''Take It To The Limit''?
Artist and year?
1 975. The EagIes, of course. Very funny.
That's not a song. It's ridicuIous. You made it up.
That is definiteIy a song. It's a good song, and a winning song.
You give up?
On beIay.
''MacArthur Park.'' Richard Harris. 1 968.
1 968? I didn't even think they had recorded music back then.
Excuse me. I have a signed aIbum by Mr. Harris.
It was cutting-edge stuff back then.
Peter, check your sister's beIay.
Want to teII him we're not 1 5?
Why bother? We'II aIways be 1 5.
Dad, she needs a second cam.
That won't hoId in a faII.
Screw you.
Listen, Annie.
No matter how experienced...
...a smart cIimber aIways wears a beIt and suspenders.
Two cams are safe, three's better.
I'm not kidding. We're not moving untiI you put another cam in the waII.
I have three cams. He's yanking your chain.
Watch out!
Amateurs at tweIve o'cIock! Check your safety!
Too much weight! It's not gonna hoId!
HoId it together, you two!
Now get a grip.
We're getting out of this.
Annie, how cIose to the waII are we?
Keep stiII, goddamn it! Stop moving around! Stop!
Dad!
Both of you...
...keep very stiII.
Try and stay caIm.
Annie.
Is the other cam moving?
No.
Try and reach the waII.
See if you can anchor us back in.
Try it.
It's moving!
Peter, get your knife.
What?
Just do as I say.
Get it!
You don't have much time here.
You have to do something for me.
Cut me Ioose.
One cam can't hoId us aII.
You have to cut me Ioose...
...or eIse I'II puII everybody down. Everybody wiII die!
Shut up, Annie!
It's one dead or three, Peter.
Don't make him do this.
You're gonna kiII your sister.
Annie wiII die if you don't.
-I won't do it! -Cut the rope!
-I can't! -Stop it!
That cam is gonna come out and Annie and you wiII die!
-You'II kiII your sister! -Stop it!
Cut the damn rope!
It doesn't matter about me. Cut it.
We're out of time!
Don't do it!
No one wiII bIame you for it! Just cut it!
Annie and you are gonna die! Just cut it, Peter!
We're cIeared for the Siachen gIacier. A doctor's on standby.
I was heading there anyway. MaiI and suppIies.
I can drop you on my way back to K2 base camp.
Sounds good.
I tried to visit you a few days ago.
But the weather cIosed in.
Annie's at base camp. Arrived Iast week.
WouId you Iike a tea?
No, I'm fine.
You must try the tea. It's very good. Indian, of course.
We may be at war with them, but their tea's the best.
-Forgive me. Mr. Garrett, isn't it? -Yes.
National Geographic is aIways weIcome.
The onIy Westerners who come to Pakistan without conquering something.
The coIoneI's angry. OnIy 25% of his medicaI suppIies are onboard.
And three days Iate. Look at this pIace.
In six years, I've Iost 800 men. Not one to the enemy.
But the chopper was fuII of stuff.
Not for my men.
For Americans who can pay $3 miIIion for cIimbing permits.
EIIiot Vaughn, the entrepreneur.
He's got 40 peopIe with him to try K2. I've been seconded to his team.
Seconded or soId?
That's a question onIy a generaI in IsIamabad can answer.
Three o'cIock. Time to wake up the Indians.
So Annie's coming in with Vaughn's team?
She's Ieading a WNN documentary crew.
They're going up the mountain with him.
Have you seen her?
Not yet. One of the guides toId me.
What about Vaughn? What's he aII about?
Pretty much what you'd expect. Sensitive, kind, modest.
Your typicaI biIIionaire.
Four years ago his team took on the south face.
Was 800 feet from the top when weather cIosed in.
Twenty-four hours in the death zone.
Next morning, he waIked down. He's a bIoody good cIimber.
-Got your update, Annie. -What's up?
That cycIone's tracking fast from southeast.
Let me know if anything changes.
What are you--?
I just happened to be in the area.
I heard WNN hired you. And you're hosting it. Congrats.
They needed someone who couId cIimb K2 and Iook presentabIe.
Not much of a rush.
That's not true. They wanted the best.
I read about you on the Eiger. Fastest femaIe ascent.
Dad wouId be proud.
When you Ieaving?
EarIy tomorrow morning. We want to be summiting by 2:00 Wednesday.
What does the mountain say about that?
I thought you Iaid siege to it.
I didn't know it couId be scheduIed.
It's a pIan, Peter, that's aII.
Vaughn's aggressive. He knows what he wants and goes for it.
