opera but it's kind of interesting thing
18:09but Doug's story is part of the Opera
18:11but what I'm about to tell you is not
18:12but I Ed beasters told me this when I
18:14had my long conversation with him in
18:16Seattle
18:17they were 300 this is 1995 one year
18:20before uh this The Climb that we were
18:22talked that's in the Opera and uh
18:25they're 300 feet from the top 300
18:27vertical feet from the top and uh
18:31Rob looks at Ed and says can he make it
18:34and Ed went like this we have to turn
18:36him around and it got him back to uh and
18:39Ed told me they got him back to the
18:40tents on Camp four uh just within a
18:43whisker and now it's a year later and
18:46Rob has called uh uh Doug has sorry Rob
18:49has called Doug multiple times and said
18:52you can do this you can come back I
18:54won't charge you the extra fee just get
18:55yourself here and I'll get you up there
18:57you know I'll get you up the mountain
18:58and he clicks off of the line and Rob
19:01comes over to him and and says something
19:03in his ear and all you know all of a
19:05sudden he's back in the line and uh they
19:08wind up you know tragically uh pushing
19:10past the turnaround time of two o'clock
19:13they don't get to the top of the
19:14mountain until four and then of course
19:16all hell breaks loose when the weather
19:17turns bad so there's uh there's there
19:20there are there are these all these
19:22stories are sort of converging
19:25um but uh it's well one of the things
19:27which I found just to jump back to back
19:29I mean one of the things that just kind
19:30of Bloom be away it was when I was
19:32asking Beck about you know because Becca
19:34and you can speak to this spec had an
19:36issue with his eyes which
19:38um uh he wasn't expecting and all of a
19:41sudden he wasn't able to see
19:43um uh when the sun was at a certain
19:45height in the sky and Beck you can
19:47describe that but uh when the sun wasn't
19:50at the certain height you could see
19:51beautifully and so he was on the balcony
19:53of Everest which is a this place that's
19:55before the the summit but this beautiful
19:58place again Beck was there I'll let him
20:00describe it and he's talking about he's
20:02having this great day like you know he
20:04had he didn't Summit he didn't get to
20:06the top but it was a it was an
20:08incredibly beautiful experience one of
20:10the most beautiful things uh that you'd
20:12ever seen back why don't you can't why
20:13do you hand the Baton to you and you can
20:15describe what it was like to be on the
20:16balcony and uh and that experience
20:19okay well uh I had radio keratotomy done
20:24in Dallas because uh
20:28Mountain weather and Eyeglasses simply
20:30don't mix at all and I had too many
20:31experiences where the glasses that I'd
20:34be wearing would be totally covered in
20:36ice and I little couldn't see anything
20:39other than my feet uh and so I had this
20:43done hopefully to improve my ability to
20:47work in that environment but it turns
20:50out and I didn't know this that nobody
20:53in Ophthalmology in the United States
20:55knew this they were couple of letters to
20:58the editor that said that you know we've
21:01just learned that people go to very very
21:03high altitudes they vision changes
21:06dramatically uh and it's a metabolic
21:09injury to the front of the eye of course
21:12I didn't know that but I hadn't noticed
21:14that when I got to Everest my vision was
21:16changing uh based on the altitude and we
21:19started up on the summit day uh and as I
21:22got higher and higher my vision went
21:25progressively worse until uh till in the
21:30middle of the night when we got to you
21:32know make a Traverse I couldn't see the
21:35mountain at all I couldn't even see my
21:36own Footprints uh and so I knew just
21:41because I had experience as a kid with a
21:43pinhole camera that if the sun gets
21:46fully out your pupils go down so far
21:49that everything is infinitely in focus
21:51and I thought well no problem I'm just
21:53going to wait till the sun comes up and
21:55when it gets bright enough I don't care
21:56how bad had my eyes are I'll be able to
21:59see
22:00and so sure enough the sun started to
22:03come up my vision improved I go up to
22:07the balcony which is at 27 500 feet
22:10uh and I tell Rob I've got this serious
22:13problem with my vision
22:15uh but I think if I just wait a little
22:18bit it's going to be good enough that I
22:20can go ahead and finish climbing up and
22:22he said okay you got 30 minutes you can
22:25do it in 30 minutes you're good to go if
22:27you're not you ain't climbing and I
22:30agree to this and I stay on the balcony
22:32but and when the sun comes up it is just
22:34a gorgeous day it is warm uh it is sunny
22:39the wind is not blowing you're looking
22:42at the most magnificent views a human
22:44being that even
22:45imagine and his wildest dreams and as
22:49the whole world stretches out underneath
22:51your feet and I'm just sitting there as
22:53happy as I can be and I certainly didn't
22:55want to go down and sit in a tent I
22:58thought you know they'll go up they'll
23:00do their thing when they come down I'll
23:02come down with them but right now it
23:05doesn't get any better than this this is
23:07just beautiful but one of the things
23:09that happened everyone is that the storm
23:11that came it came from below isn't right
23:14back it did not come from above and
23:15that's why this was this beautiful day
23:17you're looking up the sky is beautiful
23:19but I think it came off of the uh it
23:21came out came out from below and uh and
23:24of course by you know by four o'clock it
