Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: The Himalaya in North India
is the location of the Human Planet's most dangerous shoot.
The crew's mission,
to film a family walking to school 80 kilometres down a frozen river.
The team face sub-zero temperatures,
altitude sickness,
thin ice
and lethal avalanches.
(CHILD SCREAMS)
Really (BLEEP).
NARRATOR: Filming this sequence pushes them all to the edge.
It's a journey they'll never forget.
Director David Marks' body is tested to the limit.
That was intense.
NARRATOR: The ever-changing conditions stop cameraman Robin *** from filming.
It really doesn't look good for us getting back at the moment.
NARRATOR: And sound man Nick's sense of humour
gets a serious reality check.
There is a dead person in the toilet block over there.
NARRATOR: After several days acclimatising in town,
the teams set off for the Zanskar River
on a trek known as the Chadar.
-I'm going to take a picture. -How's it looking?
It's looking stunning!
Amazing!
NARRATOR: They're already a day late because David,
the director, hasn't been well.
(COUGHING)
I had a quite bad fever all through the night and I didn't think it was
a good idea to to start the trek.
I've got a pretty horrendous cold that I'm fighting off.
But I'm just... I'm soldiering on.
NARRATOR: The team's plan is to trek from Chilling,
seven days along the frozen Zanskar River
to Zangla village.
Here, they'll start filming the family as they walk the 80 kilometres back again.
The crew's first problem
is that they're trekking at an altitude of 3200 metres,
surrounded by the highest mountains in the world.
At this altitude, the air is thin and their bodies are struggling
to cope with less oxygen.
They're vulnerable to acute mountain sickness
and there's no way down at the bottom of a valley.
This is a key reason why expedition doctor Tashi Thinless
is on the trek.
That's another problem.
NARRATOR: The reason the frozen river is used as a highway
is that mountain roads are closed by snow in the winter.
But the team soon find out it's an unpredictable beast.
Within five minutes, they're drenched.
The medical kit's halfway down the cross, in the slush.
It's not a good sign.
MARKS: We're all a little wetter than we expected.
I think we're going to have to have a bit of a chat about safety as well.
Safety, what safety?
NARRATOR: Sound man Nick Reeks is the joker in the team.
And he needs to be.
All right, I'm wet into there.
-I wasn't expecting that at all. -No.
REEKS: This guy's going for it.
MARKS: We've just reached a position where the ice has melted.
We spoke to the guide and he said that this kind of thing
can happen within half an hour.
The ice can reform or the ice can melt.
So if we came back here later this afternoon,
it could be a completely different story,
and there's no way to continue other than climb up over the rocks.
(HEAVY BREATHING)
NARRATOR: This is the last thing they want to do at altitude.
This, uh...
Only a small climb, but at altitude it really takes it out of you.
NARRATOR: Altitude sickness can cause the brain to swell,
cerebral oedema.
And fluid build-up in the lungs, pulmonary oedema.
Both are killers.
Symptoms include headaches,
coughing
and loss of balance.
(MARKS COUGHS)
David has been showing some of these signs.
(MARKS COUGHING)
The team are soon in no doubt about how serious altitude sickness can be.
So we just passed a group of Belgian tourists who are
making a memorial up there on the hill.
Uh... A Belgian trekker died here ten days ago from
altitude sickness.
Had a bad night, had a bit of a fever, a bit of a cough.
Just sat down and was dead five hours later.
With altitude sickness, the idea is to get as low as you can, as soon as you can.
You're at the bottom of a river valley here and there's nowhere you can go.
So it's a bit of a sobering reminder of the conditions we're in, and uh,
a reminder to take it easy a little bit and be a bit more careful.
NARRATOR: The doctor finds out exactly what happened.
-MARKS: This guy that died? -Yeah.
-Thrombosis? -Yeah.
-Like a blood clot? -Blood clot, yeah.
-In his brain. -Mmm-hmm.
NARRATOR: Stress makes acute mountain sickness more likely.
And the responsibility on David's already weakened shoulders is immense.
Apart from the crew, he's in charge of forty porters needed to carry
all their food, tents and kit down the Chadar.
That night, everyone warms up around the fire for supper.
But David's lost his appetite.
(MARKS COUGHING)
In the early hours, his condition worsens.
So the crew get Dr Thinless.
(MARKS COUGHING)
MARKS: My heart rate was 125 last night
when we checked with the doctor, and I was getting a little bit worried because
that's the sign of high altitude pulmonary oedema,
which is a killer.
So I did freak out a bit about that but my heart rate's down to 95 this morning
and my cold's a bit better,
and I'm good to go.
NARRATOR: Human Planet cameraman Robin *** has worked in over fifty countries.
But even with his experience,
the Chadar trek is already proving to be the toughest of his career.
The constantly changing weather conditions make it extremely difficult to film.
At times on the Chadar, the light is glorious.
At others, the sun can't penetrate the steep gorge.
And filming in blanket white conditions is the toughest of all.
