Of the 4 000 or so people who have successfully summited Mount Everest, fewer than 200 did so without the assistance of bottled oxygen.

In 2017, renowned climber Ueli Steck tried to climb the mountain without additional oxygen, and tragically, died.

His friend, mountain guide Sherpa Tenji, wanted to honour him by finishing what he started and decided to do it with award-winning cameraman Jonathan Griffith by his side.

The result was Everest VR: Journey to the Top of the World, a three-part docuseries made for Oculus TV that documents every step of Tenji’s journey.

Given some of the recent disasters that have occurred on the fabled peak, it’s almost certainly the safest way to experience the thrill.

VRScout with more:

[The series] begins in the French Alps following a handful of accomplished mountain adventure athletes, including a world-class steep skier who spends his summers building climbing and mountain biking trails for other adventurers.

“These are people I’ve climbed and skied with all of my professional careers, so they’re incredibly good and we moved very fast,” says Griffith in an Oculus blog post.

In the following two episodes, Ueli, Griffith, and the rest of the expedition team make their way from a remote Himalayan town village to Everest base camp before beginning their ascent.

Then it’s views and more views, the likes of which you’ll probably never see for yourself, unless you plan on scaling the mountain.

“Obviously the view is everything,” adds Griffith. “I love VR because you can’t make a sunrise or sunset look more saturated than it is because then it doesn’t look real to the viewer.

I can’t tilt the camera to make a climb steeper than it is because the horizon will be off. You can’t cheat in VR. It keeps me really honest as a content creator.”

To get a taste of what the docuseries has to offer, watch the trailer:

In this video below, you can drag your mouse around for the full experience:

All three episodes of Everest VR: Journey to the Top of the World are available to watch on Oculus Quest, Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR, vis Oculus TV.

You’re going to need a VR headset to really enjoy this one, folks.

[source:vrscout]