Ultimate Expedition (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Uphill Battle - full transcript
- [Narrator] Previously,
on Ultimate Expedition:
Eight novice climbers took the
first steps
to climb this 20,000
foot mountain in Peru.
- The altitude was kind of
making me feel really wonky.
- It's like I already drank a
beer,
but I haven't.
- I am so winded.
- [Narrator] And on the test
hike,
the lower oxygen levels hit even
harder.
- I'm not naming names,
but Nikki was falling far
behind.
- [Nikki] I feel short of
oxygen.
My heart rate gets really high.
I'm not gonna lie, I was in the
back.
- Everything hurts.
- [Narrator] Now the team
faces its true ascent,
a 10-mile hike to base
camp at 14,000 feet.
For those already struggling,
the expedition may end
before it even really begins.
- It's like 5:30 a.m.
Our hike to base camp;
nine miles, 14,000 feet.
Why am I so out of breath?
God, this is gonna be hard.
No turning back.
Here we go.
- They say most of the team
won't make it to the summit.
- We never done anything like
this.
- I really don't know
what a nine-mile hike
at 14,000 feet feels like.
- Apparently, most of
us are gonna get sick
when we reach the base camp.
I don't know, it's supposed to
be gnarly.
- I'm so happy and I'm so
excited
for all this to go down.
Everybody's a little tense.
Everybody's ready
to take a look at
if they have what it takes
to go through with this.
This is when it gets real.
- Come on, baby girl.
All right, let's go trek, dudes.
- I don't think I've fully
known this whole time,
like, what I'm getting myself
into,
and I think I still don't.
But I think that just getting
here
and seeing the mountain is
getting me really excited,
and I'm looking forward
to finding out exactly
what we are doing.
- One hour drive and
then a nine-mile hike.
Anybody ever hike nine-miles?
- [Group] No.
- [Chachi] We never walked to--
- Yeah, of course.
- [Narrator] After four days
of acclimating in Huaraz,
the team is ready for
the trek up to base camp,
where they will eat, sleep,
and learn all the skills
they will need to summit
Tocllaraju.
- [Steve-O] Yeah!
Come on, girl.
- Now it's finally time to
start hiking up to base camp.
It's actually happening.
And this is where we're gonna be
going.
I don't know what to expect.
I don't know how my
body's gonna handle this,
but I'm excited.
I'm really excited.
I think I'll be okay.
If I take it super slow,
I think we've got this.
We got this!
- [Jukka] Go Chachi!
- Go me (laughs)!
- [Mikko] Good morning everyone.
- [Jukka] All right, how do
you feel about everybody?
- They look good, but you never
know.
- [Jukka] They're not sure
what they're getting themselves
into.
What about Nikki?
- I think she's rushing too
much.
- Is she?
- Yeah.
- She's got to keep it cool?
- Yeah, much, much cooler.
- [Jukka] What about Lia?
- Most of mountaineering is
mental.
You gotta be in good shape
to be able to keep up.
But it's still a mental decision
to find that inner strength
that you can keep on pushing.
Sniper, want to come talk to me?
I've been talking with
Mikko and (mumbles),
and I want to do the base camp.
So, today, take it easy,
and just set your own pace.
It's not a race.
Is the backpack too heavy?
- Yeah, it's really heavy.
- Take it easy and push through,
you've got this.
- I don't spend a lot of time
outside.
I don't work out.
I don't do exercise.
If you asked me a couple of
months ago,
like, "Can you do this?"
I'd be like, "No, I'm not doing
this."
But here I am.
Like, I want to see what I'm
capable of,
like, that I can do this,
that I can go without my phone,
that I could just be in
the middle of nowhere
and climb a mountain.
- You know, you're gonna
have struggle acclimating
in base camp,
and tomorrow's the first
training day.
- I don't know how long it's
gonna take me to acclimate,
'cause I feel good today.
I feel good now.
And I feel like I can do this
hike.
- See you in base camp.
You got this.
- I've got it.
- Okay, please attention.
Today is the first real
challenge.
Remember, tomorrow is
the first training day,
so, take it really calm.
- Mikko Vermas, he's
the expedition leader,
and its his responsibility
to keep us safe.
He's climbed Mount Everest.
He's key to the geographical
north pole.
And he's been here climbing
these mountain for 20 years.
- Set your own pace.
And we start evaluating you
right now.
Let's go.
- [Jukka] We're gonna be
walking for quite many hours.
- [Lia] Yeah.
