Comment: French YouTuber's Everest ascent is problematic but inspiring
Columnist Nabila Rambani reflects on the achievement of YouTube sensation Inoxtag
The YouTuber Inoxtag (right) followed in the footsteps of Hilary and Sherpa Tenzig and gained millions of views in the process
Historical Picture Archive _ Alamy / Inoxtag Instagram
We all need epic inspiration in our lives, and Mount Everest has certainly provided it over the years.
Members of a British expedition first conquered the highest peak in the world in 1953, planting their Union Jack on May 29.
New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the Nepalese-Indian Sherpa, became legends as the first climbers up, even if it took a while for people to know about their achievement.
These were the days when long-distance coded messages were delivered across isolated landscapes by runners and then unreliable transmitters, so it was not until June 2 that the news reached London.
By coincidence, this was also the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation, so newspaper editors struggled with a headline to cover two incredible stories.
The Daily Express did it best, running a breathtaking photo of the crowning in Westminster Abbey, alongside the words: “All this – and Everest too!”
The front page became a part of history, cherished by millions as their principal souvenir of the extraordinary events.
How quaint compared to the way Everest expeditions are covered today.
The latest reality TV-style documentary on the subject stars Inès Benazzouz, a 22-year-old French-Algerian, who uses the name ‘Inoxtag’ on social media.
Kaizen, his film about the fabled mountain top, is a smash hit on YouTube (you can watch it here), where it was seen more than 11 million times on its release day in September.
Fans have also been queueing up at cinemas to watch the action on the big screen.
As entertainment alone, Kaizen is hugely watchable, if a little cheesy.
The challenge is for an affable celebrity with zero background in mountaineering to scale Everest, and the production is full of US-style motivational wisdom.
There is also grit and tension at every turn and – spoiler alert – a sense of absolute joy when Inoxtag makes it, collapsing on to the snow in tears while making a Hollywood-style speech.
Cue lots of veteran mountaineers exploding with anger at the upstart’s achievements. They are wrong to be critical of Inoxtag’s climbing technique – he never pretends to be the Gallic Hillary, let alone a new Sherpa Tenzing – but where criticism of his film is appropriate is in the way it skates over so many serious problems with high peak expeditions today.
Everest now symbolises all that is wrong with adventure tourism. It has been turned into the world’s highest rubbish dump, covered as it is with mounds of detritus, from oxygen canisters and brightly coloured tents, to – most shocking of all – the corpses of those who did not make it.
At least 330 people have perished since serious Everest expeditions began in the 1920s. Getting frozen bodies off is considered too dangerous, and indeed too expensive, so new arrivals are encouraged to literally step over them.
Meanwhile, the number of people standing in line at the Everest summit for their own videos is growing all the time.
Beyond paying thousands for the privilege, they fly in from all over the world, creating a monstrous carbon footprint, while treating their poorly-paid Sherpa guides like neo-colonial servants.
Many of the Everest glory hunters are only there because they watched influencers like Inoxtag giving a blurred picture of what multiple ascents really cost.
On-screen discussion certainly excludes critical issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and mass overcrowding.
The situation is now so serious that many environmentalists think it is time to end Everest ascents altogether.
If that happens – so returning the mountain top to its natural state of majestic emptiness – then Inoxtag’s lavish video will certainly provide invaluable documentation.
Many of us will feel, however, that such historic records should have stopped on a glorious day in 1953, when enough inspiring memories were created to last for eternity.
