"Lost On Everest," a new documentary directed by photographer, climber, mountaineer and Sony Artisan Renan Ozturk, premieres June 30 at 9/8 central on National Geographic TV. The documentary aims to answer the question of who really reached the summit of Mount Everest first, and will air before its side-story documentary, "Expedition Everest" – also directed by Ozturk. The two films are a complement to National Geographic Magazine’s July issue featuring stories from the mountain’s history.
The Mystery
In 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine set off with the goal to be the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Unfortunately they disappeared during their journey and in 1953 Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were credited with being the first men to successfully summit, but there’s always been the question of whether or not Mallory and Irvine were actually first.
Ozturk has made plenty of dangerous climbs in the past, but he hadn't stepped foot on Mount Everest nor did he really have the desire to climb it. When he was presented with the opportunity to document a quest to solve this greatest mystery in climbing on the mountain, he saw it as a breath of fresh air and the perfect chance to tell a deeper story. In "Lost On Everest," Ozturk and a team seek to find the final answer and he captures every moment of their tense climb along the way.