The Fatal Game
The Fatal Game
NR
8.2
·

1996

·

52m

The Fatal Game

Summary

In 1994, New Zealand mountaineer, Mark Whetu, summitted Mt Everest with climbing partner and friend Mike Reinberger. However it was late in the day and after a freezing night on the summit, Whetu was faced with a terrible decision...to leave Reinberger or stay with him forever.

Director, Writer

Richard Dennison

Story

Mark Whetu

Writer

James Heyward

Reviews

narrator56

narrator56

December 12, 2021

10

This is a one-hour documentary that covers on a personal level one of the most volatile issues that come up when mountaineering is discussed, especially by non-climbers. This is the ethical and survival decisions made by people on whether to leave other climbers behind, probably to die.

But this isn’t a vague case of climbers walking by a stranger in distress, perhaps pausing to urge them to continue or perhaps ignoring them. This is a climbing team member who was filming the summit attempt having to make the wrenching decision, with suggestions by radio from others at base camp, to save himself and leave his climbing partner behind.

It is an interesting study of his personal dilemma and the issue overall. But mostly it is his own story of survival and the costs that came with it, both personal and physical. Mountaineering films rarely have the luxury of detailing this ethical aspect of mountaineering so closely, so it is well worth watching for that reasons alone.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Keywords

mountain
mountaineer
climbing
mount everest
free climbing
alpinist