Chapter 378: Chapter 376 Starting to Climb
Having found a common topic, the two conversed with much more ease.
As they inquired about each other’s future plans and discussed their similar life experiences, it was clear that the two hit it off quite well. Jerret, sitting on the side, felt a bit awkward, almost as if he had beco the third wheel, and could only silently sip his coffee.
The live-stream audience was also witnessing such a scene for the first ti. Although it wasn’t as dynamic and interesting as a wilderness live stream, it had its own charm, and the viewership surprisingly stabilized at over two hundred thousand people.
Many viewers even started asking when Sir’s next docuntary would be released and how long he would stay at Mount Everest.
“That will depend on how smoothly the shooting goes. If it’s successful, maybe half a month will be enough; if not, it could take a month. You know, shooting a docuntary is very ti-consuming, from weather to angles, to timing, all these are crucial elents for an excellent docuntary,” he said.
Watching Sir speak eloquently in front of the cara and recalling so of his own experiences, Bi Fang suddenly had a bold idea.
“Sir, would you be interested in climbing Mount Everest with ?”
Before Sir Edinburgh could answer, the viewers in front of their screens exploded in a frenzy. Were they serious? Asking a person near a hundred years old to climb Mount Everest?
Do they want Sir to die on that natural graveyard?
Bi Fang imdiately explained, “Of course, I don’t an reaching the summit. How could that be possible? Just to Everest Base Camp. I think Sir’s health is still quite good, even exceptionally healthy.”
Having sat opposite for so long, Bi Fang could sense that although the old man looked pale, his heart remained passionate and young.
Similarly, breathing is a powerful indicator of one’s health. Bi Fang, who placed great emphasis on breathing techniques, could acutely perceive that the old man’s breathing was still steady and strong. Perhaps climbing mountains wasn’t impossible for him.
As expected, after making the suggestion, Sir Edinburgh didn’t imdiately reject it; instead, he seriously lowered his head in thought as if he was genuinely considering it.
Bi Fang was right—beneath the aged physique was indeed a heart ablaze with passion.
As a legendary figure who participated in World War II, witnessed humans’ first ascent of Mount Everest, and whose footsteps covered every corner of the world, it would undoubtedly be a regret not to have climbed Mount Everest.
Of course, reaching the summit was no longer possible unless God intervened or he was rejuvenated. However, climbing a section of the route was still feasible.
Bi Fang’s invitation was sincere; he truly wanted Sir’s footsteps to be left on Mount Everest. Even if Sir couldn’t reach the summit, if Bi Fang could achieve the ascent himself, the significance would be just as profound.
Moreover, lately, Bi Fang had begun to subtly feel that his live-streaming had reached a bottleneck—the usual solo acts were increasingly difficult to attract more viewers.
In his current live streams, viewership numbers could almost always stabilize at over three million during peak tis, with over two million online viewers from Huaxia and more than one million from abroad.
It’s important to note that these were online traffic figures, not actual fans—those who would tune in to watch Bi Fang’s stream punctually. Due to the realities of day-to-day life and work, not all of Bi Fang’s fans could always be in front of their screens every ti he went live.
Three million is already an exaggerated number, and if used for advertising to attract traffic, even with only a conversion rate of one-tenth, that would still exceed three hundred thousand in viewer traffic, which is nothing short of terrifying.
Regrettably, the potential upper limit of personal live broadcasts may have been reached. With continued broadcasting in the future, the number might still rise, but it’s certain that the growth curve has entered a period of plateauing. The previous world’s LOL championship finals had an overseas viewership of just over four to five million, owing to a naturally large and established fan base. For Bi Fang to achieve a viewership of one million within a year was already an incredibly unbelievable miracle.
However, if the personal show is full, introducing so fresh elents might change the curve and restore growth.
In a past life, Bear Grylls operated just like that, demonstrating basic skills to the audience with a guest on the previous day and then sending the guest away in a helicopter to venture alone, thus retaining both the intrigue and challenge.
Frankly, the appearance of the maximum oxygen uptake voucher gave Bi Fang a sense of urgency.
Was the appearance of the gold voucher happenstance?