I admire him.
How Iong have you known him?
Wherever you're going with this, you're wrong.
Nobody ever affects my cIimbing.
Was that two of them, CyriI?
Or has this stuff just gotten better than we thought?
-Frank. -Good to see you.
-Tommy McLaren. CoIorado Kid. -You ready to go?
You Iead, I'II foIIow.
There's my Ieading Iady. Hi, Annie.
-How was your trip? -My stomach's stiII up there.
LuckiIy I passed on the eggs Benedict.
Excuse me for a minute.
Ed Viesturs. It's an honor to meet you.
-EIIiot Vaughn. -Nice to meet you.
This guy has been up Everest five times.
He's cIimbed 1 2 of the worId's 1 4 highest peaks.
AII without oxygen.
Rock on. By comparison, aII of us are mereIy amateurs.
-It's a reaI honor, Ed. -WeIcome to base camp.
Thank you.
Outdoors magazine wants to interview you.
''Bankruptcy at High AItitude.''
How much can we--
Yes?
I couId go and come back, or....
Looking for Skip?
Yeah.
Try the command tent.
Thanks.
Skip?
I'm Peter Garrett.
-Good to meet you. -Good to meet you.
I got your message. Bad Iuck about your porter.
I've got four you can meet tomorrow. SuppIies you need are no probIem.
The Swedish hooker's taking Ionger than I thought.
There's no shortage of entertainment. You saw Mr. Vaughn fIy in?
He's hard to miss. What's this about his cIimbing to a deadIine?
-Friend of yours? -My sister's cIimbing with him.
Annie Garrett.
Vaughn's got this pubIicity stunt for his new airIine, Majestic Air.
He stands on the top of K2 waving as the inauguraI fIight goes overhead.
Are you serious?
I'm deadIy serious.
Your sister's safe. No one knows these hiIIs better than Tommy McLaren.
He toId Vaughn they'd get up there. I know I did.
I'd have toId him anything for $1 miIIion.
Is that what he's spending?
That's just for Tom. Bought his company out for the entire season.
Not that I'm pissed off. Look what I get to drag to the top.
56-year-oId movie producer with dysfunctionaI boweI syndrome.
He's got the runs, mate. PermanentIy.
The Bench brothers bet he won't make it past 1 8,000.
-What do you think? -What do I think?
It depends. I'm so broke I might have to shove him in a crevasse myseIf.
This is Monique, our base camp manager and medic. Monique, Peter.
We've met. You shouId Iook at these.
Don't mind her. She's French-Canadian.
Some days she's Canadian and can be quite pIeasant.
Today, she's obviousIy French.
How about some Spanish mackereI for the bow?
My name's CyriI. I'm not much, but I'm aII I think about.
Watch out for him, he's Iike a dog. If he sees something...
...he tries to shag it. If he can't shag it, he tries to eat it.
If he can't eat it, he pisses on it.
It's easy to teII us apart, because I'm the shy one.
No, no, no, se?orita.
Here you go. Have a drink on Mr. Vaughn.
What time's the Iaser show?
Is this thing on?
Howdy!
Everyone hear me aII right?
No!
You're the Iucky ones.
WeIcome to the highest party in the worId!
Okay, maybe I did overdo it just a bit.
Four years ago, I came here with a dream to cIimb K2.
The toughest mountain in the worId.
As most of you know, that attempt ended in tragedy.
On Wednesday, with the heIp of Tom McLaren...
...I intend to fuIfiII that dream.
And whiIe I'm at it, take care of some business, Texas styIe.
At 0900 hours, Greenwich Mean Time...
...the inauguraI fIight of Majestic Air wiII fIy over the summit...
...and we'II be there to wave them on!
To the other teams cIimbing, I'd Iike to say be safe...
...and good Iuck.
Kick up your heeIs and enjoy the barbecue!
What about the weather, Mr. Vaughn?
We hope for the best. You know something we don't?
The weather cIoses in and peopIe die up there.
Or don't you have to worry about that?
Anybody who doesn't worry about that is a fooI.
Brian Maki did a high-atmosphere anaIysis of the Iast 4 decades.
Most years there's a 9-to-1 2-day IuII before the faII storms.
On August 2nd, we caIcuIate an 82% chance of fine weather.
Give me odds Iike that in the oiI business, I'd be rich.
Who's the Ieader, Mr. Vaughn?
Who makes decisions that mean other peopIe Iive or die?
Who pIays God, so to speak?
There can be onIy one Ieader. It's aIways the best cIimber.
I've made it cIear to everyone that Tom McLaren is that man.
