Mountaineering, filmmaking, and photography In 1983, Breashears transmitted the first live pictures from the summit of Mount Everest, and in 1985, he became the first American to reach its summit more than once. Breashears made eight expeditions to Everest, reaching the summit five times. Breashears also climbed to the summit of
Ama Dablam in the
Himalayas, and is known in climbing circles for having
free-climbed some of the most technically challenging rock walls in
Colorado as a young man. His
first free ascent, and
on-sight, of the largely unprotected
traditional climbing route
Perilous Journey 5.11b X on Eldorado Mountain in 1975, was one of the boldest ascents of the 1970s. Breashears also worked on feature films including
Cliffhanger (1993) and
Seven Years in Tibet (1997), as well as
David Lee Roth's "
Just Like Paradise" music video and numerous documentaries, such as the award-winning TV documentary
Red Flag over Tibet. He received four
Emmy awards for achievement in cinematography. Combining his interests and skills in climbing, filmmaking, and photography, he directed, starred in, and produced the acclaimed
IMAX film
Everest (1998), and contributed still photos to the best selling book
Everest: Mountain Without Mercy (1997). He also produced the first live audio Webcast from Everest's summit for the
Nova television program,
Everest: The Death Zone (1998). shown on PBS
Frontline, features photography on the mountain, interviews with survivors of the three climbing teams that were caught in the
1996 storm, and music composed by
Jocelyn Pook. During the filming of the documentary in 2006, Breashears summitted Everest a fifth time. He also documented his personal reactions to climbing Everest again, while filming the
Nova documentary, in "Epilogue to the 1996 Everest disaster".
Publications Breashears was the author of several books, including an autobiography,
High Exposure: An Enduring Passion for Everest and Unforgiving Places (1999). Breashears also wrote the article, "Every Man For Himself?", published in
American Alpine Journal (1988).
Work with organizations Breashears was a director of Destination Himalaya, a travel firm specializing in
adventure travel to Himalayan countries. In 2007, Breashears founded GlacierWorks, a non-profit company that uses science, art, and adventure to raise
awareness about climate change in the Greater Himalaya. ==Personal life and death==