Base Camp: 40 Days on Everest

by Dianne Whelan

It takes forty days to know the mountain.



Each spring, over eight hundred climbers attempt to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. The conditions are challenging, and without warning can become life-threatening. Some make it to the top of what is considered the world’s most majestic mountain, but others are not so lucky, and in the attempt to reach the elusive summit, many more have tragically lost their lives. Not all are recovered, their bodies left to the mountain.



In the spring of 2010, filmmaker Dianne Whelan travelled to Everest. In this personal and eye-opening exposé, Base Camp: 40 Days on Everest , Whelan shares gripping stories of Maoist rebels, avalanches and dead bodies surfacing out of a dying glacier. From Base Camp, she interviews climbers, doctors and Sherpas all living for months on end in the belly of the mountain as they wait for a weather window to summit the top of the world. In this push to achieve the summit, many do not survive. Woven into the personal stories is the devastating truth of the human impact on the mountain and the eerie and unforeseen effects of climate change.



But in coming to know the mountain and its people, Dianne must also confront the truth of her own ambitions, and the toll they take on her physical well-being and her relationships. Through immersing herself in the challenging and captivating world of Base Camp, she must find her own path away from ego and judgment to a place of humility and forgiveness.

Genres: Travel, Memoir, Adventure

227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 30, 2014

About the author

Dianne Whelan is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker, photographer, author and multimedia artist.
In April 2010, Whelan traveled to Nepal and Mount Everest Base Camp to direct and shoot her award winning documentary film, 40 Days at Base Camp.
Her new book, Base Camp. 40 Days on Everest is a personal memoir of that experience.

Reviews

[Cheryl Landmark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non-fiction is not a genre that I normally read. But, this one was different. For one thing, I have personally met the author, Dianne Whelan, several times in the last few weeks as she stops over in my city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada to await the melting of the ice on Lake Superior. Dianne is currently embarked on an amazing journey to snowshoe, ski, hike, bike and canoe across Canada using the Trans Canada trail. Her next leg of the journey involves canoeing along the rugged, magnificent coast of Lake Superior from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay (approximately 1,000 km). Hence, her layover in this area to get ready for this very challenging task. Dianne lent me this book on Everest to read while she is here.

I have often wondered what motivates humankind to engage in situations and environments that push us to our very limits and challenge us almost to the point of death or even death at times. Dianne's experiences at Base Camp on Mount Everest were harrowing, frigid and challenging. But, at the same time, you could feel her awe and spiritual connection with the mountain and the climbers who fought their way to the summit. And, she definitely retained a wry sense of humour throughout her nearly 40 days in that harsh, unforgiving environment.

This is not a journey I would ever have considered undertaking myself, even in my younger, fitter days. But, I have to admire and respect those who accomplish such daunting tasks, while at the same time feeling they must be a little crazy and masochistic to do it in the first place! :)

"Pain is weakness leaving", so Dianne's experiences must have left her with the strength of Hercules at the end of her journey! Such an amazing woman.

[Sharry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dianne Whelan spent (almost) 40 days at the Everest base camp filming climbers and support staff as they made their attempts at the summit. In the process, she developed her own unique view of the camp, the mountain, and the endeavor. Base Camp: 40 Days on Everest walks you through her time there, the struggles she had and the joys she witnessed. It changed my vision of climbing Everest, and I suspect it might yours, too.

[Kristy McCaffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Whelan spent almost forty days at Mt. Everest base camp while filming a documentary about the state of the mountain in 2010. This book is a behind-the-scenes of her experience. While there are many negatives to focus upon--the trash and general over-commercialization of climbing expeditions--the soft glow of the sacred reaches her yet. It's a wonderful and thoughtful read. Watch the accompanying film (available on iTunes) for a well-rounded Everest journey.

[Jane Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! I am aware, however, that I adore reading books about Everest. But I found it thoroughly fascinating and certainly a must-read for anyone thinking about traveling there.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mountain Climbing......something I know nothing about...but this book vividly describes what it is like to be in Base Camp, waiting to go up Everest.

[Edward Wendt · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting adventure from one side but the manner in which it is being told falters at times, almost like the writer has something to prove. Equally while she seems to have an edge to her at times a lot of thoughts are left unresolved. As with a lot of adventure books the best part is the introspection at the end, and that holds true here as well, but generally this is more of an average retelling of a defining experience and thus leaves the reader a bit disappointed.

[Kelly Greenwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting view into life at Base Camp in the spring of 2010, and the story of a woman there to make a documentary film about Base Camp and what motivates people to seek to summit the mountain.