The Paper's reporter Chen Chen
In 2019, a "Climber" shocked countless audiences with the spirit of China's first generation of mountaineers to climb the mountain for the country and measure the roof of the world. At that time, xia Boyu, the archetypal character played by Hu Ge in the movie, took the initiative to give up his sleeping bag to his teammates, resulting in severe frostbite on his legs and only amputation, and the legendary life was far from over.
With a pair of prosthetics, Xia Boyu in 43 years, relying on his perseverance and love, hit Mount Everest five times, and finally was accepted by Mount Everest on May 14, 2018, and successfully reached the summit at the age of 69, becoming the first person in China to reach the summit of Mount Everest without legs, and the world's oldest Chinese to summit Mount Everest with amputations on both legs.
Endless Climb poster
The soon-to-be-released documentary film "Endless Climbing" on December 3 tells the story of climber Xia Boyu's lifelong experience of climbing the mountain. The film is produced by Wu Jing and Guo Fan, supervised by Liu Kailuo, produced by Ke Qingfeng, directed by Ye Junce, and edited by Ye Fengchang. On November 21, the film held its premiere in Shanghai, and Xia Boyu also shared with the audience the love and journey of his life.
As long as you are alive, you must fight for your dreams every day
In the old black and white photo, the young Xia Boyu is strong and handsome, full of sportsmanship, and he was once a teenager who walked like a fly. None of this changed because he lost his legs.
Speaking of the reasons for losing his legs that year, he was very calm, because he had a nickname called "Vulcan" in the team, and he insisted on taking a cold bath in the winter and was never afraid of the cold, so after his teammates lost their sleeping bags, he took the initiative to let the sleeping bags out. And the process and strange feelings that the frostbite should have undergone, because he was too focused on the climbing and did not realize it.
In the film, talking about how he felt when he first lost his legs, Xia Boyu was also confused and depressed. But later, after meeting a foreign prosthetic expert and telling him to install a prosthesis, through exercise, and also go to mountaineering, his passion for life was ignited again. After standing up this time, challenging Everest has become the biggest motivation for him to overcome all kinds of impossibilities in his life, complete difficult rehabilitation training, exercise and maintain a physical state that is difficult for ordinary people to achieve, overcome cancer, blood clots, and repeatedly challenge Everest... Persistent to "incomprehensible", tenacious to indestructible.
Xia Boyu
At the scene of the movie, Xia Boyu also shared with the audience his original intention of legless mountaineering, he said that after losing his legs, he did not want to lose to anyone with a competitive spirit, and wanted to fight against fate and challenge himself through mountaineering. It's a belief, and it's what keeps him going.
A reporter talked to him about his experience with cancer in the 1990s and asked him if he would return to training immediately after recovering from his illness, and the answer was that he never gave up during his illness. "When doing radiotherapy and chemotherapy, all the indicators of the body are very low, I don't want to eat, nausea, hair loss, all the reactions to cancer I have, but I can't just do it, I have to wait until the cancer is well controlled, not to recur, I go to exercise again, maybe it's over." So I was waiting, exercising, and I thought that as long as I was alive, I must fight for my dream for a day, a day of hard work. ”
In the film, It also records Xia Boyu's experience of rubbing shoulders with Mount Everest several times. Most recently, he was only 94 meters from the top. And the weather is bad, the 5 young people around him are willing to accompany him and give him full support. But Xia Boyu did not want his young life to risk for him, and chose to give up.
On the way up the climb, he would meet his deceased friends who had been killed in the past, and he would pass by their burial places, light a cigarette for them, and continue on the road. These moving moments also give the climbing spirit another and richer meaning in addition to persevering and challenging the limits.