23:25was getting bad and by five or six it
23:27was it was really bad and then then all
23:30hell broke uh broke loose so I have a
23:33question
23:36you don't know what a thunderstorm looks
23:39like uh when it's beneath you and so
23:41you're sitting there in Clear Blue Skies
23:43and when the thunderstorm Rises up to
23:46the level you are it just completely
23:49rolls across the space of a couple of
23:51minutes and you go from being in warm
23:54sunny Pleasant conditions to barely
23:56being able to hang on to the mountain at
23:58all it is just blowing you uh without
24:01such force and the driving ice into your
24:04face that you can't see
24:06I mean I mean for for everyone who's
24:09tuning in here and only watching the
24:11Opera this is an incredible opportunity
24:13to ask Beck about this but uh it's
24:15portrayed in the Opera but of course
24:17Beck as is the title of his book called
24:19Left for Dead
24:20um Beck was left for dead twice on the
24:22mountain once on the on the South Pole
24:24and uh and as Beck said
24:27um he understand I think there was a the
24:29person who first saw you he was a
24:31physician wasn't he back he was a I
24:33think who uh who examined you and said
24:36made the triage decision to leave you
24:38and then of course you got up and uh and
24:41then then but wanted is this is this is
24:44just too good a chance back for everyone
24:45not to hear it for me wrong your own
24:48words but like what that moment was like
24:51when uh I mean you told me it was very
24:54moving to me I tried to portray it in
24:55the Opera but I want to hear from you
24:57about when was you know all those hours
25:00later you're laying you know in a coma
25:03and you've you've and you wake up what
25:05what happened
25:07to the expense it's the best and I know
25:09and you even told me you don't know
25:10exactly but what's your what's your take
25:13on it what's how would you experience it
25:15that you go out of your memory of it
25:17well I went into hyper coma
25:21it was
25:23there's no there's no thought there's no
25:25dreams there's there's just absolutely
25:27uh a void and something in that day and
25:31maybe it's the sunshine forming on the
25:34suit which is designed to pull in the
25:36sun uh
25:38I have other explanations I don't know
25:40the answer but late that afternoon
25:43[Music]
25:46for the audience here how many hours had
25:48you been out
25:4915 hours unconscious
25:51and I'd been examined but during the
25:54time that I was unconscious and they
25:56determined that there was no way that I
25:58could live uh since nobody ever had in
26:01this circumstance so I was triaged to
26:03die
26:04uh and late that afternoon I managed to
26:07wake up
26:09and I realized that I
26:12I was somewhere
26:14on that mountain I had no idea where I
26:16was
26:17uh and that I was pretty sure that
26:20nobody was going to come out there and
26:22help me because I was if they were going
26:24to do it that had been there they would
26:26have done it and if I did not move then
26:29I was certainly going to die and
26:33it was a rather
26:36clear
26:37but and Searing experience because I
26:42really could see directly in front of me
26:44my wife and children
26:46and it sounds so cliched
26:50uh but I would put to you the notion
26:53that if you absolutely knew and I did
26:56but I was going to be dead within an
26:58hour
26:58because the sun is 15 degrees above the
27:01Horizon and moving down at 15 degrees an
27:03hour that when the sun hit it was over
27:07yeah what would you think about if you
27:10have one hour to live and you know that
27:12you're going to be dead at the end of
27:13that hour
27:15what do you think about it and that's
27:16what I thought about and it absolutely
27:18drove me to my feet and I didn't care
27:23whether I fell and could not I just was
27:26going to move until I physically
27:28mentally
27:30spiritually could not move any longer
27:34and I was driven
27:36uh to stagger and stumble into the
27:39direction of the wind and that's how I
27:41kept my going in One Direction because I
27:44thought the camp had to be up when so I
27:47just kept the force of the Wind on my
27:49face
27:49and even though I couldn't see more in
27:51about six feet
27:53I could just keep moving as long as I
27:55kept my face into the wind and then I
27:58walked into the camp yeah it's just it's
28:00just an incredible story and one other
28:03aspect of the Opera just to share with
28:05you with you all is that um you know one
28:07of the things that I learned about
28:09mountain climbing and about Everest in
28:11particular is that it it resembles
28:14baseball in this one way which is that
28:16it's uh the history of everyone who
28:18played is because always on the field
28:21like you know what for those of us who
28:23love baseball we're thinking about like
28:25you know that catch that Willie Mays
28:27made when I was at Candlestick Park in
28:29the 60s or or these you know you just
28:31you're thinking about and then Babe Ruth
28:33and all the history and the thing about
28:35Everest is that um more than almost
28:37anything uh Everest the history is all
28:41there because the um those who perished
28:44on Everest are still there and that was
28:46one of the sort of points of departure
28:48for the telling of the story is that as
28:50this action is taking place people are
28:52walking through through
28:54the the remains the bones the the dust
28:59of those who came before and it started
29:02in 19 well the first uh expedition was
29:061920
29:07four but they did a survey expedition in
29:101922 and in 1922 some Sherpas passed
29:14away in that in that thing and then of