Snowed last night. Not much.
It's kind of two or three inches. But, um...
The river's turned to a bed of snow instead of a bed of ice
and we can't see where the thin ice is at all, so...
Potentially, it could make it more dangerous.
Have to be a little bit careful today, I guess.
NARRATOR: Until Robin reaches the family in Zangla,
he can't film the main bulk of the sequence,
so he takes every opportunity to get scenic shots.
Robin and the crew stop when they spot the tracks
of the most elusive predator of the Himalaya.
***: Snow leopard tracks.
There's a trail coming down from the rocks there.
One came from that direction. The other one's obviously joined it.
Goes straight down that sheer cliff and just...
They've joined together here. Now, look at the size.
That's a pretty big paw.
And there's the tracks of an ibex so they must have been in hot pursuit, and you can see
this little swish here of the tail as it walked past
and then went heading off down the valley.
NARRATOR: After a long day trekking,
socks need to be dried and water collected
before the team can gather around the fire.
Now that David's recovered,
they can relax properly.
(SINGING IN LOCAL LANGUAGE)
(FLUTE MUSIC)
After seven days and 80 kilometres,
the team are finally within striking distance of Zangla
and the family they'll film.
But the weather's closed in,
and the whole team are now walking through thick snow.
To add to their difficulties, the trek to Zangla village climbs nearly
two hundred metres from the river bed.
MARKS: We can't see very much,
but apparently Zangla, our final destination,
is just at the top of this hill.
NARRATOR: Here at altitude, every step is a struggle.
***: It's really, really been the toughest day.
It's just really hard work.
NARRATOR: After a three and a half hour slog, they make it to Zangla.
I've absolutely, uh, had it.
There's no way on Earth we would have made it without the porters.
I mean, they're all, each of them, carrying probably three to five times
the weight we're carrying.
Tough guys. Very tough people indeed.
Enough respect.
(INDISTINCT)
NARRATOR: They finally get to meet the children they've come to film,
Chosing, Dolkar and the family's yak.
This is it.
-Our home for the next... -Four days.
Or till the snow stops.
NARRATOR: Once in Zangla, the crew have time to recover and plan the journey back.
But the snow keeps falling,
increasing the chance of avalanches.
They're stuck.
Ten days pass.
By now, the team should be finishing their return journey,
not sharing the local brew.
They wait impatiently for a break in the weather.
(WIND BLOWING)
Finally, cold, clear skies appear.
The team film Dolkar, Chosing and their father Stanzin setting off.
At the river, Stanzin and the crew check out the ice.
That's the ice (BLEEP).
Really (BLEEP).
NARRATOR: But when even the experienced guide Chitta falls through,
it's obvious that the river is too dangerous to walk on.
MARKS: So if the weather does not clear, if the weather is cloudy,
what is our option?
NARRATOR: The team are forced to leave the river and head downstream to a small village
called Pidmo.
As they dry off, the local children get an unexpected treat.
We have kids checking our rushes while, um, we fix their shoes... They've just...
Holes all over the place in their shoes.
So we're just doing a bit of a bandaging, trying to make them a bit more watertight,
because they all got very cold feet yesterday.
NARRATOR: With temperatures dropping further,
frostbite is a real danger for the children and crew.
The next morning, the team are hoping to carry on downstream
when some terrible news filters through.
A local road worker has been killed on the river close to the village.
***: We've already experienced one Belgian guy dying from
altitude sickness.
Now a guy's died in an avalanche.
And, um...
It's making everyone feel very nervous, and it's just been a big blow
for everyone, but especially because he came from Zangla, the village where most
of our porters come from.
They're losing faith in us and losing faith in the river and, um...
And we can't go without them.
NARRATOR: For many days, no one has come up the Chadar from Leh,
which is a bad sign.
Chitta, the guide, hears the news that the Chadar
might be officially closed.
(SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)
The locals are saying that this is the worst state that the Chadar's
been in for ten years.
So, um... Just our luck, really.
NARRATOR: They've reached a crisis point
and everyone may be stuck here for a long time.
It really doesn't look good for us getting back at the moment.
(WIND BLOWING)
NARRATOR: After three cold nights, the river starts to harden
and the whole team agree to push on again.
They're now desperate to film with the children on the ice,
but only if the river is safe.
***: It's completely smashed to smithereens.
Though I remember this bit of rock because it was pretty and now it's just
like an ice machine.
NARRATOR: They're forced to detour again
up a recently cleared bit of road.
***: We've actually used the road that they're building,
and they've been clearing the road, actually, for the purposes of taking a body out.
The porters are very worried.
Wasn't exactly good for their spirits and, um...
They... They took some persuasion really, to...
To make them continue on today, um...
A few of them just said, "We're not going any further,"
and, um, Chitta, our guide, has managed to talk them around.
It's absolutely crazy.
We've been here 18 days, that's since leaving Leh, and it must be nearly
25 days or so since we left the UK.
I've never been this long waiting to start filming before.
