Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, has always been a grueling test of human grit, where climbers push their bodies against thin air and punishing conditions. Now, DJI, the king of consumer drones, has dropped a jaw-dropping video of the Mavic 4 Pro drone soaring in one unbroken shot from the North Col Glacier at 6,500 meters to 8,800 meters, just a stone’s throw from Everest’s summit.
This project, spearheaded by photographer and drone pilot Ma Chunlin, takes DJI’s Everest game to a whole new level. Last year, the Mavic 3 Pro gave us a stunning but pieced-together video of the climb from base camp to summit, stitching together flights to highlight the treacherous Khumbu Icefall and camps clinging to insane heights. That was cool, but the Mavic 4 Pro’s latest feat is next-level: a single, smooth-as-silk shot that glides from the glacier’s icy sprawl to just below the summit, capturing the raw, untamed beauty of Everest’s north face. Ma called it his “toughest Himalayan film project yet,” and you can totally see why.
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Flying a drone at 8,800 meters is no joke—the air up there is so thin it’s like trying to fly through a whisper, barely giving the propellers anything to grip. It’s freezing, too, dipping below -30°C, where ice can sneak onto vital parts and mess things up. Oh, and those jetstream winds? They howl at triple-digit speeds, ready to knock anything out of the sky. But the Mavic 4 Pro, with its upgraded motors and batteries, pulled it off like an absolute rockstar.
Kicking off at the North Col Glacier, where climbers gear up with serious climbing kit, the Mavic 4 Pro cruises through Windy Pass, zips by Camp 2 at 7,790 meters, and snakes through the sketchy Yellow Band and Second Step. By the time the drone hovers near 8,800 meters, just shy of the summit, it’s like you’re right there with it.
DJI didn’t pick the Mavic 4 Pro for this mission by accident. It builds on the Mavic 3 Pro’s strengths—think Hasselblad camera with a 4/3 CMOS sensor, all-direction obstacle sensing, and a hefty 43-minute flight time—but cranks things up
Drones are already shaking things up on Everest. Back in April, DJI’s FlyCart 30 cargo drones hauled oxygen tanks and ropes through the Khumbu Icefall to lighten the load for Sherpas while also cleaning up climber trash. The Mavic 4 Pro’s flight opens the door to even wilder possibilities: real-time route monitoring, search-and-rescue ops, or even scientific studies of the mountain’s shifting glaciers.
