Filmmaker in tribute to Everest rescuers

Ottawa man standing outside tent when avalanche hit base camp

In a video shot and edited on the flanks of Mount Everest, Ottawa filmmaker Elia Saikaly has paid tribute to the rescue teams that responded to the devastation at the Everest Base Camp that followed last weekend’s earthquake.

The video was posted online late Tuesday night.

“It is with a great deal of pleasure and sadness that I share my short film: Everest — A Tribute to the Fallen,” Saikaly wrote on his Facebook page.

“No single person can come close to accurately portraying the incredible acts of bravery on the part of the many ordinary men and women at base camp that day.

“I did the best I could, under extreme circumstances, to tell the story through our team’s eyes. There were hundreds of these stories that dreadful day.

“Everest — A Tribute to the Fallen from Mission 14 on Vimeo.

“With deep respect for the fallen and injured, I share a bit of what we all lived on that very difficult day.”

Saikaly, 36, is a respected filmmaker and mountaineer who was hired by Nick Cienski, a designer for clothing manufacture Under Armour, to document Cienski’s record-setting bid to climb six 8,000-metre peaks in a single year.

Saikaly was standing outside a dining tent when the massive quake-triggered avalanche struck, sweeping through the centre of the Base Camp, temporary home to trekkers, Nepalese Sherpas and climbers preparing to ascend the world’s highest peak. The quake and avalanche killed at least 17 people on Everest. Scores more were injured. The death toll across Nepal exceeds 5,000 and continues to climb.

Saikaly was up until 4:30 a.m., posting the video with help from his fiancée, Amanda O’Reilly, in Ottawa. O’Reilly spoke to Saikaly on Wednesday and said he was exhausted by the experience of the past few days and the strain of doing interviews with media from around the world.

“It was tough circumstances to shoot, edit, shoot, be creative and pay homage to all the lives lost,” she said. “But he’s the consummate professional and that’s what he does. He’s on a mission.”

The three-minute, 45-second video begins with dramatic footage of an enormous, billowing wall of snow roaring over the camp, followed by scenes of flattened tents and scattered mountaineering gear.

The video includes footage of rescue helicopters arriving and is dedicated “to all the brave men and women, including the brave pilots, who assisted in rescuing and recovering the injured and deceased.”

Saikaly also pays tribute to his friend, Google executive Dan Fredinburg, who was killed on the mountain that day.

The video was shot and edited at Base Camp, which sits at 5,334 metres — 17,500 feet — above sea level.

Saikaly, who has been to the summit of Everest twice, is awaiting word from the expedition outfitter whether Cienski’s 6 Summit Challenge will go ahead despite the disaster. Cienski, of Baltimore, Md., has deployed climbing teams on Everest and two neighbouring summits, Lhotse and Makalu, and intends to climb all three peaks in May.

Cienski plans to return to the Himalayas again in the fall to climb three more 8,000-metre peaks. The challenge aims to raise awareness of global human trafficking.