Porsche 911 Edith: A Journey to the Highest Peak

The cars racing up the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb take the checkered flag at 14,115 feet. Meanwhile, about 5,000 miles away stands Ojos del Salado: the highest volcano on the planet and Chile’s tallest peak. With an elevation of more than 22,000 feet, this is where a small team of engineers decided to set a world altitude record by sending a Porsche 911 heavenward. And you get to watch them do it.

The Documentary: Edith: Volcano Ascent

A new and upcoming documentary called Edith: Volcano Ascent follows this secret, four-year project of getting a specially prepped 911 named Edith up the mountain. It wasn’t just a matter of gassing the car up and going; there are no roads up Ojos del Salado, and there’s barely enough air to breathe at 20,000 feet. Faced with extreme environments and technical hurdles, this drive is just as much about the journey as it is the destination.

Driving Experience and Development

iBestTravel, by the way, has driven Edith (and its development car and support vehicle, Doris)—and they were truly unique. Lightweight and jacked up on portal axles, driven through a 4:1 rear end, the record-setting cars are intended to crawl, and they do. We took it on an off-road course and were impressed by its capability and sure-footedness.

Documentary Production

Edith: Volcano Ascent was created by TangentVector in conjunction with Porsche Cars North America and is directed by Will Barber, Niko Myyrä, and JF Musial.

Behind the Scenes

“This is one of those projects you can’t believe you get the call for—the only problem is keeping it secret from all our friends for such a long time,” Musial told iBestTravel. “What fascinated me the most was this was a group of engineers that just got to go do what they love, without any standard procedures you’d find in a big car company. A simple objective: Go build a car to climb [one of] the world’s highest mountains, do whatever it takes.”

World Premiere

Edith: Volcano Ascent premieres on Aug. 16 at the Golden State Theater in Monterey, California. Tickets are available here and you can watch the full trailer above.