CD-Rom: Everest Quest
By Rod Willard

These days you can find CD-Roms on every oft-visited place from Yosemite to the Australian outback. But Peak Media's Mount Everest: Quest for the Summit of Dreams stands out for one simple reason: It's a compelling documentary, as opposed to being just a hard-to-lug guidebook in digital form. Text, photos, and video and audio recordings take you along with eight of the teams that attempted the north side of Everest in the spring of 1994, providing such chilling glimpses of top-of-the-world realities as a radio conversation between base camp and a climber who, to save his own life, must abandon his dying partner.

Not quite as gripping as the expedition coverage, but clearly presented, is background information on everything from local history and culture to geology, ecology, and what's needed for a summit attempt. Aside from glossing over the Chinese occupation of Tibet--"During the Chinese Cultural Revolution...the number of monks was reduced...from 600,000 to 7,000," says one snippet, ignoring the fact that most Tibetan clerics were arrested, tortured, and killed--the information is accurate and well researched.
To run Mount Everest at a reasonable speed, you'll need an 486 PC with Microsoft Windows. Mac users will have to wait--it's not currently available for your machine.

$34.95. From Peak Media Inc., 1211 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225; 800-453-5322.