Biography of David Breashears

World-class filmmaker, adventurer, and mountaineer David Breashears has combined his skills in climbing and cinematography to become one of the worlds most acclaimed adventure filmmakers. Most noted for his work on the IMAX film Everest: Mountain Without Mercy, he released Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa in Spring 2002. Kilimanjaro followed a diverse group of trekkers as they ascended the highest mountain in Africa. His current project is guiding director Steven Daldry and producer John Finn on a research trip to the heights of Everest in preparation for a Universal Pictures film titled, Everest. The film will chronicle the tragic events of May 10, 1996, when a brutal storm on the mountain killed eight climbers. Breashears was on the mountain at the time filming his IMAX documentary. Breashears is also acting as the film’s co-producer and second unit director.

His work has taken him to remote locations throughout Tibet, China, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and East Africa. In the spring of 1996, he directed, photographed, and co-produced the first-ever IMAX film on Mt. Everest. This film, titled Everest, premiered in March 1998, and was released in more than 150 IMAX theaters throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. The allure of Mt. Everest and the 1996 tragedy made this project the most eagerly anticipated IMAX film of all time.

When the now infamous blizzard of May 10, 1996, hit Mt. Everest, killing eight climbers, Breashears and his team were in the midst of making their historic film. In the tragedy that soon followed, Breashears and his team stopped filming to assist several of the stranded climbers to safety. He and his expedition members were later recognized as heroes for their courageous efforts. Breashears and his team then regrouped and reached the summit on May 23, 1996, achieving their goal of becoming the first to attain IMAX film images from the top of the world.

Breashears is now speaking eloquently to audiences about the challenges he faced on his expedition and the tragedy that led to the deadliest day in the history of Mt. Everest. His multi-media presentations include breathtaking images from his IMAX Everest expedition. Breashears has said that if there is a lesson to be learned from the May ’96 tragedy, it is that for him, success was not being the first IMAX team to summit, it was that everyone on his team returned safely home.

Over the past 25 years, Breashears has worked on over 35 film projects, ranging from full-length feature films to music videos. His film credits include: 4^th Unit Director of Photography for Seven Years In Tibet (1996), a feature film starring Brad Pitt; 4^th Unit Director of Photography and Producer for Ice Princess (1995), a National Geographic Explorer film shot in Peru; Director of Photography and Producer of the Telluride Mountain Film Festival Grand Documentary Prize-winning Red Flag Over Tibet (1994), a Frontline, WGBH-TV program shot in Tibet, India, and Nepal; and Cliffhanger (1993), a feature film starring Sylvester Stallone, for which he was a Cameraman, Climbing Consultant and Advisor. In addition, Breashears transmitted the first live television pictures from the summit of Mt. Everest in 1983, and in 1985, became the first American to twice reach the summit of Mt. Everest. He is the recipient of numerous awards for achievement in filmmaking including four Emmy Awards.

His 1996 IMAX Everest expedition is also the subject of the National Geographic book, Everest: Mountain Without Mercy (1997). Breashears published a memoir, High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places, in April (1999). He is the co-author of the National Geographic book Last Climb (2000), the story of the disappearance of Malory and Irvine high on Mount Everest in 1924. He has written the introduction for National Geographic’s book Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa (2002), a companion volume to his most recent IMAX film.

He also produced and photographed a film for the PBS Science Series, NOVA, Everest: The Death Zone, once again reaching the summit of Everest with camera in hand. This was his fourth ascent of Mt. Everest. The film aired in February 1998.