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North Face Athlete Spotlight: Peter Athens Greg Childs talks with "Mr. Everest" May 23, 2005
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Greg: Have you ever gotten slammed by altitude sickness?
Pete: I've only had some headaches, but I've always done pretty well. Greg: How about training? What do you do? Pete: Aerobic activities like running, bicycling, swimming. I do some triathlons. When I'm travelling on business I'll use a weight room or a treadmill. Greg: What is the coolest place you've ever been? Pete: Some of the best places I've seen may not even be in the Himalaya. In Irian Jaya, when I went to climb Carstenz Pyramid, I felt like I'd taken a step even further back in time from the medieval lifestyles I'd seen in Tibet. I felt I'd entered the stone age. I recall being amazed at the basic lifestyle of the Dani natives, the way they'd get to a campsite in the middle of the jungle, pull out their knives, chop down some vines and whip up a shelter. Even though it was pouring rain in the jungle, they could make shelter, fire and get food cooking in a matter of minutes. Their hardiness and their good nature really amazed me. It's the same with the Sherpas. They are always good-natured even in very tough situations. Greg: I recall when you and I shared a tent together on the North Face dealer event when we climbed Mount Baker in the Cascade Range of Washington, seeing that you were reading a fairly heavy-duty book about Buddhism. Do you think a lot about eastern religion? Pete: It's given me a lot of inroads to understanding the Sherpas, who I've spent so much time with. And being able to understand the meaning of the artwork and ceremonies in the monasteries has really added to being there. I also think that by understanding something of Buddhism when I'm in Asia, it helps my climbing too. It allows me to focus not so much on the outcome of the climb-such as, the summit-because climbing mountains doesn't have to be an outcome-driven sport. The process of doing it is just as important as the summit. Buddhism also teaches a lot about patience being strength. In the mountains, raw drive is essential, but patience is needed too. Greg: Yeah, you gotta have patience in the Himalaya. I remember sitting around in my tent through plenty of two-week storms. Can you speak Nepalese or Tibetan? Pete: I speak a little Nepalese and I'm taking some classes in Tibetan. Greg: Tell me about the recent scientific expedition to Everest you were on. This was also a documentary on NBC, right? Pete: Yes, it was a film that recently was on TV. The object of the trip was to put a global positioning system on the summit, that could run synchronously with other GPS units we put on the south col, on an 18,000-foot peak called Kala Patar, and in base camp. These units communicated with satellites passing overhead to give exact longitude and latitude, and also altitude. Greg: And from this you came up with a new height for Everest? Pete: Yes. It was 29,035 feet above sea level. About two meters higher than the current measurement. We also put probes in for NASA that will measure maximum temperature and atmospheric pressure. These things are the size of a matchbox and they'll be examined when more climbers pick them up in the future. The device that measures windspeed will measure it by noise. We left one on the south summit. It'll pick up some huge jet stream winds this winter. Greg: You were at Everest during the terrible disaster in 1996 which claimed so many lives. What do you feel about that episode now? Pete: It was a surreal experience. I'd worked with Scott Fischer and Rob Hall before, they were friends. We were a lot like each other, in that we all guided for a living. My team was two days behind their groups, and we held back a little to let their people go first. What was strange was that these groups disregarded some of the protocol we'd all agreed upon during our years of figuring out how to climb and guide Everest. They abandoned all the rules. I think ultimately what went wrong was that the groups became spread out, and people got into a situation where strong decisions had to be made, and no one was there to make them. Greg: It seems like you've made pretty good decisions on your climbs. Thanks for chatting.
Career Highlights
* Surviving Everest: 50 Years of Exploration, National Geographic special program. Peter assisted in the writing, filming, high-altitude videography and editing of this film. * The High Route to Tibet: National Geographic film documenting 30 years of adventure and exploration by Joseph Rock, Tibet and China’s foremost explorer. Peter starred in the film and worked with the production team. * Explorer on Ice: National Geographic film highlighting the exhilaration and fear that accompanies travelers through Everest’s notorious Khumbu Iicefall. Peter assisted the production team and talent. * Everest: The Mountain at the Millennium, NBC and American Adventure Productions in collaboration with The North Face. This program documents a small team of scientists and climbers measuring Everest’s height and movement. Peter led the expedition, served as talent and assisted the production team. * Everest: Into the Death Zone: Peter recorded high-altitude video for this award-winning program, produced with WGBH of Boston for Nova, which investigates the difficulties of climbing at extreme altitudes throughout the course of a two-month expedition to Everest. * Seven Years in Tibet: Mandalay Productions’ feature-film adaptation of the classic tale of exploration and self-discovery written by Heinrich Harrer in 1953. Peter worked with the second-unit film team on location in Tibet. * The Dark Side of Everest: This film by Great North Productions (for National Geographic in Great Britain) examines the ethics and interactions of climbers in the "Death Zone" on Everest.
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