We
were not ready for an expedition of this magnitude. We had no gear,
no food; in fact we didn’t have anything it takes to climb to the
top. Fortunately we found a shop in the small village of Anandapaur
in the valley below Everest. The shop keeper supplied us with all
the necessities, tents, lanterns, snowshoes, all for a reasonable
price, of course. He informed us we could take the old “Tea Train”
from Anandapur to the mountain. It seems that two entrepreneurs
opened up the track to transport tourists there - only one problem;
the local legend. It seems that the villagers believe in the great
and powerful creature, the Yeti. The yeti guards the mountain and
protects the line between man and nature, and we may be crossing
that line if we go. Do we believe in this mythological creature - I
think not! There is no proof. Well, a visit to the Yeti museum would
change my mind.
A vast number of carvings and sculptures
of the great beast only prove that the people here strongly believe
in the creature. On display here in the museum are remnants of the
torn apart campsite found halfway up the mountain, some blurry
photos of the monster taken quickly as he approached and...Wait… a
giant cast of the creatures footprint found in the snow? Maybe there
could be some truth in this after all.
Never the less we press on. We board the
train. The small steam engine has seen better days. A short whistle
signals us there is no turning back now.
It’s a sunny day as we approach the
mountain. Primitive carvings and paintings of the beast give us a
final warning to turn back. Up we go. We are at the mountain now
turning upwards toward the peak. We turn a corner and suddenly we
see up ahead the tracks have been ripped apart into a mangle mess.
Brakes, brakes where are the brakes. A hawk appear, its screech is
calling for us to turn back -we do but not by choice! The train
starts to roll backwards, spiraling down into the dark recesses of
the mountain. As we near the bottom the train stops…wait…. A
shadow…it can’t be… it’s him it’s the Yeti! He’s tearing up more
tracks. Looks like he’s above us. The train is moving again. Thank
goodness its forward. Holding on we go faster and faster …threes no
stopping now #Were almost there!
Out
o the corner of my eye I see it. Large, very large! Hairy…very
hairy! Its moving; its reaching toward the train; watch out! It’s
going to grab us! Some how we survive…
Why?
We were the trespassers.
We were the one that didn’t belong
there.
Why didn’t the Yeti grab us and eat us
alive?
I know.
T-shirts
We had to buy T-shirts.
Disney’s Expedition Everest opened in
May 2006. I heard that people we saying good things about the new
attraction and its effects. My nine year old son Tyler was a little
apprehensive about it (he doesn’t like big drops yet). I had heard
it was like Big Thunder Mountain - only a little faster and the
turns were more “banked”. When we got there, that was what everyone
else was saying too. So, Tyler agreed to try it. He rode it three
times!
The ride boasts a speed of up to 50 mph,
an overall height of just less than 200 feet (Florida’s highest
peak) and an 80 foot drop. The Audio-Animatronic Yeti is Disney’s
most technologically advanced creature to date, and moves with a
force equal to that of a jumbo jet. But perhaps even more
impressive, is Disney’s rendition of the fictional Himalayan village
of Serka Zong. The architecture is based on Tibetan and Nepalese
designs, and each building is detailed to look 50 to 300 years old.
Approximately 120 species of Himalayan greenery, including 900
bamboo plants, were imported to re-create the lowlands surrounding
Mount Everest. Upwards of 2,000 handcrafted Asian artifacts were
used throughout the “village”, lending an authentic air, and the
sculptures and artwork in the yeti museum are based on originals of
the same.
So,
in answer to that age-old question, “Are we there Yeti?” I say yes!
We have arrived! We have come face to face with the beast, and we
have survived! There is but one more challenge threatening our full
escape. That’s right…The Gift Shop!!! AAHHH…
Ride Fast Facts:
-
A
perilous journey aboard a runaway train through the Himalayan
mountains. Adventurous riders push deep into the lair of the
feared yeti, guardian of the forbidden mountain. En route, they
encounter torn tracks, spiral backwards through the fog into an
ice cavern and dart into and out of the mountain in a high-speed
adventure.
-
Yeti,
Guardian of the Mountain: The mammoth-sized Audio-Animatronics
yeti has a potential thrust, in all of its hydraulic cylinders
combined, of slightly over 259,000 pounds force -- potentially
more instantaneous power than a 747-400 airliner.
-
Forced perspective: To create the sense of an enormous mountain
range, Imagineers painted a "mural" of shadows across the face
of the mountains. The range with its glaciers and valleys is a
canvas of rockwork, carvings and painting creating a forced
perspective where closer-in objects have a massive look while
appliqués trick the eye into perceiving far off objects.
-
Artisans at work: Artists from Imagineering used hammers,
chainsaws and blowtorches to "age" wood and buildings in the
village, giving them the appearance of being longstanding parts
of the landscape.
-
Hillary step: The famous final ascent of Sir Edmund Hillary in
1953 is represented in Disney's man-made mountain. The coloring
of Mount Everest differs from the rest of the mountain range
because at more than 29,000 feet elevation, hurricane-force
winds often blow the snow off its peak, revealing a raw sheet of
rock.
-
Disney's FASTPASS: Expedition Everest features Disney's FASTPASS,
the innovative system which allows guests, at no additional
charge, to avoid lengthy waiting in line.
Mountain
make-up: The mountain is crafted with more than 3,000
pre-fabricated "chips" created from 25,000 individual
computer-molded pieces of steel.