by Kennedy, host of Reality Remix
I am now fully obsessed with this show. I know fishing for Alaskan crab is the deadliest job on earth with a 100% rate of injury for those involved, but climbing Everest is the deadliest hobby and the mountain claims lives in droves with the slightest misstep or shift in weather. Man cannot conquer nature, this is the last bastion of our control, but people are drawn to the one aspect they cannot contain to test their will against a mountain that seems to have its own whims.
The star of the show is big boy biker Tim Medvetz who failed in a summit attempt last year. On summit day while Tim was within 300 feet of the mountain he sat down for over an hour and had to be turned around by an angry expedition leader and a fed up sherpa who kept yelling at him, “Tim - you so lazy!” Not reaching the summit was the biggest regret of Tim’s life, so he’s ponied up the $42,000 to make another attempt with the same expedition leader who has made no secret of his distrust in Tim’s ability and slow and dangerous method.
There are two teams in Russell Brice’s expedition, the fast team one and the slower team two. Surprisingly Tim was placed on the quicker team, and they started this episode at 23,000 feet, a little less than a thousand feet below the death zone (where nothing on earth can live). There is no chance of rescue at this altitude as the air is too thin for a helicopter evacuation and yaks cannot breathe that high up. Tim was slow and lumbering and the last to reach camp by hours (again), but waiting for him was an extra bottle of oxygen so he could start on pure air a day early. As soon as he strapped on his “Os” he was recharged and tore off in first position the next morning. There was a lot of resentment toward Tim for starting the bottle earlier than his teammates and he took some grief for it, but at 250+ pounds he needed any tool in the shed to get his giant ass up the hill.
There are inspiring stories on this season of Everest, including Danish asthmatic Mogen Jensen who is attempting his third summit without oxygen. Mogens was plugging along quite well but reached a critical state with his breathing and had to decide whether to give in and put on the mask or call it quits for his last summit attempt. He put his ego aside and went on oxygen, which should vastly improve his chances of making it to the highest point on earth. Another standout is 71 year old Japanese climber Yanagi, who if he makes it will be the oldest climber to have summated Everest. He is no stranger to the Himalayas and summated a 26,000 foot peak earlier this year. He was almost sidelined with throat pain (any illness or infirmity is deadly on the mountain), but a night’s rest and food and drink set him back on course to finish his trek.
As always there is death around every corner, and two Italian climbers were out of touch and in peril somewhere above camp 2 for two days. One climber was found in bad shape, but with some calories, liquids and oxygen he was revived enough to begin his descent. Unfortunately his fellow countryman was not spotted and he is probably frozen in time somewhere up there. I was amazed the Italians did not have radios of their own to keep them in contact with their support crew, and the only way Russell found out about the frantic search was through a message relayed via satellite phone when the distraught climber called home desperate for help.
An Irish climber was also in a bad way after losing his glasses for a mere 20 minutes and became snowblind after burning and blistering his corneas in the penetrating UV rays, 15 times stronger than sea level. He should be fine, but the previews for next week look dire for big man Medvetz. Apparently he has a bad fall and breaks his hand. Will this be the bundle of bad luck that sidelines the biker giant from his dream? Download all the episodes so far and join me next week for Everest: Beyond The Limit. If you are a fan of holy-crap-he-might die adventuring then YOU will love this show.
