This documentary trails champion Japanese skier Yuichiro Miura and his team as they ascend the world's highest peak (already an arduous, perilous undertaking), hoping to descend on skis (a virtual suicide mission). Tragedy and hardship befall the intrepid group on the way up, but Miura does get his chance to ski the 45-degree glacial slope — not without consequences.

A riveting movie, "Everest" boggles the mind on many different levels, as a world-class feat of (perhaps foolhardy) derring-do and as testament to the devastating grandeur and dangers of the Himalayan range. But mostly, it explores the drive and motivation (much of it spiritual) of an adventurer risking his life for a personal ambition that seems impossible to attain. It's difficult to prevent your heart leaping into your throat as you watch this footage — especially Miura's climactic run down an 8,000-ft. slope of ice and boulders — and realize it's no stunt, but the real thing.