I mean, as long as we take
breaks with food, I'm good.
- [Narrator] To get to base camp
the team
will face a steep vertical
climb through the desert,
then switch backs in rugged
terrain through a forest
before the final stage,
a demanding ascent
through a glacial valley
before they reach base camp.
If anyone fails to make it by
nightfall,
they will be removed from the
expedition.
- The hike is officially
beginning.
They've said it's about
a six or seven-hour trek
potentially.
I'm gonna try to do it in three
hours.
We'll see if that's possible.
I've kind of been
battling demons of my own
going into this next Olympics,
and going into the last
Olympics,
I had like really no expectation
on me.
But now, this time around,
I've got such a bigger online
presence,
and I've had a previous medal,
and I've just signed all
of these Olympic sponsors,
and I feel like I have all
this pressure on myself,
and I think that having a task
like getting to the top of a
mountain,
having something to accomplish
that's just now, it's this
moment,
and I think that that's
gonna kind of help me
just get to a better place in my
head.
- Wendy!
Come here, girl.
Daddy's coming.
Good girl.
A big part of this for me,
is that I feel that with
my following online,
and with my kind of persona,
what I put out there needs
to match a certain crazy and,
when in reality, that's
not necessarily who I am.
So, I think a big part of
this expedition for me,
is to just let my guard down,
and not worry about
keeping up with the persona
of the crazy Steve-O,
and just being myself.
- It's a 10-mile hike we're
doing today to get to base camp.
And I had to bring my laptop,
just had to, idiot.
It's so stupid.
Good job.
Got it in 15-inch,
had to put it in there,
with all the other really heavy
equipment.
Making a lot of great decisions
today.
Just climbing mountains
to get to base camp.
This is isn't even the,
I'm gonna stop talking.
Shut up.
Just enjoy the view, shut up.
- [Narrator] Olympic Silver
Medalist, Gus Kenworthy,
is already starting to break
away
from the rest of the group.
- [Jukka] I've been just
cruising with these guys;
Chachi and--
- [Chachi] What's up?
- Lia, and Chuck.
But Chuck kind of got left
behind.
It's just us girls and Chuck.
- [Lia] Us girls.
- Woo!
- [Lia] Oh my God, there's so
much more.
- First break.
Take off your backpacks,
and drink and eat.
- I am prone to worrying about
things,
that is just in my nature.
I'm a worrier.
I struggled with something
called somniphobia for a while.
It sounds like something
dumb to be afraid of.
It's the fear of falling asleep,
'cause I was afraid to give
up control to sleeping.
It's almost a mini fear of
dying,
like, "Oh my gosh,
"what if I don't wake
up after I go to sleep?
"How do I know I'm gonna wake up
"after I go to sleep?"
- Now I have to find a bush to
pee in,
'cause I need to pee.
You guys like my hat?
Oh, whoa, whoa,
look at this big-ass fly.
Big-ass fly just,
holy[bleep], flies are really
big here.
Like, it's just a regular house
fly.
What'd they feed these things?
Mother[bleep] Get off my camera.
He's like all over my camera.
Oh my God, there's two
of them on my camera.
Get off.
Oh my god they are on my hand.
Get off my hand.
I am your leader, you ugly.
mother[bleep]
Now get off!
Be on with you.
Now I gotta go find a bush to
pee in.
Which bush looks good?
- Well, I'm doing really great.
We're at the top of kind of
the second vertical climb.
And if you look way down there,
that's where we started at.
And we kind of wrapped around.
You can see this ridge line.
I see a couple of people
coming over the ridge now.
I think that's probably like
Steve-O,
and the next people on the
cruise.
So, everyone's definitely
spread out a lot.
Look at where we are right now.
It's [bleep] beautiful.
The mountains have
really opened up for us.
We've got this beautiful
glacier melt off river
that's coming down,
and, so, it's like this really
pretty,
kind of like murky turquoise.
I know we're in Peru
and we're not in Austria,
or Switzerland,
but I'm very much feeling
like Julie Andrews
in The Sound of Music.
The hills are alive.
- [Mikko] Now you can see--
- [Jukka] Tocllaraju?
- [Mikko] Yeah.
-wow
- I think that climbing a
mountain
really is like a metaphor for
life,
and any kind of journey
that you have to make,
and there's gonna be a lot of
obstacles in the way for me.
I lost a friend when I was
younger skiing.
I had myself in the closet.