29:16course Mallory Irvine and Mallory
29:18famously passed away in uh 24 in that on
29:21that expedition and uh and then and then
29:25then many others over the course of the
29:27piece so as you'll see and when you're
29:29seeing if you haven't seen it before
29:30there's a chorus
29:33that um it's it's it I I wouldn't I
29:37don't know if Greek chorus I don't know
29:38what that you know if that really
29:40conjures what it really is but you you
29:42there is there seem to be like the
29:44spirit of the mountain or the spirit of
29:46the some sort of omniscient spirit and
29:48at the end of the piece you do you
29:50discover that they are though uh they're
29:53everyone who died on Everest and when
29:55Rob and Doug die the way their deaths
29:58are announced as they become part of the
30:00chorus and they come to get back uh
30:04because but Beck has other ideas and as
30:07he just described he's walking uh away
30:10from uh away from death and into uh uh
30:14uh to to the Salvation of the camp and
30:16to be ultimately to be reunited with the
30:18world and his family so it's uh um you
30:22know it's quite a I think it's a
30:23dramatic telling but I think it's one of
30:24the things that that I wanted to portray
30:27and Joby wanted to portray was to have a
30:29sense of the history of this uh of this
30:32mountain I mean for those who are
30:34there's so many wonderful books I mean
30:35uh Beck's book John's crack hours book
30:38talk about these 96 Expedition but
30:41they're a wonderful
30:42um uh book I read a lot of books about
30:44this the whole experience and uh there's
30:48one that's called into the silence which
30:49is about the 1924 uh about Mallory and
30:53Irvine which is really a fantastic book
30:56um uh I forgot who wrote it but it's
30:58it's a we can we can sort of post it but
31:00it's a great another great book about a
31:02really contextualizes how this all began
31:04as a sort of response to World War one
31:07and how these these guys who had
31:09experienced World War One were uh uh
31:12couldn't stop there's some inner clocks
31:15that needed some sort of simulation and
31:17then when the Chinese government opened
31:19up to bet they were able to start uh
31:22trying to go uh for the tallest mountain
31:24in the world so that's that's what so
31:26the history of this is also sort of
31:27woven into the piece it's not we don't
31:29hit it too heavy I don't think in terms
31:31of it's not a history lesson but it's
31:33it's also it's part of it my in large
31:36measure mostly this is about the the I
31:39always say operators are really
31:40emotional archeology that's kind of what
31:42they are it's not it's not uh telling
31:44you the we're not we're not doing a
31:46documentary uh if you want to know what
31:48happened the blow by blow read Beck's
31:51book that'll that'll tell you what
31:52happened Blow by blow what we tried to
31:54do is use the Majesty of music and the
31:58human voice to uh describe what it felt
32:01like uh and uh and so that's it I will
32:04ask you this back you know this has been
32:06you obviously this is an incredibly
32:07famous story now it's almost it's become
32:10part of the cultural you know fabric of
32:13uh the world at this point and the world
32:16I mean all over all over the world what
32:18I'm not asking about the Opera I'm not
32:20I'm not I'm just saying what what do we
32:23not get and what what can I guess
32:25obviously we can't know what it's like
32:26to be in the experience you had but what
32:30has uh the world got wrong about what
32:33happened there
32:35well I I think they don't generally get
32:38a clear notion of just who these
32:41individuals were right uh it's easy to
32:44paint this and kind of broad stereotypic
32:48ways without being able to
32:51uh see Doug
32:54uh see yasco a number
33:00Rob and his
33:02dying call to his wife I mean the sheer
33:05Humanity of these people is is you know
33:09these are people you you know
33:12these are good human beings these are
33:15caring individuals these are not a bunch
33:18of
33:19Adrenaline Junkies who got to oh I I
33:22really yeah
33:24a mountain I mean in my own case I was
33:28turning 50. the likelihood that I was
33:31actually going to summon was pretty dead
33:33gun low the by that time the summit
33:36ratio was maybe 15 percent of
33:40individuals each year who tried with at
33:42that point could manage to get up there
33:45and that's all covers you talked to the
33:4850 year old guy that's not going to be
33:51in the top tier right who's going to hit
33:54the summit first you don't go there to
33:55do that you go to experience it you go
33:58to be part of the mountain be part of
34:01its history be part of the
34:03uh Buddhist culture uh you know this
34:07this just whole Mythic of this place
34:10and each of the individuals who are
34:12there are real people
34:15uh
34:16yeah I I really felt that about about
34:19everyone that I've talked to and and and
34:22and also just even intuitive like with
34:24Rob I mean I also think there was a
34:26class aspect of this too I think Rob's
34:28you know desired to help I mean Rob
34:31Rob's help desire to help I'm sorry uh
34:34to help Doug get up uh even without him
34:36bringing him back without having him pay
34:38the full fee and and so forth there was
34:41he really I mean the road to the hell is
34:44truly paid with good intentions I think
34:46he really wanted to Rob to uh sorry he
34:48was
34:49fixing the fiddling with the names Rob
34:52wanted to help Doug get to the top and
34:54it and it was motivated by the best
34:56um you know best intentions and the you
34:59know the reason why Jan wasn't there for
