I doubt that this will be about climbing Everest. While, sadly, climbing Mt. Everest has turned into a horribly commercial phenomenon, Everest is still Everest. In other words, incredibly dangerous. People die there every year. It'd be extremely irresponsible on Ubisoft's part to just pick some winner to climb it. It's simply not something that anyone can do.
What this probably is, though, is the famous trek all the way to Everest Base Camp, which, while already tough, is actually something that pretty much any healthy person is capable of doing, though there's still an inherent risk. I've done it myself.
I'll take the chance to say here that Nepal is fricking amazing. Really, I went there in Spring 2013 and absolutely fell in love with it, so much so that exactly one year later I was there again.
Really, if you ever get the chance, go and visit it. And, no matter how far you are, do know that travelling there is really really cheap, so it's still a very affordable destination.
It has awesome (in the true, original sense of the word) scenery.
It has what is probably the world's best trekking.
Wonderful people (friendly, easy to smile, hospitable, polite, humble and peaceful).
Fascinating cultures (in most of the country, Hinduism prevails and it bears many similarities to India, while up north in the mountains it's mostly about Buddhism and it's pretty much like visiting Tibet. And it's not just the different religions, either. Nepal, despite its small size has an incredible diversity of ethnicities and I came to the conclusion that there's simply no such thing as a "typical Nepali face").
It's traveler-friendly (lots of people speak English, plus, tourism is a major industry there).
Dirt-cheap (a bit of money will last you a long time there).
Actually, Far Cry 4 is, at the moment, the game that I'm most excited about (probably the only one that I'm truly excited about, really) and the main reason for it is simply the setting. Watching the game's trailers and videos really reminds of the time I spent in Nepal. Ubisoft simply couldn't have picked a better location for a Far Cry game, in my opinion.
So yeah, I quite enjoyed this video as it brought me back some really good memories.
Thanks for the link!
Great post, O-Rei-do-Frango. You are right. It is just to the base camp.
I remember the ill fated discovery special that showed all the frozen dead people on the way to the summit. Especially when they passed buy that guy on the way up and had no choice but to leave him to die. It was really eye opening seeing how it tough really is. Summitting Everest takes a special kind of person, or a Sherpa. Those guys are hard core.
Thanks for the compliment, BELLROY.
Yeah, summiting Mt Everest is not something that anyone can do and it's a shame just how horribly commercialized climbing Mt Everest has become. Too many rich people (climbing it is really expensive) with fantasies of glory decide to climb it, often with not nearly enough mountaineering experience and the results are often tragic. This is exacerbated by the whole industry around climbing Everest which has emerged in Nepal, which, irresponsibly, sometimes make it seem like it's totally safe, like some simple, but cool adventure for you to tell and brag about when you get back home. It's almost as if they're saying "As long you have the money, you too can "conquer" Everest!". The thing is, like I mentioned before, even though it has become commercialized and there's now actually a certain degree of infrastructure in place to help the climbing process, Everest is still Everest. It's fricking dangerous!
And it's not just the deaths that occur there. Starting from Base Camp itself, all the way to summit, the mountain itself is filled with litter and garbage and abandoned equipment left behind by climbers, porters and such. Disgusting! Such a beautiful, revered place filled with garbage...
In fact, I remember reading in an English-language newspaper in Nepal, when I was there a few months back, that the Nepalese Government had established some law that required every single climber in Everest to take back not just all of his garbage and equipment, but also an extra 8 kg of stuff that's already there, mostly at the Base Camp. This is part of an effort to clean up Mt Everest and, at the same time, to force climbers to be more environmentally responsible.
I do hope that such a policy is strictly enforced and that it brings good results.
Anyway, despite all that, a simple, though tough, trek to the Everest Base Camp is fairly safe and the entire Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park area is actually fairly clean, so there's none of the crazy amount of pollution, created by climbing expeditions, that you'd see on the mountain itself, so it is an extremely enjoyable experience indeed and I hope that the guy from the video has a great time. I'm sure it will only make him even more excited about playing Far Cry 4.
I also enjoyed what you wrote O-Rei-do-Frango, thanks for that.
One day I might even take a trip to Katmandu as it looks to be an amazing place, my only issue would be food as I am a very plain eater and have never had pizza, curry, kebab etc etc - And now I don't eat red meat.
This link below shows you some images from an up to date blog for Will's trip.
http://far-cry.ubi.com/en-US/news/ne...m:148-76770-32
This below would be an interesting setting for a User Created Map using the in game Editor
Tiger’s Nest Monastery, Bhutan
Built on a rock in 1682 (though founded in the 8th century as a meditation cave), this jaw-droppingly beautiful temple is 3,000m above sea level and is only accessible by foot.
Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia located at the eastern end of the Himalayas. It is bordered to the north by China and to the south, east and west by India. To the west, it is separated from Nepal by the Indian state of Sikkim, while further south it is separated from Bangladesh by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. Bhutan's capital and largest city is Thimphu.
I hope this Will Cruz guy is ok, I am unsure if he has finished his quest or if he is still out there ?
Nepal Annapurna: Climbing disaster toll reaches 39
Have a read of this linked below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-29672358