Asked how different he felt to see himself climbing in the movie now, Xia Boyu's answer was somewhat unexpected. Because it is to rely on prosthetic limbs to climb the mountain, it is not possible to feel every step by relying on the intuitive "foot feeling" under the feet like normal people, and every step is crucial when extreme sports. "Because it is a prosthesis, itself does not feel where to step on, there is no high or low in this place, the prosthesis is not known, only through the eyes, I must step steady, minimize the amplitude of body shaking, because the greater the amplitude of my body shaking, the greater the friction of the prosthesis on my legs, the more painful and easily blood blisters, so my eyes can only stare at the bottom of the feet." 」 And this time, following his own documentary to climb again, but also let the person who has climbed Mount Everest five times see a different scenery, "This time through the movie, you can see the entire mountain, feel more shocked." Xia Boyu said.
Xia Boyu also shared the wonderful experience at the summit of Mount Everest for everyone at the scene: "I sat on the ground and didn't want to get up, everyone was around me, and the scenery on the side of the peak I only saw the snow and people." ”
The iron man is tender, and it is more important to return home safely than to climb to the top
In addition to recording in detail the process of Xia Boyu's challenge to Mount Everest, as a documentary, the soft side of the climber facing his family and relatives in the film is also very moving.
In the film, on the eve of his official charge against Everest, he talks to the camera about his regret and gratitude to his family, and at one point he loses his voice and cries. In an interview, talking about the feelings at that time, he admitted that he was "selfish" most of the time, "In the previous words, I was bent on going my own way, and I didn't want anything but mountaineering." Because there is a lover in the family, I am very relieved. I didn't think too much about what part of my responsibility I should take on, as long as I climbed the mountain. When I got to the top of the mountain, I found that this was not the case, every time I climbed the mountain for them, it caused a lot of psychological and physical stress, but in the past I just didn't think about it, I think this is a very guilty place, I want to make up for this lack of family. ”
Xia Dengping shared his father's feelings about climbing the peak
Xia Boyu's son Xia Dengping also shared his feelings with the audience when his father successfully reached the top. At that time, he was waiting for news from his father at the Everest base camp without his father's knowledge. On the one hand, it is possible to greet the triumph of the father at the first time, and on the other hand, it is also out of concern about the father's body, "In case something happens, I have to be there." Xia Dengping said that on the night of his father's ascent, he almost did not sleep, and after entering the tent, he was always worried about his father's situation, and he had been listening to the movement outside the tent, and even had auditory hallucinations thinking that the Sherpa guide was calling him, and then simply came out of the tent and stood by the walkie-talkie until the summit.
Teacher Xia also showed the audience the support of his family for his climbing, saying that every time he went out, his family often said that "it is not important for us to climb to the top, the important thing is to come back safely." Saying that, he took out the gourd and said: "This is the blessing that my wife and children sent me before the fifth climb, and I have been carrying it with me since the fifth climb of Everest, which is a blessing and also accompanies me on behalf of my family when I climb." ”
Xia Boyu showed the gourd sent by his wife
Recalling the situation when he returned to the base camp to see his son, Xia Boyu said that he felt more strange that his son, an office worker who was usually too busy to exercise, suddenly came to the high-altitude base camp, and he was a little worried about his son's body, thinking that his son had completed an "impossible task" .
From climbing for the country in those years to constantly approaching his dreams in the following life, Xia Boyu said that with the changes of the times, the meaning of mountaineering for people will change, and the equipment will continue to upgrade, and what remains unchanged is the spiritual strength required for climbing.
Today,Xia Boyu still insists on his training. "Get up at 5:00 in the morning to practice strength first, carry 10 kilograms, squat 150 in groups to practice 10 groups, pull-ups under 10 groups to practice 10 groups, push-ups 60 groups to practice 8 groups..." After completing the Everest challenge, his climbing journey continued, "I am now in my 70s, my physical fitness is now declining, so I want to slow down these aging processes, so I must maintain a certain amount of exercise." In addition, he also took his family on a road trip, enjoyed the joy of the world, and fulfilled his promises on the roof of the world.
"Endless Climb" will be released nationwide on December 3.
Editor-in-Charge: Xia Yining
Proofreader: Ding Xiao