It's really frustrating.
REEKS: We're now held up at a road camp which isn't on the itinerary.
There is a dead person in the toilet block over there
and he died over a week ago.
Overall it's quite a sombering, uh,
moment really.
NARRATOR: That night, the temperature drops dramatically,
forming new ice that's desperately needed.
But this creates another problem.
MARKS: It was really cold last night. There was ice inside the tent.
And it was probably about minus 30 or even lower, we're not sure.
But, uh... Got in a bit of trouble this morning. I, uh,
sort of got up and started moving around and getting dressed
and before I knew it, my feet were numb.
Right one's slowly coming back though, just had to run up and down
on the spot for the last half an hour.
Just get the circulation moving.
It's a little bit scary.
We're busting some moves aren't we, Stanzin?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(SPEAKING LOCAL LANGUAGE)
And two, and one...
MARKS: Okay, all right. (SIGHS)
And relax. (WHISTLES)
REEKS: Extreme workout.
NARRATOR: On the trek, David's feet continue to be a concern.
MARKS: I can vaguely feel them,
but they're definitely numb compared to the other three.
***: You've got frostnip, I expect.
MARKS: Yeah, that's exactly what I've got.
They're not cold though, right?
***: No, they're not cold at all.
Well, a little bit, but not much.
MARKS: See how white they are, compared to the other ones?
They're tingling. That's a good sign, isn't it?
-Yeah, they'll get really painful in a minute. -Will they?
(GASPS)
Oww...
NARRATOR: But David's not the only one in trouble.
The doctor's down the line helping out the team's stills photographer.
My walking boots got wet. I tried to dry them by putting them near a fire
and the leather and the Gore-Tex seemed to contract
and made the boots a size smaller
than they were.
If your shoes are wet and you're in frozen conditions,
you can't feel anything inside the shoes and how easy it is to get injured.
You're going to lose the skin of this part. And perhaps the nail.
But new skin should grow. Hopefully.
NARRATOR: But even a quick medical stop is fraught with danger here.
-It's a danger way. -Danger way?
-Yeah. -We shouldn't stop too long.
Our little foot-warming session's been cut short
because we've been told we're sitting down in a high avalanche risk location.
NARRATOR: As the team cross the area close to where the road worker died,
everyone takes special care.
Evidence of avalanches are all around them.
SINCLAIR: How many avalanches have you guys passed, guys?
-More than ten. -More than ten.
NARRATOR: So it's a relief to get through.
Some big, some small.
NARRATOR: They stop for lunch...
-MAN: Avalanche! -(GIRL SCREAMS)
...and an avalanche hits.
-(LOUD RUMBLING) -(GIRL SCREAMS)
Luckily no one's harmed.
The team continue down the river.
It looks as if they might make it after all,
so Robin starts to get the shots of the family he needs.
But the river puts up a final obstacle.
***: We just tried to get around this broken ice, but um...
All the water's just turned to slush.
And it's just too steep to get past, so...
That's, um, looks like it's going to be the end of the film.
No one's come up in the last week.
Uh, it's a pretty good indication that the Chadar is closed, so...
It's a bit of an anti-climax to our adventure,
but it is what it is.
NARRATOR: Dejected, the whole expedition stops
and prepares to camp for the night.
In the morning, they labouriously pack up to g o back the way they came.
It seems Dolkar won't be making it to school this term.
But within minutes, men are spotted coming up the river from Leh.
This means that incredibly, overnight, the ice has grown
and the river is open once more.
The crew can continue after all.
***: Another day, another plan.
We just had, um, nine porters arrive this morning walk from Leh in three days, so...
Everything's changed. We're going to give it a go.
The river seems to be frozen up again.
Good news.
Suddenly, it's all okay again.
Um, it's hard to kind of keep up with it.
I'm just really pleased that we've actually got the chance
to finish what we set out to do.
NARRATOR: It's a month since the team left the UK,
but now they have flat ice ahead of them and sunshine above.
So it's time to knuckle down
and film the rest of the sequence.
***: Um, Dolkar, can I have a clap please? Thank you.
Action.
NARRATOR: Each part of the sequence
requires concentration from the crew.
There are still plenty of hazards along the way.
When they reach their final day on the Chadar,
the crew can't quite believe that they've pulled it off
with everyone safe and sound.
***: We've made our film, more or less.
We've got a few more bits and pieces to pick up,
but unbelievably, um, we pulled it out of the bag
and I think it's going to be good.
(CHEERING)
Hey, all right, give us a hug. Nice one.
We made it. Twenty-five days later.
And I just fell in, then.
Very happy. (LAUGHS)
Done! Excellent job.
You're a star.
NARRATOR: Against all the odds, the kids can now go to school.
And the crew can go home.
(ROARS)
We've been twenty five days on the Chadar.
We've been eight days getting these guys to school.
And I know... I've got two kids at home and I know that
eight days walk to school wouldn't go down very well with them.
But look, they've still got smiles on their faces.
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)