Episode 055 The Young Ones

"Well, We Got This Done." This morning, Jess Roskelley visited our camp. He's a friend of Ben's and now the youngest American to summit Everest.

Jess was climbing with his father, John Roskelley, and they summitted early in the morning the day before Ben made the summit. In addition to holding claim to the title of "youngest American," they also hold the distinction of being the first father-son team to climb to the top of Everest together.

Jess and John are very nice people and we've spent a lot of time with them here. Earlier on the trip they had an additional climber on their team. Dick Bass. Dick is famous for being the first guided client up Everest in 1985, and also the first person to climb the 7 Summits. He's quite a character, too. I ran into him while hiking up to ABC and we had a pleasant conversation. There, in the middle of the wilderness in Tibet, he was trying to sell me on the idea of visiting the ski resort he founded in Utah. Snowbird. Quite the salesman. Unfortunately, a back injury caused him to give up his bid weeks ago. He was quite the character!

Ben spent quite a bit of time with the Roskelley's up high, and I'm sure they enjoyed his company as much as he enjoyed theirs. It was great to see Ben and Jess together today. "Old" friends reunited only a handful of days after summitting Everest.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 18:25

Last Minute PR...

“Rest of Everest” Podcast Nominated For Best Video Podcast

Fort Collins, CO—A video podcast about a Colorado climber’s journey to the summit of Everest has recently been nominated for “Best Video Podcast” in the 3rd annual Podcast Awards. In the groundbreaking podcast, ‘The Rest of Everest,’ Fort Collins filmmaker Jon Miller offers the first podcast in the world to document an entire expedition, rather than a few climbing highlights.

The People’s Choice Podcast Awards received more than 6 million nominations for various podcasters from over 335,000 people. In total 4097 podcasts were nominated in 22 categories, with only the top 10 shows in each category making the competition. Podcast viewers and listeners can vote for their favorite shows including ‘The Rest of Everest’ until August 11th. Podcast Awards winners will be recognized at the end of September at the Podcast and New Media Expo in Ontario, California.

“This is such an honor to be nominated for Best Video Podcast,” said Miller. “Podcasting has really proven itself a entirely new way to connect with an audience and the 9 other nominees I stand with truly set the standard for this new medium.”

Viewers can find the free video podcast at www.therestofeverest.com. In weekly 15-20 minute episodes, Miller takes viewers along on the Himalayan adventures of 23-year-old mountaineer Ben Clark. The unique video podcast provides a comprehensive account of what goes into climbing the world’s tallest peak. It combines commentary, previously unseen raw footage and footage from Miller’s highly acclaimed feature-length film “Everest: The Other Side,” which was released in spring of 2005.

‘The Rest of Everest’ has received positive reviews from critics and viewers alike. Within Apple Computer’s iTunes Store, the video podcast has garnered comments including “the best and most complete documentary on Everest,” “totally fascinating” and “the jewel of web content creation for 2006.” This past December, iTunes editors declared The Rest of Everest as a “Best of 2006” podcast.

With over 60 episodes released so far, viewers have followed Miller and Clark as they traveled to Nepal and Kathmandu, ascended the steep Tibetan Plateau, arrived at the 17,000 foot Everest Base Camp and climbed to the 21,000 foot Advanced Base Camp. Followers of the show also have watched one of the team’s integral members depart from the mountain due to pulmonary edema as well as a successful summit in some of the worst conditions imaginable.

“Over the course of the two-month expedition, Ben and the Sherpa team members only spent a total of two weeks actually climbing,” said Miller. “Climbing these tall mountains involves a very calculated waiting game. Although the climbing footage is amazing, what interests me most is how this international community in the middle of nowhere spends its time passing time. This is the ‘true’ Everest experience. It’s not all about technical mountaineering. It’s a very personal experience.”

Due to the popularity of the show, Miller was able to return to Everest this past Spring to film new content for the podcast. The month-long trek was filmed entirely in high definition video and will be released as future ‘Rest of Everest’ episodes.

The Podcast is released every Wednesday and may be viewed directly on a computer with broadband Internet access and Apple’s free QuickTime 7 software. Episodes also can be downloaded from “The Rest of Everest” website and transferred to a video capable MP3 player such as an Apple iPod. The Rest of Everest Video Podcast can also be found in the iTunes Store Podcast directory where it consistently ranks within the top 10 travel-related Podcasts.

Miller owns TreeLine Productions, an award-winning production company based in Fort Collins, Colo. He has produced video work around the globe. Before launching TreeLine Productions, Miller built and operated the Northern Colorado Bureau for CNN Headline News Local Edition.

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