I started out life with the name ‘Charlie Brown’ but the kids at school were brutal with the teasing so to make things easier I started calling myself Michael. Even after the name change I was still always the last one picked for the team because I was skinny and non-athletic. I couldn’t hold on to the ball in any sport. As an adult I decided to try to make up for lost opportunity and start doing things that I thought would make me seem interesting, like climbing mountains, skiing and kayaking. Along the way my brothers and father drug me kicking and screaming into the intimidating world of cameras and adventure films. We started with ski and kayak films but somehow I found solace and an easy ability to acclimatize in the high peaks.

Erik and his team invited me to climb the peak with them in 2001. At first I didn't want to go as I didn't want to climb the mountain again, I had already done it the year before. Now it seems that we do a lot together and this trip to Tibet is yet another adventure where we will tease each other mercilessly. My nickname with this team is BT and it came from Erik’s perception of Hollywood guys being fat. Being blind he couldn't see that I was relatively thin with normal male anatomy. 

I look forward to learning a lot about life from the kids we are about to meet. They are making the best of adversity that we will find difficult to comprehend.

Michael Brown 38 year old president of Serac Adventure Films has summited Mount Everest three times from two countries and has been on 30 expeditions to all seven continents. In the process of all of these expeditions his films have been awarded three national Emmys for cinematography as well as twenty-plus film festival awards. His photographs have been published in several books and national magazines. His hobbies are bicycle and sail boat racing which he looks forward getting back to after this trip to Tibet.

Michael Brown in the Khumbu Ice Fall, photo by Everest 2001 teammate Didrik Johnck.