35:00those of you don't know Jan was a doctor
35:02and she normally went on these
35:04Expeditions but she was of course
35:06pregnant with their first child and uh
35:09um so who has since uh summited
35:13Kilimanjaro
35:18she's now whatever 1996 what she's 24 20
35:22what a 27 I guess right and uh you've
35:25got to be going on 27. yeah yeah and uh
35:29so she
35:31um yeah right and so she actually I
35:33don't think she's going to do these uh
35:34deaths on uh uh the uh tracks but she
35:39did actually because her her father had
35:41done it and she wanted to do it so it's
35:43uh she's very much around and uh and
35:47that's that's what's happened so uh well
35:49um maybe we should uh I don't know
35:51should we uh open it up to questions or
35:53there was a clip you want you want to
35:55play a clip for everyone or or yeah
35:58I could have done it in the context but
36:01I think the clip that that's going to be
36:02shown is a from this incredible graphic
36:05novel uh uh version of the Opera and
36:09this is uh this is as if I believe it's
36:12uh I'm correct this is the section where
36:14we we're back and I we talked about
36:16earlier when Beck described being on
36:18this on the on this on the balcony of
36:21Everest when he he couldn't uh go
36:24further but rather than being depressed
36:26about it he was taking in the beauty of
36:28of all that was around him on this on
36:31this gorgeous day
36:32so play this little clip and then I
36:34asked him some questions yeah I'll play
36:36this and then we'll open it up to
36:37questions if uh as some folks are
36:39already doing if you have some questions
36:40feel free to put them in the chat
36:42um and I will ask them ask them for you
36:45[Music]
36:52[Music]
36:59[Applause]
37:01[Music]
37:03every Pig
37:08[Music]
37:21foreign
37:23[Music]
37:53was referencing before is The Souls of
37:56the mountain and that's how they're
37:57portrayed in in uh op's version as the
38:00these sort of ghostly figures that
38:03surround surround the characters as and
38:05they they sing the chorus Parts in in
38:08our version
38:09um in the original version just which
38:12we're not we're doing here but uh about
38:15the end all of the names of everyone
38:17who's died on Everest are projected on
38:19the set and then we add
38:21um Rob's name and and Doug's name and
38:24you can see that this these hundreds of
38:27names of those who are still there so
38:30there was some there was some talk of
38:32trying to to bring Rob's body down
38:35because they know where it was and
38:37that's another whole story and Jan said
38:38just leave it you just just it's no one
38:41should risk their lives going up there
38:42in order to do that so that's what
38:45happened so anyway I'll be quiet and
38:47answer any questions uh so I think the
38:49first question we had was from Evelyn uh
38:51for Beck uh what was the other
38:53near-death experience that happened on
38:55Everest I think uh Gene mentioned there
38:56was two times that that you were left
38:58for dead uh
39:04well actually they were
39:06uh three times because when Anatoly
39:09bookra came out and brought in the
39:11Fisher climbers that were part of the
39:13Huddle uh he also uh basically declared
39:19that yasko and I were Beyond saving and
39:23so we were left at that point then when
39:26the doctor out of our group came and
39:28pronounced that we were Beyond salvation
39:31uh that was the second time and in the
39:36third time I managed to get to camp and
39:41they placed me in a tent alone
39:45uh to die because they were absolutely
39:48certain I could not possibly live
39:50through the night and nobody wanted to
39:52have any part of having to experience
39:54that
39:55and so I
39:57wound up uh
40:00had some very difficult circumstances in
40:03the tent alone uh abandoned because
40:07they knew I was dead and so they were
40:10very surprised when once again the
40:13following morning I was still there
40:15and uh I guess I just
40:19you know ever ready bad or you just die
40:21hard I just did was not going to give up
40:23on that so uh it is there were multiple
40:27opportunities that things could have
40:29changed but in the grand scheme of
40:31things uh you know I
40:34came back and life is good and the
40:41being able to come back to my family
40:44after that I always say that if you
40:47can't learn something from by dying
40:50you're a really slow study
40:55a good heart
40:57thank you back
40:59um the next question we have is from
41:01Stacy as for Jean um how did you choose
41:04how many people's stories to portray in
41:07the Opera she says the Opera feels so
41:09balanced with the focus on the two main
41:10story lands but was there another
41:12person's story you were considering
41:13including
41:15oh that's a great question and you know
41:17it's the reality of Opera and how many
41:19soloists you're allowed to have for a
41:23particular production that's just the
41:24dimensions of the budget and all those
41:26things come into it um uh
41:30I think well Scott Fisher's you know uh
41:34story is also there's so many dramatic
41:36stories that there that are taking place
41:38uh because all these people who passed
41:41away and who were were doing all of uh
41:44doing their best I mean I think
41:47um it's why Scott Fisher's
41:49Widow and her his daughter came to the
41:52production in Everest and they were very
41:54they were very moved and they weren't
41:56upset that he wasn't portrayed actually
41:57they just liked the entire uh show I was
42:00very gratified by that but um I think I
42:04think that that is
42:05um you know I I don't know I I I don't
42:09really think about in this particular
