The 2013 Willi Unsoeld Seminar presents a film about the 1963 ascent of Mount Everest

Event Notice:
The 2013 Willi Unsoeld Seminar, November 20, 2013
Olympia, WA.  See details below.

The centerpiece of this year’s Willi Unsoeld Seminar is a film: “High & Hallowed: Everest 1963.” It is the story an American mountaineering expedition – one that also became part of Evergreen’s history because of the central role played by Evergreen founding faculty member Willi Unsoeld.

“High and Hallowed: Everest 1963” is a film about the deeper story of the greatest Himalayan climb in American Mountaineering history. Profiling the bold and visionary efforts of the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition, the film examines the sheer commitment, step-by-step struggle and lasting impact of the first American ascent of Mt. Everest and the pioneering first ascent of the West Ridge.

Read about the story behind this film in the blog Outside and view a clip from the film below.

Date: November 20, 2013
Time: 7pm
Location: Washington Center for the Performing Arts,
Cost: Free of Charge

About Willi Unsoeld
Willi Unsoeld was a philosopher, theologian and mountaineer. He was probably best known for his first ascent of the West Ridge of Mt. Everest with Tom Hornbein.

In his role as a founding faculty member of The Evergreen State College, Willi embodied the spirit of the new institution: its emphasis on student-directed learning, interdisciplinarity, collaboration and personal responsibility. Willi’s enthusiasm, his celebration of the intellect, his kindness and gentle humor, and his eagerness to challenge the status quo are just a few of the qualities that made him a model teacher, mentor and friend.

The Willi Unsoeld Seminar Series was endowed as a “living memorial” after Willi lost his life in a mountaineering accident on Mt. Rainier on March 4, 1979.