Everest VR lets anyone climb the world’s tallest mountain – if they can handle the fear
The immersion is so great in Everest, it feels less like a video game than a real-life adventure
The user looks down from the rope bridge, aware a wrong step will spell doom. An ill-advised pivot in one direction, or an awkward shuffle in another, and a plummet to the ice-coated rocks hundreds of feet below will result.
The consolation prize for this encounter with imminent mortality: the view. There are spectacular peaks, stark snowy backdrops and a sky as near as the attic ceiling.
Hardier souls might stand there a moment, taking in the sights, as the bridge’s temporary supports creak and ice underfoot breaks away and falls into the great beyond. This reporter, less aesthetically inclined when a possible death-hurtle is involved, hoofs it across the rungs with a few brisk and body-clenching strides.
Happy to have reached the other side, he feels a wave of relief. Then he spots a giant ladder on the side of the mountain face, stretching heavenward with Jacob-esque loftiness. Those familiar feelings of awe and doom come rushing back.
It is a weekday afternoon in Reykjavik, the world’s most northerly capital. Frozen peaks and other grand displays of nature sit just a short drive away. Yet I am standing in a sparsely decorated apartment not far from Reykjavik’s main square. These are the offices of Solfar Studios, an Iceland-based start-up of so-called pure VR.