42:10case I don't think about what we missed
42:12I just think about what we did um but
42:14there are other stories and again there
42:16are other they're beautifully chronicled
42:17in a lot of the books
42:19um uh about her people's uh people's
42:22lives there so
42:25thank you
42:26uh the next question is from Michael uh
42:29I think this one is uh aimed at Beck uh
42:32he says I have heard reports of people
42:34passing by dying climbers in order to
42:36reach the summit as it's typical of me
42:39thought how Callison and Humane I'm
42:41beginning to change my mind but how does
42:43one justify leaving a human to die
42:46it's a it's a big question
42:49well it is a big question in some cases
42:52it is just that it's it's callous and
42:55it's horrible and it shouldn't happen
42:58and uh morality
43:02doesn't stop at a given altitude and and
43:05you can't
43:07you know forgive uh actions where they
43:11could have actually helped somebody but
43:14part of this is there are certain things
43:15that we know to be true that aren't
43:18uh for instance that one of the reasons
43:21that I was left to die was because it
43:25was absolutely known as a truth that
43:28once you go into this stage of
43:29hypothermic coma nobody has ever lived
43:31through it
43:32and so to a certain extent that's
43:35self-fulfilling so if you have somebody
43:37that's in that level of extremist and
43:41you leave them they die
43:43uh and so you know you have no idea if
43:48really if somebody could come back if
43:50you'd helped them out but but you can't
43:54also realize just how exhausted how
44:00known how mentally
44:04you know
44:05paralyzed you become with the hypoxia
44:09and the drive uh it is becomes very in
44:14some ways very animalistic
44:16uh and
44:18you hope
44:20that in
44:21bad moments that you'll rise above that
44:25uh you hope that you know if you get
44:28into horrible circumstances that you'll
44:30behave as an honorable person but you
44:33don't always know that you don't know
44:35until you put yourself in that
44:37circumstance and then you see how you
44:38respond
44:40and we would always like to think that
44:42we would not be somebody
44:43who would
44:45uh not do
44:48you know for others what you would want
44:50done for you
44:51uh
44:53but you really don't know until you put
44:56yourself out so far
44:58and you feel so
45:01vulnerable
45:02in these moments uh part of it you know
45:07people don't want to take you back
45:09because the effort to do so endangers
45:13your life that's right that's right
45:16I was going to say that you know on it's
45:19as Beck just said I mean clearly it's
45:21it's it it's it's like a fingerprint
45:24each one is different each situation is
45:26different
45:27um in
45:29Everest Rob Doug dies and Rob is very
45:34strong you know professional climber and
45:36has incredible will to live and he lives
45:38even longer and and as one of his last
45:40conversations he says send someone up
45:42for me in the morning I'll make it
45:43through the night which of course is not
45:46true but they do I I don't know this is
45:48not part of the Opera but the the base
45:50camp they do send they take some
45:52thermoses and they head up to try to get
45:55to they know where he is
45:57but they can't make it and at some point
45:59they turn around because they're gonna
46:01as Beck just said they're gonna be
46:02risking their own lives to save uh Rob
46:06who is uh you know uh Mama certainly
46:09dead at that point so it's it's there's
46:11a I'm sure there's there's a calculation
46:13that's happening it was happening uh on
46:16that day about who they uh you know who
46:19who could be saved and I bet Bucharest
46:22you know was you know how many I mean
46:25book reps that's a whole other story too
46:26remember his I mean which I won't go
46:29into now but you know after rushing down
46:32the mountain because he wasn't using
46:34oxygen uh and then and then going going
46:37to the South Coal I mean he could he
46:39could save only as many people as he
46:41could save and that was also because of
46:42you know maybe because of how he climbed
46:44uh so that there's these things sort of
46:47like they Cascade on one another but
46:49it's uh it's complicated and each
46:51situation is different I think it's just
46:54my take from living with this for so
46:56long
46:58thank you
47:00um so the next question uh it's from
47:02Bruce and uh she mentions and I'm not
47:05sure who this person is but there is
47:07another person on the zoom apparently
47:08who has been on Everest
47:10um and maybe they would like to answer
47:11this as well as quick
47:13um but uh she asks what for those who
47:17have been on Everest what is what is the
47:18motivation to go like what what drives
47:21you to go and I think this is something
47:23that uh is sort of the big question of
47:25the Opera as well like why why do people
47:26do this what drives you to go to Everest
47:30Pippa can you unmute yourself
47:35yes okay golly this is so amazing
47:40um first of all my story is a little bit
47:43quite a lot different actually
47:45um I had always dreamed of going to
47:48every space camp I didn't actually want
47:50to go any higher
47:52um and I have two sons and we were
47:54coming back from New Zealand and we'd
47:55had our shots and we were ready to go uh
47:59they were quite quite little but anyway
48:00uh I was then called back to a job uh at
48:05the national ski Academy and I thought
48:07it doesn't matter we can do this anytime
48:10and
48:11um shortly after that I was diagnosed
48:14with MS
48:15I ended up in a wheelchair and um my
48:19sons kept saying well we're going to go
