John F. Kennedy

High and Hallowed: Everest 1963 is the deeper story of the greatest Himalayan climb in American mountaineering history.

Norman Dyhrenfurth, 90, tells for the first time the extraordinary story of his parents, husband and wife mountaineers and filmmakers Hettie and Günter Dyhrenfurth, and their 1930s expeditions to the Himalayas (Kanchenjunga, Hidden Peak). These family expeditions equalled those of their state-sponsored Nazi rivals and beat them in setting world climbing records. In doing so, the Dyhrenfurths took the first moving pictures at high altitude. Norman himself put the first Americans on top of Mount Everest in 1963 and led the first traverse of an 8000-metre peak. Through engaging interviews, Chris Bonington and Reinhold Messner put the Dyhrenfurth expeditions into contemporary context and convey an intense compassion for the heroic achievements and tragic failures of this family.

In 1963, Swiss climber Norman Dyhrenfurth began 'a little war against a big mountain.' Leading 19 Americans, 32 Sherpas, and 909 porters carrying 27 tons of gear, Dyhrenfurth spearheaded the highly successful 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition for his adopted country. Jim Whittaker, accompanied by Nawang Gombu Sherpa made the first ascent by the Hillary-Tensing route. On May 22, Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld made the first ascent by the unclimbed West Ridge. They descended by the South Col, making the first traverse of Everest. Orson Welles narrates the spectacular record, and the film includes the first ever filmed images from the summit.