[The description and review of a new presence-evoking virtual reality experience called “Everest: First Ascent” below is from the Immersive Rumours website (see the original review for four different images). More information is available from a press release via EIN Presswire, including this:

“Developed with guidance from a scientific advisory board of Himalayan, mountaineering and cultural specialists, Everest: The First Ascent goes beyond the iconic photographs and documentaries that have carried the story across generations.  …

Antoine Lieutaud, Founder and CEO of Eclipso, said: ‘Audiences no longer just have to hear or watch the story of the first ever ascent of Everest. Now they can become part of it. With this experience we want people to feel the humanity behind Hillary and Norgay’s phenomenal achievement, to see the glaciers, feel the scale of the mountain and understand the challenges they faced along the way. Very few people will ever have the opportunity to experience Everest in this way, and we are excited to bring this extraordinary journey to New York City.’

Jean Dallac says: ‘With Everest: The First Ascent, we wanted audiences to experience the first ascent of Everest not simply as a historical achievement, but as a human adventure. For 35 minutes, visitors are transported into the world of the 1953 expedition, alongside Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpa team, experiencing the beauty of the Himalayas as well as the cold, altitude, exhaustion and uncertainty of the climb. Our aim was to make audiences feel as though they were part of this extraordinary moment in history, without having to leave New York City.’”

The experience is opening in several cities around the world including London, New York, Barcelona and Seville. Coverage in Time-Out New York adds this:

“The company’s format resembles a movie theater crossed with a very sophisticated group hallucination: Guests put on VR headsets, then freely explore large-scale digital environments together. The entire Everest visit lasts approximately 45 minutes, including a 10-minute onboarding session. It is open to guests ages 8 and older.”

–Matthew]

[Image: Source: EIN Presswire]

Review: Everest – The First Ascent by Eclipso

September 21, 2026

Everest: The First Ascent is the latest immersive VR production from French producers Eclipso and Small Creative. Fresh off a debut at the Venice International Film Festival as part of Venice Immersive, the experience is set to run alongside Titanic: Echos from the Past and Colosseum: The Legendary Arena at Eclipso’s permanent Camden High Street venue from the end of September.

Across the 35-minute experience, visitors follow in the footsteps of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary in 1953 as they became the first people to successfully reach the summit of Everest, travelling alongside the pair as their expedition unfolds.

For Everest: The First Ascent, Eclipso has opted for PICO 4 Ultra Enterprise headsets over the HTC Vive headsets used in their other experiences. These newer headsets offer much-improved image resolution over previous generations of VR technology, and make every icicle, glacier and patch of untouched snow appear that much crisper. This extra clarity proves particularly effective here, with the experience relying heavily on stunning 360-degree vistas and a grand sense of scale to render its inhospitable environments.

With headsets on, groups are ushered down a virtual corridor before finding themselves gathered around a campfire alongside Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. The opening scene follows Norgay and Hillary on their respective journeys to Kathmandu, albeit via very different modes of transport.

For Hillary, it’s the relative luxury of a train as it banks around the terraced rice fields built into the slopes of the Himalayan mountains. For Norgay, it’s on foot alongside a herd of cows through the forest outside the city as they transport the staggering amount of equipment needed for their upcoming ascent.

With plans finalised at the British Embassy in Kathmandu, the expedition party set off to Everest Base Camp via the Tengboche Monastery, where Norgay prays for safe passage in one of the experience’s most reflective scenes. Before too long, they’ve traded the comfort of Kathmandu for canvas tents some 5,000 metres above sea level. With this, the environment becomes noticeably harsher as they continue to climb.

For the pair, rare moments of solace come in the form of meals and tea prepared by other members of the expedition party on their route, but it’s an unforgiving environment they find themselves in, and it’s made all the more dangerous by the hazards they encounter along the way – including claustrophobic ice tunnels, hastily erected, vertigo-inducing bridges over ravines, and the ever-present threat of avalanches or the ground giving way.

Visually, the sweeping vistas that Hillary and Norgay encounter on their ascent and eventual summit are beautifully realised, with the 360-degree perspective making it possible for audiences to appreciate the scale of the landscape in a way that a conventional screen can’t.

While free-roaming VR is now a familiar format to many, with ‘metaverse’ zones having featured in immersive exhibitions like Cleopatra: The Experience and The Last Days of Pompeii, Eclipso’s body of work has consistently delivered something of a much higher quality, in large part due to its massive scope and brilliant attention to detail.

With Everest: The First Ascent, Eclipso continues this streak and delivers another standout virtual reality experience that’s up there with some of the best on offer anywhere in London. While it’s far more contemplative than the action-packed Colosseum: The Legendary Arena, which runs alongside Everest at the company’s Camden Town venue, it’s nonetheless a wonderfully crafted piece of virtual reality that allows audiences to experience something they would never otherwise be able to.

★★★★
[Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review]

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Everest: The First Ascent runs at Eclipso on Camden High Street daily from 30th September 2026. Tickets are priced from £25.00 per person and can be booked via feverup.com