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CNN Live Today

Interview With Mountain Climber Sean Burch

Aired May 09, 2003 - 11:28   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to the story that we tried to get to you at the top of the hour here, but we had been interrupted because of bad weather half a world away. This month marks 50 years since Sir Edmund Hillary became the first person to scale Mt. Everest. And now, Sean Burch is following in his footsteps, literally, but Sean is doing it without any "O's." That is mountain climber talk for oxygen.
Now, I talked with Sean for just a moment by satellite phone from Mt. Everest just last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Hello, Sean, is that you, can you hear me? This is Leon.

SEAN BURCH, MOUNTAIN CLIMBER: Hey, Leon. How are you?

HARRIS: Hey, man, I'm doing all right. How about you?

BURCH: Oh, I'm just hanging out at Camp Two, just trying to wait for an open window, to see if I can go make a launch for the summit.

HARRIS: Well, what's it looking like right now?

BURCH: Well, it was looking good until this evening, then we got some weather reports that it might not be good. I was hoping to go for the summit on the 12th, but we might be pushed out for a later date, so I might have to go back to base camp. Right now, I'm at Camp Two, which is about 21,500 feet.

HARRIS: Now, as I understand it, though, you can't stay at Camp Two for very long. How long can you stay there at Camp Two?

BURCH: You can stay there for about -- I have stayed here for five days, but after that, your body really starts to wear down, so you have to go -- you have to go down.

HARRIS: How does it now -- what effect does that have on your body? You say your body starts to wear down.

BURCH: Yes, you start to get -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) cough, you get real weak a lot, your energy is just zapped out of you. So the best thing to do is to go back to base camp and get some good food inside you, and then once you feel better, go on back up and try again.

HARRIS: Yes, I know you don't want to start off in bad shape like that. Well, tell me, how prepared are you? Are you ready for this?

BURCH: Yes, I've preparing for it for about four years. It's been on my mind for about eight years, so I'm ready for it. I'm just trying to -- trying to become the seventh American to summit without supplementary oxygen. So we'll see how it goes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 9, 2003 - 11:28   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now back to the story that we tried to get to you at the top of the hour here, but we had been interrupted because of bad weather half a world away. This month marks 50 years since Sir Edmund Hillary became the first person to scale Mt. Everest. And now, Sean Burch is following in his footsteps, literally, but Sean is doing it without any "O's." That is mountain climber talk for oxygen.
Now, I talked with Sean for just a moment by satellite phone from Mt. Everest just last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Hello, Sean, is that you, can you hear me? This is Leon.

SEAN BURCH, MOUNTAIN CLIMBER: Hey, Leon. How are you?

HARRIS: Hey, man, I'm doing all right. How about you?

BURCH: Oh, I'm just hanging out at Camp Two, just trying to wait for an open window, to see if I can go make a launch for the summit.

HARRIS: Well, what's it looking like right now?

BURCH: Well, it was looking good until this evening, then we got some weather reports that it might not be good. I was hoping to go for the summit on the 12th, but we might be pushed out for a later date, so I might have to go back to base camp. Right now, I'm at Camp Two, which is about 21,500 feet.

HARRIS: Now, as I understand it, though, you can't stay at Camp Two for very long. How long can you stay there at Camp Two?

BURCH: You can stay there for about -- I have stayed here for five days, but after that, your body really starts to wear down, so you have to go -- you have to go down.

HARRIS: How does it now -- what effect does that have on your body? You say your body starts to wear down.

BURCH: Yes, you start to get -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE) cough, you get real weak a lot, your energy is just zapped out of you. So the best thing to do is to go back to base camp and get some good food inside you, and then once you feel better, go on back up and try again.

HARRIS: Yes, I know you don't want to start off in bad shape like that. Well, tell me, how prepared are you? Are you ready for this?

BURCH: Yes, I've preparing for it for about four years. It's been on my mind for about eight years, so I'm ready for it. I'm just trying to -- trying to become the seventh American to summit without supplementary oxygen. So we'll see how it goes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com