Wheeler's Everest
Feature Dcumentary the documenatry channel (CBC)
Produced, Directed and Edited by Martin de Valk
A Chiaro Productions Presentation with the Documentary Channel now showing on CBC GEM
Twitter Martin de Valk (@Chiaro_Prods) / Twitter
Synopsis
A century ago on March 18, 1921 the first expedition to Everest departed from Darjeeling, India to Tibet on a 360 mile trek to find a route to the world's highest mountain. On this all-British Expedition was a lone Canadian: WWI veteran, surveyor and climber Major Oliver Wheeler.
Now put yourself in Jeff Wheeler’s hiking boots…
What happens when you realize you are the great grandson of one of the most courageous and intriguing Canadians that few Canadians have heard of? And, what if, one of today’s most heralded explorers, Wade Davis, could open a door into a world history has overlooked? What would you do?
WHEELER’S EVEREST is a rich, multi-layered story - part history, part biography, but mostly, it is a personal and intimate journey taking Jeff Wheeler, Oliver’s great grandson, on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure that will reveal a forgotten part of Canadian history, highlighting the brave man behind the discovery of the ‘doorway’ to Everest in 1921 and the first mapping of the mountain and the surrounding Himalayan massif.
Join Jeff and world famous author Wade Davis as they travel in Oliver Wheeler’s footsteps from the halls of London’s storied Royal Geographical Society to the French battlefields of WWI, to the green mountains of Darjeeling, India and, even higher, to a climactic trek through Tibet’s legendary Rongbuk Valley. There, retracing that first Everest expedition of a century ago, they will rediscover a brave but almost forgotten Canadian’s incredible adventures and achievements.