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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Mountain Climber Ellen Miller
Aired May 18, 2002 - 07:31 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is that time of year again, when people take tremendous risks, and spend tremendous sums, to try to attain the summit of the highest mountain on earth, Mount Everest. And we're going to talk to a woman who has just completed that task, and has done it for the second time. She's become the first North American woman to summit Everest from the north side and the south side. She joins us now from Everest Base Camp, at an altitude of about 17,500 feet. Ellen Miller, how are you feeling?
ELLEN MILLER, MOUNTAIN CLIMBER: Well, I'm glad to be back down to base camp.
O'BRIEN: Yeah. What -- you sound like you had a harrowing experience. Can you give us a sense of it?
MILLER: Well, actually, I had a beautiful summit day. It was crystal clear, there were no winds, and it was quite a magical day on the top of the world. But it's -- you know, it's a long way up there. It's a long expedition. So, I'm just glad to be back down to base camp and to great food and to warmer temperatures and to more oxygen.
O'BRIEN: All those good things. Kind of the luxuries of life. Little oxygen would do. All right, let me ask you this: I always wonder; when you get to the top, is it like -- you know -- you kind of take a look around, it's kind of like going to the Grand Canyon -- spend about 10 seconds there, and you start going back down?
MILLER: Well, no, this year we were very, very fortunate. The weather was so warm up there; I actually spent about an hour on the summit. And, I like to look around, take in the views of the Himalayas and when I'm up there, I always kind of squint out at the horizon to see if I can actually see the curve of the earth from up there...
O'BRIEN: Were you able to?
MILLER: It was beautiful.
O'BRIEN: Wow that would be...
MILLER: Yes, yes.
O'BRIEN: You can? That's interesting. What else goes through your mind? Do you get philosophical at a moment like that, or do you have more practical matters, like making sure you still have some oxygen to breathe, and that sort of thing?
MILLER: Well, for me, I think a lot about my mom and my brother -- you know, my family -- my little niece. And, then, I obviously focus on getting back down safely. You know -- which is a big possibility...
O'BRIEN: Is that kind of, in a way -- does that, perhaps taint the moment -- the fact that you're in such jeopardy, and that you're thinking about the possibility of just getting back down safely.
MILLER: It's -- getting to the summit is only half the trip. Obviously, many people have gotten in trouble coming down and I'm very aware of that. So, I always keep that in mind. That, you know, the trip isn't over until I'm back down the mountain.
O'BRIEN: What was the scariest moment for you, Ellen?
MILLER: I think, actually, down lower, much lower, in the Khumbu Ice Fall, there's some technical climbing that we do through the Ice Fall, and that, to me, was quite nerve-wracking.
O'BRIEN: Yeah. Was there any moment where you almost fell into a crevice or anything like that?
MILLER: Well, I heard some big creaks and groans and cracks in the Ice Fall, and those moments, to me, were pretty terrifying.
O'BRIEN: Now, 50 years ago Edmund Hillary scaled the very place you're at. And, he's, of course, quoted as saying he did it because it was there. Why do you do it?
MILLER: I do it mostly for the sheer beauty of the mountains. I love to climb mountains and I'm very passionate about that. I'm also fascinated with men that have climbed Everest; working on a book project. So, I call part of it research.
O'BRIEN: Research. All right. Ellen Miller, it's a long way from the library. Good luck on your research.
Ellen Miller with the quote of the morning. "Getting to the summit is only half the trip." Thanks for joining us at Base Camp, 17,500 feet, and I hope everything is safe for the remainder of the journey. Of course, the worst part of it is over.
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