Flocabulary: Mount Everest

A song about climbing Mount Everest with a focus on the Sherpa guides’ role in summiting the mountain.

Directed by: Natasha Sharpe

Produced by: Flocabulary by Nearpod

Boards, Design & Animation: Caroline Shortes

Lyrics:

29 thousand feet above the sea,
Rising through clouds and mist,

it's Mount Everest,
In the Himalayas, born from collision that was continental,
The highest point on Earth from sea level,
So you want to summit it? You want to cross that off your bucket list? Don't you know it's one of the toughest trips?
Have you been training for years? Getting reps in as a mountaineer? Do you have the skill? Stamina? Money for all the gear?

It's hard to breathe at the top where the air is thin, You'll be sipping bottled oxygen that you carried in, First to make it to the top were Norgay and Hillary, A Nepali-Indian Sherpa and a mountaineering Kiwi, They were first to the summit in 1953,

Didn't go alone, no no, they had a big team,
The Sherpa are mountain-dwelling people in Nepal,
Many served as guides for climbers cause the mountain is so tall,

The Sherpa guides, expert mountaineers,
Set up base camps and guide ropes so foreign climbers have less fear, Sherpas carry heavy equipment and life-saving supplies,
It's a dangerous job, I'm sad to say many have died,
There's lots trash near the top these days, another problem,
As climbers leave garbage and oxygen tanks behind them,
There are efforts underway to make it more clean,

For visitors and Sherpa, make it pristine,

For me? I like hiking, but have no interest in scaling it, I guess I'm not the ideal candidate,
I like breathing air that doesn't come in a can,
Call me old fashioned...