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Eddie Bauer Athlete team members Cory Richards and Adrian Ballinger – who have already reached the difficult 8,000 meter mark – are documenting their entire trip up the mountain using the social media app, creating the first ever Snap-umentary.
“I’ve summited Everest many times, but there’s always been a sense of mystery about it for our friends, families and followers until we returned home,” says Ballinger, who is attempting to summit Everest for the seventh time. “Now we are bringing a level of accessibility, and sharing our journey first-hand in ways we never imagined.”
The duo is sharing daily video entries that capture almost every aspect of the climb; from the beautiful views from atop the mountain to more mundane activities like how they stay warm (thanks to a negative 30-degree sleeping bag from Eddie Bauer) and Ballinger watching American Horror Story on his iPhone while at an altitude of 25,000 feet.
Richards and Ballinger, who embarked on their adventure in April, are climbing Everest without supplemental oxygen, an attempt made by less than three percent of Everest climbers. Speaking to CBS This Morning, they compared climbing without oxygen to having an “absolutely terrible hangover.”
This climb marks Richards’ first attempt to summit Everest. While summiting Pakistan’s Gasherbrum in 2011, Richards, a National Geographic Fellow Photographer, survived an avalanche, which he captured in a documentary called Cold. He was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2012.
“I’ve captured content in just about every beautifully quiet corner of the world – bringing access to my adventures to so many,” says Richards. “But through new innovations in social media, those adventures are now even more raw, unfiltered and in 100 percent real-time and that’s exhilarating.”
The length of the climb is dependent on the weather; however, they are hoping to summit between May 18 and May 31.
Follow their journey on Snapchat at EverestNoFilter and check out archived videos on their YouTube channel EverestNoFilter 2016.
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