48:22to Everest Base Camp we're going to go
48:23to Aerospace never night lifting really
48:25I don't think so and they discovered
48:29something uh called a Trail Rider
48:31and uh in 2006
48:36um uh they gathered a team together and
48:40they took me to the base camp without
48:42Everest at the Trail Rider which is the
48:46a cross between a rickshaw
48:48and a wheelbarrow
48:50and we got to base camp uh but having
48:54said that
48:55uh I feel a bit silly telling this this
48:59story however I understood so much what
49:02you were saying is the challenge it's
49:04the people it's the journey
49:07uh since my life changed going into a
49:11wheelchair uh everything
49:14is
49:15off before Everest or after Everest
49:18because it was Monumental in our lives
49:21and a huge Challenge and
49:24um an amazing accomplishment and it also
49:27it was the team that got me there and it
49:30was tough because of the altitude
49:33and uh they did they could have actually
49:36gone by themselves they didn't have to
49:37push push me
49:39um so yeah that was my Everest Base Camp
49:42true yeah but anyway nothing compared
49:45with I'm loving everything you're saying
49:48uh I've followed you so much
49:51um and I think the Opera is going to be
49:53amazing we're very lucky because we're
49:55coming uh next week so
49:57thank you wonderful thank you that's
50:01brilliant thank you did you want to
50:03respond back
50:05well that that is once again when I was
50:09the point that I was making about the
50:12individuality of every story of the
50:14people who go there this is not some
50:16monolithic uh event and some often when
50:20it's portrayed in in television uh they
50:24they flatten all of this out so that you
50:27don't have any idea of the kind of
50:30struggles that people have and what they
50:33put and what they project uh into the
50:37significance of their own struggle to do
50:39this because I know a lot of people who
50:42summoned Everest and for the most part
50:44nobody gives a rat's patootie about any
50:47of that you know you may think it would
50:49be a big deal but it's not uh that that
50:54most all of this is done not for
50:58somebody else it's done for the struggle
50:59that you have in your own life and your
51:02own view of
51:05what you're capable of accomplishing and
51:09and what kind of person are you when you
51:11do this that you know that as a I was
51:14trying to State this earlier and
51:17probably did make it clear is you
51:20climbing you get harder and harder and
51:23harder
51:24goals uh and each time you put yourself
51:29out to a place that you've never been
51:32before and each time that you do it you
51:34don't know how you're going to react and
51:37that is part of the mystery of doing it
51:40is just to see
51:42what who am I what kind of person am I
51:45well if things get difficult
51:47uh and it gets hard uh
51:51am I going to be a good person
51:54am I going to be who I would like to be
51:57or am I what I fear I might be
52:03and so that that's that's the struggle
52:06that you have yeah
52:09thank you back
52:11anyone else having been uh to base camp
52:14or
52:16climbed it I won't tell much
52:20[Music]
52:22um so we we do have a world I'm gonna
52:25really about 10 more minutes or so we
52:26don't want to keep our guests too late
52:28they are on in later time zones than we
52:30are in in San Francisco
52:32um but uh before I ask this next
52:35question
52:36um if anyone does have questions and
52:38can't use the chat or is having
52:39difficulty using the chat um I will open
52:41it up for folks to just ask questions
52:43verbally as well
52:45uh one more question here uh from Cheryl
52:49um for Beck and she asked uh do Everest
52:52alumni so to speak uh tend to get
52:55together frequently or do they tend to
52:57hold the experience more in an isolated
52:58memory
53:00uh they hold it nicely in memory this is
53:03this is not an a get together with a big
53:07rah-rah and like I said you do this for
53:10individualistic reasons yeah that yes
53:13it's selfish uh anybody that goes there
53:17and puts this puts themselves at risk
53:19and the and in so doing also risks other
53:24individuals your family
53:27uh your wife your kids uh
53:31and all of the other people that love
53:33you it's a selfish event there's no way
53:36to get around that but you also at some
53:39level
53:40you feel driven to do it
53:42uh and whether that's healthy or not
53:46uh it's it I think it is common within
53:50the individuals that do this I don't
53:52care how laid-back or our Shucks they
53:55may be these are driven people now
54:02um would anyone else like to ask a
54:03question uh you can if you if you would
54:05like to just unmute yourself and ask a
54:07question to either of our guests a
54:09little more time
54:12and say one of the things about doing
54:14these projects the the project like this
54:16is that you know it is
54:19um you know who are the people you meet
54:21along the way and uh this has been a
54:23particularly uh wonderful project of
54:25course uh Nicole uh conducted the
54:28premiere and uh so and that's how I got
54:31to know and become such good friends
54:33with Nicole and colleagues and that
54:35we've done a number of projects
54:37including recently the English national
54:38Opera that she just conducted but of
54:41course getting to know Beck uh and uh
54:44Neil beidleman is uh who's not portrayed
54:46in the Opera but gave me lots of
54:47information he's uh one of these and and
54:50others um it's just been a real a real
54:53joy and just you know it's it's it's
54:55funny I feel the same way back when you
54:57said it was easy to talk like we talked
