I saw this movie many years ago on TV, and thoroughly enjoyed it. As a previous reviewer said, the title is somewhat misleading; I usually refer to it as "The Man Who Fell Down Everest"!
What struck me about this film is that the expedition is so *Japanese*. For example, all the equipment is stencilled "JESE" for "Japanese Everest Ski Expedition". They carry collapsible bridges for crossing crevasses. And they lugged old-style videotape equipment up the mountain so the skier could record and critique his practice runs; there is a funny scene of the Sherpas watching _Bonanza_ tapes dubbed into Japanese.
All in all, I found it fascinating. And it won the Oscar for best documentary that year.
What struck me about this film is that the expedition is so *Japanese*. For example, all the equipment is stencilled "JESE" for "Japanese Everest Ski Expedition". They carry collapsible bridges for crossing crevasses. And they lugged old-style videotape equipment up the mountain so the skier could record and critique his practice runs; there is a funny scene of the Sherpas watching _Bonanza_ tapes dubbed into Japanese.
All in all, I found it fascinating. And it won the Oscar for best documentary that year.