I had certain obstacles
that I definitely had
put in my path,
and it's like kind of trying to
find a way
to commandeer these and get
around them,
get over them,
figure out a path that best
suits you
to get to the top of the
mountain.
- [Narrator] Mountaineering
is one of the most demanding
and dangerous sports in the
world.
Avalanches, rock slides,
and extreme weather,
are always threats.
But it's altitude that
is the silent killer.
At sea level,
a person with healthy lungs
can expect 95% to 100% oxygen
saturation in the blood,
but at altitude, things change.
The higher you go, the less
oxygen saturation you get.
- [Jukka] How're you doing, Lia?
- My back really hurts,
and it's really hot.
Oh my God, this is hard.
My backpack's [bleeping] heavy.
Before I got here,
they were telling me how
everybody gets mountain
sickness,
everybody has trouble breathing.
I'm like no, how does that even
happen?
It doesn't make any sense to me.
Like, I can't imagine not
being able to breathe,
in like, I don't know, outside.
- So, you might try to
inhale through your nose
a couple of times,
so, your brain gets a lot of
oxygen.
That's good.
- [Narrator] Two hours into the
hike,
Gus Kenworthy is already
closing in on base camp.
Steve-O is just 30 minutes
behind him,
with JusReign and Furious
Pete next in line.
Jukka and Chachi have broken
away.
At the back of the pack,
Nikki, and Chuck
are falling further behind by
the minute.
- I always knew I wanted to
be a comedian or an actor,
or something,
but there was nobody
that I could look up to
when I was growing up,
and be like, "Man, I want
to be like that dude."
My main reason for doing this,
is like, you know,
people like me will
never climb a mountain.
I'm doing this to push my
people or my culture forward.
I'm gonna be a pioneer.
I'm gonna break grounds.
I'm gonna let everybody
know that's watching us,
like, "Hey, you can do it too."
Representation is super, super
important.
And whether it'd be intentional
or not,
it's just like just do you,
just do whatever you want to do,
and you're gonna inspire other
people
to kind of follow that
trajectory.
- I would say the most
challenging thing I've ever done
was battling cancer.
I finished chemotherapy April
4th, 2017.
And four months ago,
I had my last injection.
And then now I'm here,
you know, about to climb
a 20,000 foot mountain.
Who out there can say that?
- I'm feeling good.
I'm actually really surprised.
I don't feel any like,
I'm like a little out of breath,
but not like super,
like, hyperventilating,
or anything like that.
And it's nice.
And it's so pretty.
- [Jukka] Chachi's killing it.
- It's a lot of fun.
I never thought I would
actually enjoy it this much.
- [Lia] I feel like this isn't
on right.
Like I feel like I have to hold
it up.
- [Chuck] Put one foot
in front of the other.
- [Lia] My shoulders are
[bleeping] burning.
- [Chuck] Wanna hand that to me?
I'll take it for you.
- Thanks.
Do you need help putting it on?
- [Chuck] No yet.
I got it like this.
- Oh, you got it?
Okay, thanks.
- [Chuck] This is a team
adventure.
We're on a team journey.
And we're all trying to make it.
And I'm gonna help out the best
I can.
Hopefully when I need it
someone's gonna help me.
- Before we started today's hike
I wasn't even sure if Wendy was
gonna even hang out with me.
And then something clicked,
and she won't go anywhere
without me.
I've just been intermittently
crying the whole [bleeping]
time,
because I just can't handle the
beauty.
I was thinking about how, like,
I'm out of touch with the world
now,
and no Wi-Fi, no cellphone,
and, like, how I just wanted
to tell the people I love ...
But I will.
I will.
And it's all good man.
Everything's so good.
I'm just so happy.
So, let's go [bleeping] handle
this, dude.
- Fatality!
Got a little colder.
Little breezy.
- I am tired as shit.
We are almost at base camp.
I think Mikko said that we
have an hour and a half left.
So, I'm really excited for that
moment,
'cause now it's starting
to like affect me.
I feel kind of dizzy.
So, the altitude is
making me kind of dizzy.
Me and Jukka are saying that
when speak
we only hear ourselves
like two seconds after,
it's like a weird delay.
It's like you're in your
body but you're not,
and my stomach's going crazy.
- Right now you're starting to
feel
that you're physically getting
tired,
and it feels so good.
- I'm gonna sleep so good
tonight.
Oh, I'm excited.
- [Narrator] With three miles
still to go,
and sunset just two hours away,
Lia, Nikki, and Chuck,
are at risk of missing the
cutoff time.
