Perhaps the cynical “Why did you go there?” is not new to users of social media sites and news sites. beginning with a victim-blaming comment, and the sentence, which is often asked as a far from serious question, was undoubtedly on everyone’s mind in connection with Szilárd Suhajda’s expedition last year.
The climber gave his last sign of life on May 23, 2023, when he set out to climb the 8,848-meter peak of Mount Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen. A little more than a year ago, on May 27, the search team made up of the best Nepali mountain guides gave up on the search for Suhajda, after they failed to find the body of the Hungarian expedition climber despite several attempts.
In connection with the shocking case of Szilárd Suhajda, many lay people at the time and since then wondered what the motivation could be for someone to risk his life away from his family, on the most unique, but at the same time, most dangerous mountains in the world, such as the high Mount Everest. This kind of determination, will and fanaticism will probably never be understood by anyone except those who are preparing for the summit or those who have conquered it, but in Spektrum’s latest documentary series, we can get much closer to the answers, and we can also get to know the attitude of the relatives and friends of the expedition climbers.
What did you go there for?
A Why did he go there? docuseries provides an insight into the world of “pure” – not relying on oxygen bottles – expedition mountaineering, through the life journey of six legendary Hungarian climbers. They are the protagonists of the dramatic, often heartwarming, in some cases shocking episodes Zoltán Ács, Zsolt Erőss, Dávid Klein, Júlia Nedeczky, Szilárd Suhajda and László Várkonyi – the dominant figures of Hungarian expedition mountaineering, who made the first Hungarian summit climbs, which are considered a milestone.
The episodes of Minek went od not only cover successful 8,000-meter summit climbs and three expeditions that ended in tragedy: the creators give voice to the climbers, their family members, friends and alpinist colleagues, presenting mountain climbing from as many aspects as possible. And the only question is, what drives those obsessed with high mountains, defying the possibility of losing their lives, leaving their families behind?
According to the creators, the production is not only large-scale in its visuals; filming took place in 25 locations in seven countries, from Morocco to Pakistan to nearby mountains such as the Austrian Alps or the Slovak High Tatras. A total of 51 experts, climbers, and family members speak in the episodes about the six protagonists. Director Dávid Géczy was helped by recordings, video and audio materials, and diary excerpts received from the family members of deceased athletes.
At the premiere, the audience was shown the episode about Suhajda Szilárd, in which, in addition to never-before-seen video recordings and pictures, the viewers will also get to know the climber’s early life, friends and family, who will also show a side of him that most people have never seen until now, only superficially from last year’s articles got to know the family man and his motivation. Of course, all of this appears in the series in an extremely heartbreaking way, and in other places in a really entertaining way, but the emotional roller coaster typical of documentary series does not overshadow the message and the educational details either.
And one thing can be stated without any spoilers: the creators’ goal of destroying the prejudices of online commentators with the series seemed to be fulfilled already after watching the first episode, as well as the fact that the work is not only addressed to them, but also to the climbing community.
Everyone will soon be able to see this for themselves, as the first episode of the series will debut on Spektrum on October 6 at 9 p.m., and the rest will be shown on Sundays in the same time slot.
A blood-curdling title that can be thought-provoking
The actors and director of the film, Dávid Géczy, discussed the series and its production in an impromptu round table discussion, so it became clear, among other things, that the title was far from pleasing to all the actors.
Lajos Kollár, the founder of the Magyarok a 8,000s expedition of the world, does not understand why the “bullshit” often voiced by commentators should be quoted, especially not in the case of a series about Hungarian mountaineers, who are undeservedly seldom mentioned anyway. Kollár – who led the 2013 expedition on Kancsendzönga, on which Zsolt Erőss and Péter Kiss lost their lives – emphasized that he thinks this title is very hurtful, and if they are informed first about what the title of the work will be, then they will raise their voices much earlier his voice because of it. According to him, he did not have the opportunity to do so.
