We are three days away from Halloween. Traditionally it's the time to be scared and scary. We think of ghosts and monsters and all that good stuff. But there are other scary things beyond your typical Halloween schlock. For instance, have you ever jumped out of an airplane? Go up two miles and have to step out on the wheel and dangle above the earth, knowing that in a few seconds you will be thrown free of the vehicle and have nothing around you for miles in any direction but air. That is a terrifying moment, but it is exhilarating, and to date the most ballsy, exciting thing I've ever done. Lots of people get off on this kind of thing, the adrenaline. Skydivers. Whitewater junkies. Mountain climbers.
Mountain climbing. Imagine being on top of the world like that. Imagine what it takes to get up there. Imagine if it all went wrong – and how terrifying that would be. K2 is the second highest mountain in the world. It sits on the border of Pakistan and China. At the end of July in 2008, eighteen climbers took on the mountain and made it to the summit. However, on August 1 everything went wrong. Eighteen went up and only seven made it back down, as in 48 hours eleven people died or simply vanished, claimed by the mountain one by one. Like a horror movie.
Village 8 Louisville Exclusives presents this story in the documentary The Summit, playing now til Thursday, October 31 – Halloween. Village 8 is located at 4014 Dutchmans Lane. Further theater information and showtimes can be found at the Village 8 website.
Image: Internet Movie Database