54:59before the the zoom talk then it's like
55:01it's like like an old friend who just
55:03sort of resume the conversation with and
55:05uh it's uh it's it's been one of the
55:08nicest uh things about that and of
55:10course working with Joby we're doing
55:12another Opera right now for doubt for
55:14Dallas Opera actually for based on the
55:16diving bell on the butterfly which is
55:18going to open in the fall
55:19and uh it's all because of what happened
55:21and and also because Beck kind of opened
55:23the way for this without Beck this never
55:25would have happened I really use Beck as
55:28leverage as I said at the beginning of
55:29this to get to the other people and I
55:31needed all that information uh in order
55:33to do it and so you just need that one
55:35person who's uh sort of opens the door
55:37and in this particular project it was
55:40certainly back so uh it's great to see
55:43him again and to see the piece happening
55:46here and it's also happening in London
55:48uh a stage version a
55:50um concert version with the BBC Symphony
55:52and the BBC chorus is happening uh next
55:55June and Nicole is conducting so that'll
55:58be wonderful as well so we're it's been
56:01a it's been a really a happy project one
56:03I'm really proud of and uh and also it's
56:05been a lot of fun
56:07so any other questions
56:10um there's a couple in the chat and I
56:11have one quick one myself personally
56:13that I would love to ask
56:15um I'm just going to jump in and throw
56:17that one in there quickly and it's full
56:18back
56:19um so your story has been told in so
56:21many different mediums across across the
56:23years the films and the books and and an
56:26opera and now an immersive Opera uh what
56:28what is that like I can't even imagine
56:30what it must be like to see your own
56:33story on you know presented in in so
56:36many different ways
56:38well it's it started off as a very
56:40interesting media experience because
56:43this was the first time that a story had
56:46ever broken worldwide on the internet uh
56:51there were no reporters or cameras or
56:53anything up there and so these people
56:55learned about this it was being followed
56:58in real time uh on the Internet by real
57:02time reporting and so in that sense it
57:04was a very unique uh introduction to the
57:08world of the story by a totally new form
57:13of uh reportage uh and it's been in a
57:18dozen books three movies uh and of
57:21course the most unique one of all which
57:24is the Opera
57:26and now it's uh it wound up as a graphic
57:29novel Opera uh which is takes it Beyond
57:33uh the my expectations for any of this
57:36and I'm just
57:38I love to see in other people's worlds
57:41and the creativity and the Artistry and
57:44the Magnificent voices uh and so I was I
57:48would listen to the Opera again today
57:51via the graphic novel and I was uh each
57:57time I see it in different modes I see
58:00something new uh because some when I saw
58:03it initially I was overwhelmed by the
58:04Magnificent staging just the physical
58:07presence and then I heard it in concert
58:10and then listening more to the voices
58:12and then you see it in the graphic novel
58:14uh and you're able to to follow a story
58:19better than you can in either the other
58:21Medias uh presentations and of course
58:25I'm sitting there with my big headphones
58:26on and the voices are such that I can
58:29the person is sitting in my lap as I
58:32listen to them sing and it's just so
58:34magnificent and like I said each time it
58:38I watch it
58:40it grips me it is so emotional
58:46thank you Becky yeah and and I think in
58:49the immersive version it's going to be
58:50you know even more so that you'll really
58:52feel like you're you're in in the in the
58:55experience with with you which is going
58:57to be very exciting
58:59um I have uh one more question here uh
59:03about about the Opera itself and about
59:05new Opera and how often um there are
59:08changes that happen during uh during the
59:10process after a number of performances
59:13um and this person's wondering were
59:14there changes in Everest uh after the of
59:16the first few performances
59:18um and if so what changed and why
59:22um the the odd changes do happen in
59:24operas
59:25um uh but not that much changed in
59:28Everest in terms of the score and the
59:30libretto I might be missing something
59:33but I don't think
59:34um uh this actually
59:37um this this piece is pretty much the
59:41way it was I think that is the material
59:44is pretty much the way it was on opening
59:45night
59:46um but that doesn't you know when things
59:48need to be changed we changed them we
59:50felt that this one was solid within with
59:52um uh It's a Wonderful Life which we
59:54opened in Houston that Jake and I did
59:56Jake Hagee and I did we changed it we
59:59changed it significantly by the time it
1:00:01got to San Francisco and now it's kind
1:00:04of codified in the in the place we like
1:00:05in but the English national Opera just
1:00:07did is was the the version the this
1:00:10there was a different production but the
1:00:12material was what we had in San
1:00:14Francisco we did three Productions to
1:00:16get it to the West there are there there
1:00:19are certain things in terms of the
1:00:21staging and the uh the production uh I
1:00:24think that I mean the director who
1:00:25directed this Leonard Folia says it
1:00:27takes three times to get it you know
1:00:28sort of the way you really really want
1:00:31it uh even if the production is the same
1:00:33just so that the lighting and and the
1:00:35staging and everything is really uh is
