The Wildest Dream, the movie

We are not mountain climbers but C. & I are somehow mesmerized by Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain 29,029 ft above sea level, located in the Himalayas on the Nepal (Sagarmatha Zone)-China (Tibet) border.

The Wildest Dream, released in IMAX theatres by National Geographic Entertainment and Serengeti Entertainment, chronicles US climber Conrad Anker with his British climbing partner, Leo Houlding's, attempt to unravel the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of George Mallory in 1924.

George Mallory was a talented British climber obsessed with becoming the first person to conquer the untouched Mount Everest. As they were close to the summit but severely fatigued and plagued, and with monsoon season starting which brings fierce and deadly snow storms, he wrote his beloved Ruth, "It would be rather grim if they summited without me." He was last seen 800 feet below the summit in 1924 with his climbing partner Andrew Irvine, whose skills for making mechanical improvements was valuable in the attempt to summit with oxygen tanks. Mallory and Irvine disappeared in the the veil of clouds.

Mallory's frozen body with his belongings intact was found by modern day climber Anker as part of an expedition in 1999. Mallory suffered a compound fracture to his right ankle. As he lay prone after a fall, he crossed his left ankle over his right ankle, perhaps, to ease the pain. He was said to have died within 30 minutes. Irvine's body was never found.

Anker, haunted by the find, wanted to unravel the mysteries of Mallory's disappearance. Did Mallory and Irvine summit, being the first to ever reach Mt. Everest's peak, disputing the current record that New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali sherpa climber first ever summitted in 1953? Mallory's snow goggles were in his pocket, meaning they may have summitted early on and he died at night. The only missing was his beloved wife Ruth's photo which he vowed to leave at the summit.

Anker & Houlding trekked through the same route that Mallory & Irvine took. They also wore similar garments that Mallory wore at parts of the climb and did away with the ladders anchored by the Chinese in the steep aspects of the climb. They used the same tool, the snow pick, to carve steps into the ice and snow and were tethered by a rope, just as Mallory and Irvine were. They simulated what Mallory & Irvine went through in their time.

Conrad Anker, who fell in love and married his former climbing partner's (Alex Lowe, who died in an avalance at Mt. Everest), wife Jennifer and adopted their three sons, appeared to parallel what Mallory was going through in his obsessions about reaching the summit and his feelings for his family. Mallory was deeply in love with his beloved Ruth, missing her when he was climbing, but missing the mountain when he was home with Ruth. They wrote beautiful letters to each other during his attempt to summit, beautifully incorporated in the movie.

Mount Everest was shown in all its glory; mighty elevations of rock and snow arising from the Himalayas.

Anker and Houlding summited, using the same route, tools, clothing (at certain climbs) as Mallory and Irvine. They concluded yes, Mallory and Irvine summited Mt. Everest, being the first ever.