The 13 Best Movies About Climbing Mount Everest

Climbers have attempted to ascend Mount Everest (at times, on the literal backs of local Sherpas) for almost one hundred years. The British made the first attempt in 1922, but the expedition ended fatally for seven Sherpa climbers. It wasn’t until 1953 that the first climbers reached the summit—Englishman Edmund Hillary and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Hillary and expedition leader John Hunt were immediately knighted on their return to England. Norgay, who had nearly reached the summit the previous year with a Swiss team, was not.

Since the first attempt in 1922, over 300 people have died attempting to summit. It is estimated that nearly a third of all fatalities are local Sherpas, with Americans, who represent the majority nationality of Everest climbers, accounting for thirteen deaths. In recent years, the heroic glory of the climb has been reframed, and those “solo” adventurers risking all to conquer nature have been shown to owe much of their success to Sherpa labor.

Film has likewise adjusted its portrayal of Everest ascents, with recent documentaries like Sherpa exploring instead the burden on Nepalese communities who rely on the climb—maybe the most dangerous job on earth—for their family income. The climbers, well, let’s just say they are no longer the heroes of this story.

Still, the ascent, for all its social and political inequities, continues to represent one of the major feats of human achievement. Here are the top movies about Everest, representing mankind’s best, worst, and most exploitative.