The Olympic Torch was carried through much of China over the last three months covering over 137,000 Kilometers along the Silk Road in preparation for the Summer Olympic games of 2008 in Beijing. Currently, the torch is at the base of Mt. Everest waiting to ascend to the top of the world.
In my mind, you can’t do much better PR work than this. The Olympic Torch is a symbol that is recognizable throughout humanity when the world comes together in one place to compete.
Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest summit at 29,002 feet above sea level, has always held a place in the world’s heart as something to be concurred. There are books, movies, and Discovery Channel miniseries all written on the daunting task of reaching the summit. The mountain has claimed 210 lives in it’s recent climbing history.
The torch reaching the top only means one thing to me: there is hope for humanity. For an organization to link the torch with the world tallest mountain is brilliant. It sends out the message that what the Olympics stand for is here to stay. The good in humanity that the Olympics brings out is one that needs to be adopted and practiced more often.
This event is far better than the stunt pulled off in the 2004 running of the torch in Los Angeles, California. There Sylvester Stallone, made famous by his 1980’s boxing movie series “Rocky,” got to carry the torch in front of spectators and media. A steroid pumping action movie star falls by the way side compared to this Mt. Everest summit.
The Chinese team of mountaineers will carry a specially designed torch designed to burn in frigid, windy, oxygen-thin air. The torch climbing the Himalayan peak is a “sister torch” to the one that left Athens, Greece in March and is now in Hong Kong.

The latest on the journey to the top