Of course not. Before each expedition, Bi Fang could keenly sense the shop’s bias whenever it updated its inventory; when encountering a desert, there would be more camouflage clothing and desert boots, and when in the mountains, there would be more climbing boots and quick-dry sweatshirts.
The ergence of the gold voucher was no accident; it might be interpreted as a form of sympathy from the shop.
But the requirent of over four thousand points left Bi Fang feeling sowhat like a Muggle; unable to save points, he almost couldn’t afford the purchase. Aside from earning through tasks, money and fan influence were also ans to acquire them.
It was only by expanding the latter two that one could avoid the embarrassnt of almost not being able to afford items like this ti.
Only by seizing every opportunity to beco stronger could one aspire to truly achieve boundless travel. The orange Wilderness Traveler was not the end; above it, there might be even more powerful skills.
Rock climbing, swimming, knotting, escaping, animal identification—I still have a long way to go!
Sir, who recorded ‘Animal World’ and ‘Nature,’ was naturally beloved by the audience. Moreover, he was my idol, sitting right in front of . With so many reasons, Sir was undoubtedly the best choice.
Countless people’s childhoods and youth have been accompanied by a familiar voice rising over the African Savanna—when it cos to fan numbers, Bi Fang couldn’t catch up with Sir Attenborough even if he tried.
After pondering for a mont, Attenborough didn’t rush to answer, but instead asked Bi Fang, “Do you think it’s still possible for to climb a snow mountain now? Even if just a few thousand ters? I’ve been to many places and seen many animals, but in terms of human survival, perhaps you are the real professional. So I’d like to hear your advice, Adventurer.”
Bi Fang didn’t confirm it outright, as he could only deem the plan feasible from a superficial standpoint: “Just judging from the surface, I believe your climb is feasible. rely two to three thousand ters of ascent is not a problem at all. One of the bigger challenges in climbing is altitude sickness.
In fact, compared to won, n and compared to the elderly, the young, have faster tabolisms and energy consumption, hence their bodies consu more oxygen and experience stronger altitude sickness. So older people and long-term smokers, on the other hand, experience a noticeably smaller reaction than others when they enter high altitudes, mainly because they’ve been in a state of mild hypoxia for a long ti due to smoking and aging, and thus have greater tolerance to oxygen deprivation. After entering altitude, they’re often able to ‘adapt’ more easily to the hypoxic condition.”
“Of course, this adaptation is predicated on the absence of other severe diseases in your body, like asthma, heart disease, etc. If there was a dical checkup report, I could possibly make a more accurate judgnt.”
Having experienced countless wilderness adventures, if asked who understands exotic environnts best in the world, Bi Fang believed he had the confidence to be among that very top echelon.
It wasn’t just Bi Fang himself; his viewers thought so too.
[Holy crap, that actually sounds feasible!]
[Amazing, seriously amazing, is Sir planning to beco the oldest climber ever?]
[A ninety-year-old climber, isn’t that a bit exaggerated? Feels like sothing out of a novel]
“Not at all,” Bi Fang said with a smile, “There are many miracles on Mount Everest, and the advancent of modern human technology has greatly reduced the difficulty of reaching the summit. In fact, the oldest person to summit Everest is Japan’s Mr. Yuichiro Miura, who was eighty years old. Although Sir is over a decade older, what he aims to do is not to reach the summit, an endeavor which is much less challenging than Mr. Miura’s.”
Despite the delicate relations between Huaxia and Japan, this did not affect Bi Fang’s love for his holand or his admiration for those passionate about challenging human limits.
“Moreover, because of companions and the issue of route selection, we opted for a comrcial guide to help us with the preparation and training before reaching Everest Base Camp, and that will certainly be effective in helping Sir. After arriving at base camp, I will climb alone, adopting the alpine climbing style to complete this live broadcast and challenge.”
The thods of climbing differ. The mainstream styles are comrcial climbing and alpine climbing.
With a filming team involved, choosing a comrcial climbing team was inevitable. A comrcial climbing team, unlike ordinary teams, involves a lot of collaboration, and climbing large peaks is more like a complex system engineering project, far too complicated.
However, so climbers like the Sherpas or Western experts such as ssner, climbing solo and lightly, or without collaboration, manage to summit and return in just a few days. This is known as the alpine style of climbing.