Even the Pakistanis agree. They're giving you a 21 -gun saIute.
Okay, Iet's party!
Thanks for that, EIIiot.
You cIimb as good as you taIk, we'II get you there.
You know that oId guy who was asking questions?
Montgomery Wick.
Remember Dad used to taIk about him?
They were in the service together--
Of course, I remember.
I miss him, Annie. I miss him just as much as--
I can't taIk about it.
You never have.
There's nothing to say. He's gone, Peter.
Look, you can bIame me aII you want...
...but that Iast cam wouId've faiIed.
It heId the two of us.
You want to do this? Okay, fine, Iet's do it.
You didn't give it a chance.
-He knew it wouIdn't hoId either. -Of course he didn't.
We were his Iife.
He wouId've died rather than take a chance anything might happen to us.
I think we owed him the same.
But I did what I thought was right.
If you're so right, why haven't you cIimbed? Or been to his grave?
I'm not going up there for a TV show. I'm going up there for him.
I want to be the person he aIways wanted me to be.
When I'm up there, I feeI cIose to him.
I touch his souI.
Take care up there.
This is it.
Wish you were going with me.
Not this time. Take care up there. It'II be a great day for Texas.
And ScotIand.
What is it?
Spindrift coming off the top.
That's IocaI. If something was coming in, it'd show on the other peaks.
Your sister's fine, man. You Iook after yourseIf.
You too. Thanks for everything.
Understood, Tom. You guys take good care up there.
Thanks, base. Out.
WeII, you heard it.
Computer modeI shows it's buiIding.
That's a concern.
We're about an hour from the bottIeneck, right?
Let's kick it and get up there.
Gets any worse, we'II sheIter under the ice cIiffs.
If it comes in fast, we're totaIIy exposed out here.
It's not fast. He said it's sIow-moving.
There's a 70% chance it'II turn east and miss us.
I'm not gonna risk a storm. Not at 26,000.
We're not suggesting anything stupid. The weather couId turn.
The odds are with us. We're five hours from the summit.
We turn back now, that's it. We've Iost our window.
I know. EIIiot, I'm aware of that. It's my responsibiIity.
I won't Iet a marketing campaign compromise our safety.
You think this is about a marketing campaign?
Come on, Tom. This is about getting to the top.
I don't give a shit about the pubIicity.
This is a Iife statement for me.
We're onIy 500 feet from the bottIeneck. Let's keep going.
Okay.
Let's go.
980 hecto-PascaIs and faIIing.
LenticuIar cIoud to the southeast. Winds at 80 knots, rising.
Tom says he's going on. What's base camp pressure?
Pressure's dropped two points in four hours.
You made your case. We Iistened. We decided.
It's too high a risk. Why am I here if you don't Iisten to me?
I'II assess the risk. As to why you're here, I wonder myseIf.
I'm Annie's brother. McLaren's puIIing them back, right?
We're on target. They're going on.
The wind's hit to the south. What's your sateIIite show?
We've assessed the data. We're going up.
It shows bad air coming in from India.
What the heII are you doing?
-How high are they? -26,000.
-What are you doing?! -Warning my sister!
Leave it! That's enough!
Tom McLaren, come in.
Tom McLaren, this is base camp. Do you copy?
Tom McLaren, do you read?
Come in, base.
You've got a major storm coming in. You've gotta start down.
Who is this?
Peter Garrett. You copy about the storm?
Where's Frank WiIIiams? Put Frank WiIIiams on.
Skip here. We're Iooking at the weather screens.
lf this doesn't turn, you'll be in big trouble. Turn back immediately.
Do you copy?
Yeah, I copy that. Thanks, Skip. Out.
How we doing?
I'm puIIing the pIug. We're going down.
-Just hoId on. -I'm sorry, EIIiot.
You pay me to make these decisions.
I'm paying you to get me to the top.
Jesus! EIIiot, you toId me I was in charge up here.
You are! Why are you vaciIIating?
Because some second-rate guide got on the radio?
Nobody knows this mountain better than Skip.
Skip TayIor's a hustIer. He was jockeying me to be in your boots.
Don't crap out on me now.
Come on, what did you think?
She'd just Iift up her skirt and puII her panties down for us?
Is this how you got up Everest twice?
I'm going down.
Fine. Fine.
Go down. Go on. Sit it out.
The storm wiII turn and you'II spend the rest of your Iife Iiving it down.
That shouId do wonders for your business.
I'm sorry, can I? PIease.
We're going back!
We don't have a choice! We are dead on the ridge! Let's go!