Last week, I came across the videos of two Frenchmen “speedflying” down the north face of the Eiger, an activity that is an insane combination of skis, parachute, and very high speeds. It looks completely unpredictable, yet they’re somehow in total control. Last Monday, I watched the second-to-last night in the “Oscar’s Docs 2” series at the Dunn, and the featured film was The Man Who Skied Down Everest. The parallels were interesting, but the feature film was much less about actually skiing down the mountain and more about the expedition, and the nature of a challenge. Not to ruin the story for anyone, but Yuichiro Miura, also trailing a parachute behind him, skis for about two minutes, and then falls for another 1300 feet. This revelation doesn’t actually ruin the story, either. The difference in technology, both in skis and in the cameras and equipment used to film the expedition, was pretty amazing. While the Everest material was shot with heavy 35mm cameras and some cutting-edge portable video equipment, the Eiger footage is shot from a tiny helmet-top digital camera. And while the Everest film captured Miura contemplating, preparing, and meditating, the Eiger videos are pretty much all about speed, and avoiding rocks. I recommend watching both, if you get a chance.