December
11
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Kilian Jornet launches 3rd film “Langtang” on Nepal, plus construction project for 116 houses (Barcelona, DEC12)
Kilian Jornet is to launch his third film tomorrow, with the premiere taking place in Barcelona at 19H. Within the framework of the film Langtang, the project Summits of My Life is promoting a charity challenge to contribute to the reconstruction of Nepal
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Kilian Jornet & Jordi Tosas at Nepal. Photo: Summits of My Life.
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Kilian already shared this initiative this morning, at the press presentation of Langtang, which will be released tomorrow in Barcelona
Langtang is the third film of Kilian Jornet’s personal project Summits of My Life, was presented at a press conference this morning. Directed by Sébastien Montaz-Rosset, Langtang is the story of a journey into the heart of Nepal.
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The film narrates the experience of Kilian Jornet, Jordi Tosas and Sébastien Montaz-Rosset in Nepal, where they had planned to travel to go on an expedition to Mount Everest. Two days before leaving, a powerful 7.8-degree earthquake shook the country. Nonetheless, the team decided to go ahead with the trip and travelled to the country “to give a helping hand where needed”.
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In Jordi Tosas’ words, ‘Langtang is our travel diary; we recorded instead of writing. We did not go there to make a film, we went there to help. Now we have a film that will help.’
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Kilian Jornet along with mountaineer Jordi Tosas, presented the third film this morning. The official film premiere will be tomorrow, 12th December at 19h30 in Aribau Multicines. Jornet explained, ‘I am very happy to see that people continue sharing our passion for these challenges and the mountains, especially this year, when the Summits of My Life has turned out differently. We climbed another type of mountain and that will give us the strength to face Everest next year.’
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Another team member, mountaineer Jordi Tosas, explained how deeply the trip to Nepal affected them: ‘Reaching Nepal was kind of unreal; it was a reality bite, which went beyond anything one can possibly imagine. I had been in Langtang just a month before and it had been amazing. Going back there was like entering hell: there were no roads, no houses, only debris and dead bodies. I could feel the absolute devastation of a valley, the sadness of having lost many loved ones and the helplessness of not being able to do anything. But I also felt committed to start working towards ensuring that Langtang could become the place it had once been.‘
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The film premiere will be tomorrow in Barcelona and entrance tickets can be purchased on the website.
Summits of My Life will also contribute to the reconstruction of 116 homes in Langtang
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In addition to the film, the charity which Summits of My Life will collaborate with was also presented at the event. It will do so by associating with SOS Himalaya, in order to contribute to the reconstruction of the Langtang Valley.
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‘After the experience in Nepal we realized that we wanted to continue helping the people of Langtang, who have lost everything. After our return from Nepal we went into action and, along with SOS Himalaya, we devised a project that fits very well in the Langtang Valley. SOS Himalaya is a charity with whom we share many values and we are very pleased to start this collaboration,’ explained Kilian Jornet.
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The earthquake of last April brought serious consequences to the Langtang Valley. The Langtang village was completely buried after the quake triggered a landslide of snow, ice and stones, due to the large amount of snow accumulated during the really tough winter. In addition, the shock wave from the landslide caused serious damage to nearby villages. The few survivors of the disaster were evacuated to a refugee camp in Kathmandu, and although some of them have returned to the valley, the earthquake left them homeless.
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Therefore, Summits of My Life and SOS Himalaya are promoting a campaign to raise funds to rebuild 116 homes: the number of families which have been left homeless and want to return to live in the Langtang valley. The reconstruction of these houses will be following the typical Nepalese architecture, known as ” ‘Jasta Pata’: zinc plates placed on a wooden structure.
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Besides the materials to build the ‘Jasta Pata’, the main cost of reconstruction will be transportation. Access to the Langtang valley, which was already complicated, was damaged after the earthquake. That is why materials will have to be transported by air. Houses will be rebuilt in different parts of the valley, as no building can be done in the area where the original village of Langtang was located.
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Summits of My Life will collaborate in several ways to collect the necessary funds. Among them, all profits raised during the film premiere in Barcelona will be donated to this project. In addition, the project opens a fundraising campaign to raise the goal amount: $ 58,080.
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Head of SOS Himalaya Maria Clement declared: ‘A lovely collaboration is starting today, because we share the way Kilian perceives the mountain. SOS Himalaya has undertaken many projects since the earthquake and this new one will help to continue developing our activities in the Himalayas. Also, having an initiative backed up by Summits and with the support of Kilian himself will definitely be very beneficial.‘
Donations can be made through the project website: http://www.summitsofmylife.com/nepal.
Click on the link below for further info in spanish, if interested.