1:00:37on point and I think so there were some
1:00:40small changes but with Everest now we
1:00:41were pretty happy uh with it there might
1:00:44be forgetting some small change that we
1:00:46made but this one was pretty much uh uh
1:00:49we were happy with it when it opened and
1:00:51we're still happy with it it's a very
1:00:53solid solid work solid type 70 minutes
1:00:56of Opera which is the perfect length I
1:00:58think
1:01:01so I'm going to combine two questions
1:01:02here both for Beck
1:01:04um uh the first question was uh for Beck
1:01:07whether you're still uh mountaineering
1:01:10um and also uh who who rescued you or
1:01:13was there someone who rescued you from
1:01:15the tent when uh like from uh when you
1:01:19when you were left there
1:01:21well let me start with the second
1:01:23question first uh when I managed to wake
1:01:26up in the tent still alive uh the camp
1:01:29was pretty much deserted there were only
1:01:31three other people there beside myself
1:01:34but one of them was John krakauer and I
1:01:37managed to get his attention and he
1:01:40called over Pete Athens and Todd
1:01:42Burleson who are both professional
1:01:44guides and they helped me down about a
1:01:48quarter of the way uh toward camp three
1:01:51and then the IMAX
1:01:53uh film crew David beshears and Ed
1:01:58visters uh
1:02:01were there to take Dogwood back into
1:02:03Camp too uh then we hit the next day we
1:02:06had the world's highest helicopter
1:02:07rescue so it was we were doing a lot of
1:02:09interesting things in the short period
1:02:11of time but basically I walked out on my
1:02:14own legs uh I'm just uh
1:02:18still in pretty decent condition
1:02:20considering the degree of damage uh I
1:02:24don't do mountaineering anymore I wasn't
1:02:26holding my paws up but the degree of
1:02:29frostbite that I suffered was uh pretty
1:02:32severe it took off the center part of my
1:02:35face both of my hands uh and the like
1:02:38and uh so I can't stand the uh the
1:02:44insult of cold
1:02:45uh
1:02:47the way I used to be able to do so and
1:02:50so I that really is not the risk reward
1:02:53on that is just uh not worth considering
1:02:56all right
1:02:58it's very unsettable
1:03:01um all right I'm gonna throw it over for
1:03:03one more question and then we do have to
1:03:05let our guests go if there is any final
1:03:07final questions
1:03:10uh for the group from the group
1:03:12yeah
1:03:14do you still keep in touch with Matt and
1:03:16Casey
1:03:19uh I'm not
1:03:22talked to him in a fair while uh he's
1:03:27obviously an extraordinary human being
1:03:30uh and we did have an opportunity to
1:03:33spend several times together
1:03:35uh after that uh he became quite famous
1:03:39uh throughout the world and famous
1:03:42certainly within Nepal uh and he was
1:03:48and when I talk about this story
1:03:51my statement generally is the of all the
1:03:55people involved he's the one that is
1:03:57most impressive to me uh and
1:04:02some of this is is kind of funny we went
1:04:05together to see the IMAX film Everest at
1:04:09the Fort Worth Science Museum uh and of
1:04:12course we're sitting there and as
1:04:15you know hey pictures of him flying the
1:04:19uh helicopter uh one of the only people
1:04:22in the world that could do such a thing
1:04:25and somebody was out front with a toy
1:04:27helicopter uh flying it around and I'm
1:04:31thinking to myself these people have no
1:04:33idea that they're you know standing next
1:04:36to such an extraordinary
1:04:39human being uh and one of the things
1:04:43that I remember so particularly about
1:04:46that because I was I really you know was
1:04:49very grateful to him uh and he you know
1:04:53and later visits and stuff he said you
1:04:55know
1:04:56uh you're one of the very few people
1:04:58that ever really thanked me for saving
1:05:00them
1:05:01uh I guess we just expect
1:05:04that our heroes are always going to be
1:05:06there
1:05:08and for me he was and he's just an
1:05:11amazing person
1:05:12uh and so
1:05:14uh Madan is just a
1:05:17you know
1:05:19I I you can't give him enough credit
1:05:23uh for what he did just with not just
1:05:26there but in all the Myriad times that
1:05:30he helped people out and save people and
1:05:32rescued people and that's uh and that's
1:05:35true for so many of the individuals
1:05:37whose lives work is to do exactly what
1:05:40he does every day
1:05:42so no
1:05:44foreign
1:05:48I think we do need to wrap it up here uh
1:05:51I think I thank you all for
1:05:53um for joining us this evening the last
1:05:55question that I see here was about the
1:05:56recording of this this program which we
1:05:58will be sharing on our website
1:06:00um on our preparallel.org on the the
1:06:02enhance your experience page
1:06:04um which is kind of is has a whole bunch
1:06:06of resources and videos and information
1:06:07about the production
1:06:09um and we'll be adding this this
1:06:10incredible conversation
1:06:12um so please join me in thanking uh our
1:06:14wonderful guests Gene shear and Beck
1:06:16weathers for being with us tonight thank
1:06:18you so much thank you folks appreciate
1:06:20it
1:06:22appreciate it thank you so much and uh
1:06:25we'll see you hopefully all of you at uh
1:06:28at Everest in the most experience uh in
1:06:30the coming weeks thank you have a good
1:06:32night I'll give you a call soon okay
1:06:37take care all

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Gene Scheer In Conversation with Beck Weathers - Everest by Opera Parallèle, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 11,168 words across 1,573 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.