In a YouTube video published on Sunday October 13, explorer Mike Horn returned to Inoxtag’s documentary “Kaizen”, in which the web star recounts his ascent of Everest.
If the project has been criticized by certain professionals, the famous adventurer prefers to see it as “an achievement”.
“You inspired a lot.” This is how Mike Horn concludes his video dedicated to the analysis of “Kaizen”the documentary recounting the ascent of Everest by videographer Inoxtag, now available on TF1+. This film, posted online on YouTube on Saturday September 14 after bringing together 200,000 spectators in theaters for the preview, retraces for more than two hours his challenge of climbing the highest peak in the world in one year, while he knew neither the techniques nor the codes of mountaineering.
“It’s a great documentary. As a professional, I was thrilled by their story,” reacts the explorer in this video viewed more than 900,000 times. “Going to the summit of Everest is not that easy. We have to prepare. Inoxtag took time, a year. He trained his mind and his body to be able to realize his dream”says Mike Horn.
“He climbed Mont Blanc, Mount Matterhorn, Ama Dablam. This shows that he did the necessary preparation to try to reach the summit of Everest,” adds the professional.
If the video represents “one of best launches of history” of YouTube (more than 11 million views in just 24 hours) according to the platform, it also attracted criticism in the press and on social networks. Liberation notably deplored the invisibility of Sherpas, while the mountaineer and photographer Pascal Tournaire highlighted in The Team a movie “very self-centered” without real “exploit”. An extraordinary project which was not unanimous among professional mountaineers either.
Of course, it remains an achievement
Mike Horn
“Of course, it remains an achievement”reacts Mike Horn. “Inoxtag, a 22-year-old YouTuber, dreams of going to the summit of Everest. He surrounds himself with a professional guide, he surrounds himself with Sherpas who will help him carry his oxygen. For that, we can’t criticize him”he insists. The explorer recalls that the videographer took all kinds of risks, although he accomplished the ascent with oxygen. “When you put a lot of people on a single, very delicate passage, where you wait at a high altitude, it’s very dangerous”he says.
Mike Horn specifies that he was contacted by Inoxtag to help him prepare for the climb. The adventurer, however, explains that he was unable to free himself, slipping “I would like to meet you”. In the comments, Inoxtag said it was looking forward to “go on an expedition” with him: “I have a lot to learn from you”he wrote.