These people either make a living from collaborative climbing or see it as their life’s pursuit. In recent years, Huaxia has started to develop so comrcial climbing organizations and comrcial climbers, a necessary stage of developnt.
Upon reaching Everest Base Camp, Bi Fang will begin an oxygen-free ascent, using the alpine climbing thod to engage in a physiological challenge and a brave man’s ga.
After listening to Bi Fang’s explanation, Edinburgh seed to ponder, then suddenly stood, glanced at the stars outside the floor-to-ceiling window, casually picked up the top hat on the armrest and placed it on his head, then turned to extend his hand to Bi Fang.
“Youth truly brims with life force. Listening to your words, looking at your plan, I feel as though I’ve grown much younger myself. So, I hope to receive so good news tomorrow when I see my dical report, Mr. Adventurer! I look forward to our joint climbing journey. It’s getting late and the elderly need their rest, goodbye.”
Watching Sir’s departing figure, Bi Fang and Jerret looked at each other and burst into laughter.
“Sir! Forever Godlike!”
…
At dawn, Bi Fang sprang up from bed, pulled back the curtains, letting sunlight pour in, and gazing at the city that resembled the dieval era, he experienced a surreal feeling of traveling through ti once again.
After the eting with Sir the night before, Bi Fang and Jerret went to inspect the filming equipnt. True to Discovery Channel’s reputation, they were set to film Bi Fang’s ascent. Considering the previous successful collaboration, Discovery Channel brought out their prized equipnt.
Two drones worth millions, with a maximum altitude of 5800 ters and docuntal image quality, would be operated from base camp once the climb started. There were also close-up mini caras that could be worn on the chest, with pin design—the image quality goes without saying—if it were even slightly blurred, it wouldn’t be brought out.
Several positions would simultaneously record to capture the most complete and shocking footage of an oxygen-free summit.
There’s also the matter of checking Sir’s dical report.
In the hall, everyone gathered around Bi Fang, watching him scan the docunt with tense expressions. Nearly everyone present was an industry insider and recognized the famous Sir.
Therefore, they all shared a sense of anticipation and anxiety for the possibility of climbing together, with Yao Jun and Wang Yongbo being no exceptions. The forr was a fan of the animal world, while the latter was tense and excited about the potential collaboration. Wolf Fang and Bi Fang could be called a community of shared fate, with benefits for one resulting in a win-win situation.
“This dical report is from this March, just before I left, not even a month ago, so there shouldn’t be any problems. Of course, if it’s not alright, just tell directly—it’s all about age, after all,” Sir said calmly, yet the whitening knuckles gripping the teacup revealed a more complex state than his tone suggested.
At over ninety years of age, nearly a centenarian, could he truly attempt to climb the world’s highest peak and leave his own footprint?
Even if just two or three thousand ters.
Having traveled so far and wide, Mount Everest remains an everlasting desire.
After a thorough review of the report, Bi Fang rubbed his nose bridge and sighed.
Edinburgh put down his teacup, forcing a bitter smile: “No good…”
“Sir, this dical report of yours makes wonder if you got the wrong one or stole soone else’s,” Bi Fang, sighing, changed his worried expression to a smile, “From what I can tell, as long as you’re fully equipped, it’s not just about two or three thousand ters—if even six thousand ters at Everest Base Camp is not out of the question. Your actual physical age does not seem to be ninety, but rather more like eighty, no, even less than eighty. It should be between seventy-five and seventy-eight. It looks like we’ll be seeing more docuntaries from you.”
Jerret looked at Bi Fang tensely and asked, “Can he climb?”
Bi Fang nodded assuredly and absolutely: “Yes!”
“Wu Hu!”
The crowd in the room imdiately cheered.
Even Sir burst out laughing: “More docuntaries? That would indeed be an honor!”
Just then, the climbing guide Rob arrived at the hotel in a taxi, took out his phone, and called Bi Fang. After a few seconds, the call connected.
“Guys, all the climbing gear and tents are ready from our company, may I ask if we can set off now?”
Bi Fang zipped up his backpack, checked all the details, nodded at everyone in the room, and energetically pushed open the doors of the hall, excitedly declaring.
“Mount Everest, let’s go!”
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