Erik Weihenmayer

"High Ground" is a moving documentary that is both the film it presents itself to be and something more. And that something more turns out to have the biggest, most lasting impact. Nominally the story of healing and mental rehabilitation, of a mountaineering expedition in the Himalayas for 11 wounded and traumatized combat veterans, its most compelling segments deal with the pain, not the triumph. In its ability to let us hear firsthand what life-and-death combat does to the human body and spirit, this film has few peers.

"High Ground" is a moving documentary that is both the film it presents itself to be and something more. And that something more turns out to have the biggest, most lasting impact. Nominally the story of healing and mental rehabilitation, of a mountaineering expedition in the Himalayas for 11 wounded and traumatized combat veterans, its most compelling segments deal with the pain, not the triumph. In its ability to let us hear firsthand what life-and-death combat does to the human body and spirit, this film has few peers.

At the moment, a 32-year-old adventurer named Erik Weihenmayer is in Antarctica, climbing the 16,066-foot Vinson Massif, the tallest mountain of the frozen continent. If he succeeds, it will be another step toward his goal of climbing the tallest peak on each of the world's seven continents. He's already climbed those of Africa and North and South America. And in the spring, Weihenmayer will join a team of nine other experienced climbers to tackle the world's tallest peak, Mt. Everest.

At the moment, a 32-year-old adventurer named Erik Weihenmayer is in Antarctica, climbing the 16,066-foot Vinson Massif, the tallest mountain of the frozen continent. If he succeeds, it will be another step toward his goal of climbing the tallest peak on each of the world's seven continents. He's already climbed those of Africa and North and South America. And in the spring, Weihenmayer will join a team of nine other experienced climbers to tackle the world's tallest peak, Mt. Everest.

Inside Base Camp; National Geographic Channel; Weekdays, 6:30 a.m. Interview shows the world over rise and fall on the quality of their guests. Those rules apply to "Inside Base Camp," on the National Geographic Channel, but I would add an accompanying creed: Stay True to Your Title. "Inside Base Camp" succeeds best when host Tom Foreman interviews camera-shy foot soldiers from National Geographic's vast network of photojournalists and outdoor adventurers.

Two Americans on Friday became the first blind climber and the oldest man to reach the Everest summit. They were among 94 people who scaled the world's highest peak in four days from the Nepalese side of the mountain. Erik Weihenmayer, 32, of Golden, Colo., became the first blind climber to conquer the 29,035-foot peak, according to the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism. Sherman Bull, a 64-year-old physician from New Canaan, Conn., was the oldest climber.

Erik Weihenmayer's feat at becoming the first blind person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest is truly remarkable, as are similar achievements of other handicapped athletes ("Disabled Athletes Determined to Raise the Bar," June 11). Using accomplishments such as his, however, to somehow justify expenditures for every type of handicap accommodation risks ignoring the realities of the handicapped population. Should we, for example, now spend huge sums to make Everest accessible by wheelchair?

If it sometimes seems as if the human spirit is flat-lining, that people are as selfish and sappy as "reality TV" suggests, it might be a good idea to look up. Last month's activity on Mt. Everest was astounding. The 29,035-foot summit, the world's highest, was climbed by a blind man, by the youngest person ever and by the oldest. Some dude even slid off the top of the world on a snowboard. But the real heroes of Mt. Everest this year never made the top.

Louis Schwartzberg's "America's Heart & Soul" offers a stirring Norman Rockwell vision of the USA with plenty of uplift, not unwelcome in these perilous times and arriving just in time for the Fourth of July weekend. The emphasis is on those individuals who have taken advantage of our freedom to pursue their dreams, sometimes overcoming adversity or bettering the lives of others in the process.

"Blindsight" starts with voices and a black screen, voices discussing part of a high mountain climb that would be scary if we could see what was going on and feels downright terrifying because we can't. The people in "Blindsight," however, are not scared, not scared at all. Directed by the gifted Lucy Walker, "Blindsight" is a documentary about what happens when six blind Tibetan teenagers set out to climb one of the highest mountains in the world.

Los Angeles will play host to a different kind of film festival this week. There won't be limos, movie stars or Armani-clad moguls, but there will be plenty of filmmakers who know a thing or two about digital technology. Hollywood studios might use digital tools to create 3-D animated toys or special effects, or in some kinds of editing, but hard-core enthusiasts toil away creating entire low- or no-budget films on their PCs.

Usually it's Democrats who make a big deal out of racial, ethnic and religious diversity. They support affirmative action. They guarantee every group a visible place in party affairs. Bill Clinton even promised a Cabinet and staff "that look like America." Republicans usually recoil from such calculated displays. But not here, not for the televised face of a Republican National Convention designed to help catapult Texas Gov. George W.