Júlia Nedeczky, the Hungarian expedition climber who conquered the first 8,000-meter peak, partially agreed with what she said, and according to her, the title is really unfortunate, but due to its advertising value, the makers’ decision is acceptable and visible.
Dávid Klein, who took the lion’s share in the production of the series and who appeared in one of the main roles, also took part in the round table discussion. The mountain climber said that he remembers the first work meeting when this title came up, and even then he hated it, but suddenly everything turned around in him, and according to him, it is a legitimate suggestion that the man on the street simply does not understand them. For this reason, “this title also has a malicious but legitimate reading”.
Among the participants in the conversation, perhaps the only one who liked the title was Szilárd Suhajda’s wife, Tímea Legindi, who thinks that the choice is brilliant, since so many climbers have heard and read it in their lifetime. The most important thing is that “you can ask this indignantly, cynically, and you can really look for the motivation behind the climbs”.
Grief is always there, but others can learn from it
After the screening and the discussion, Tímea Legindi, Szilárd Suhajda’s wife, gave a short interview to our newspaper, in which she revealed why she decided to accept the invitation, how she deals with grief, but also touched on whether there was a topic of conversation between her and her husband, that the expedition climbing is bound to end in tragedy.
I have already seen the material before the screening, but watching it in a cinema on a big screen is completely different. It is much more moving to see it in such an environment at this age than at home next to the laptop. I am very glad that this series is done, because it can give viewers an answer to the question of why climbers go to the mountains. The title can be read in two ways: on the one hand, it is the ever-recurring, demanding question from people, and on the other hand, fortunately, there really are those who are really curious about the inner motivation of these people. I think that the viewers will get an answer to this by the end of the series
he thought.
According to Tímea Legindi, she did not say no to the makers of the series because she has known the director Dávid Géczy for years. “The situation would have been completely different if a stranger approached me with the idea, but Dávid had a good relationship with our friend Szilárd. I knew that he would put not only his professionalism, but also his heart and soul into the material, and it turned out that way. The series not only introduces six great climbers, but also has an educational nature. I trust that the viewers will also understand and feel the love and a lot of invested work that went into making it. Many of us worked on it for several months so that it could be realized in this form.”
But how can you deal with grief?
According to her, the series commemorates her husband in a dignified way and shows a slice of his life, but his absence still does not ease, despite the fact that they talked several times about what if…
Of course, we told him before every expedition that he wouldn’t come home, but of course you never take that seriously at that time. We didn’t discuss the details of where one keeps the key to the woodshed, in case one doesn’t come home… Obviously, I’m ready to go to such an event, I’ve been exercising at dawn to arrive balanced and calm. I have beautiful moments with our little boy, Soma, but grief is always there, which means that there are also very bad days. I have always communicated openly about grief, and I try to tell you how it works for me, because it might help others too
Tímea Legindi pointed out.
Despite the understandably never-ending grief, Tímea Legindi continues to live for their passion, and it was revealed in the series that she wants to continue climbing, which is why she recently participated in a winter course, where she was also accompanied by the Minek men od crew.
“It was quite strange to go to the Tatras with a crew for the winter course. I had previously completed ice climbing, a summer high mountain course and rock climbing training, but this was still missing from my repertoire, so I wanted to go. It was a great opportunity to break away from everyday life, and thanks to my parents, who agreed to look after Soma, I was able to go. I took a week off at work, and I was able to spend a week in a nice place, in a nice environment, among familiar instructors and unknown course mates, which really recharged me spiritually.”
It was very strange to practice with a helmet-mounted camera on my head
with the others, and by the way I’m still smiling about it, but on the first night at the introduction I told the team that it was because of the documentary. I always emphasize that I would be most happy if this documentary series was shot with Szilárd, and Soma and I would just accompany him. But life brought him differently.
– said Suhajda Szilárd’s wife, according to whom her husband tried to educate people throughout his life and introduce them to their own little world, which is what this series is doing now.
(Cover photo: Suhajda Szilárd at the Everest base camp on April 7, 2017. Photo: Balázs Mohai / MTI)
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