- You don't feel dizzy, do you?
- A little bit.
- Lightheaded?
- Yeah, a little lightheaded.
Can I just sit for a little bit?
- It's not nice, but it's
normal.
- Is it okay if I sit?
Just give me a minute.
- [Juha] Another please,
so, you won't get dehydrated.
- I feel like it's getting
worse.
- We still have four kilometers
to go.
Less than three miles.
- [Lia] I'm trying.
I'm trying to keep going.
- So, it shouldn't be very bad.
- [Lia] Like I want to do this.
- [Juha] It's gonna get
easier in 30 minutes now.
Little by little.
- I know, it's just my head
really hurts.
- Yeah, try to breathe a
few times, like, heavily.
- My head just feels,
I just feel like really
lightheaded,
and I hate this feeling so much.
When I used to go on hikes at
home,
I would just,
whenever I was ready to go home,
I would just go home.
Whenever I wanted to take a
break,
I would just take a break.
I feel like too much blood
has rushed to my head.
I'm not used to this.
I'm not used to pushing
myself to my limits.
- Keep rolling your head
until you feel a pull,
like I just got bunch of
relief from my headache
after doing that.
I'm feeling really frustrated
again.
Why can't I get my heart rate
low?
I can't acclimate as quickly
as some of the other members of
the team,
and I don't understand why.
I run five miles a day
when I'm back at home,
yet I'm just not acclimating.
- I don't know what happened.
Just coming over that ridge ...
I'm just so, I don't know,
happy with myself that I got
here.
I had a lot of thoughts
that went through my head.
This past year has been the
most difficult time of my life,
and for me to get here is
just a surreal feeling,
that's why I'm,
these are just tears of
happiness.
I wish my family was here.
I wish my fiancee was here.
I'm not even at the summit.
I'm proud of myself for just
getting here.
It's just a surreal moment for
me.
I'm pumped.
- [Narrator] Two hours and
40 minutes after departing,
Gus arrives at base camp.
Elevation: 14,271 foot.
25 minutes behind him,
Steve-O and Wendy are making
great time,
with JusReign and Furious
Pete charging along.
Just over a mile behind Pete,
Yukka and Chachi are well
ahead of the back of the pack.
- How are you?
- Good.
- Sampsa.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
How was the track?
- Fun. It was good.
- Are you okay.?
- Yeah.
- You did it pretty fast.
- Two hours and 40 minutes.
- You are in good shape.
- [Narrator] As each
member of the expedition
arrives in base camp,
they'll have their heart rate
and oxygen saturation levels
checked.
Heart rates vary from person to
person,
but anything over 140 beats per
minute
or under 80% saturation
is cause for concern.
- [Chachi] Oh my God, you scared
me.
- Your heart rate is 125,
and oxygen saturation is ...
At the moment, 80.
- They told us going into it
that it was anywhere between
a four hour and a seven hour
hike,
and that we should just set our
pace.
And I'm competitive,
and I'm an idiot, so, I'm like,
"I'm gonna make it in
less than three hours."
And I ended up making it up here
in like two hours and 40
minutes,
so, I went pretty quick.
Oh, hi, baby!
Come here!
Oh, hi, Wendy!
How was your hike, babe?
(Steve-O laughing)
Nice work, kid.
I'm glad you made it in second.
- [Sampsa] It's 108,
and the saturation, 99.
- [Steve-O] Is that good?
- [Sampsa] Perfect.
- Oh, all right.
I'll take it.
- I mean, honestly,
that's better than mine,
but, also, if I had gone really
slow,
it probably would've been
better (Steve-O laughs).
- Who said brown dudes
couldn't do this shit?
Hey, man.
- [Gus] Nice work, dude.
- When did you guys get here?
It's hard.
It's very, very hard.
It's honestly easily the hardest
thing I've done in my life.
But I did it,
so, I'm happy I did.
- Heart rate is 140,
and your saturation is 93.
Very good.
- Is it?
- Yeah, it is good.
- So, I can do that mountain,
you think?
You think I got that?
- [Gus] Oh my God, nice of you
to make it.
- How the hell did you do that?
That is beyond impressive.
- [Gus] Thanks, man.
- How are you feeling?
- I'm okay.
My fingers are pretty frozen
right now.
- All right, so I'm here
today to show you guys
a really fantastic new neighbor.
It's an up and coming
neighborhood,
but there's a lot of new
development going on.
I actually personally live here.
This is my own home.
I built it myself.
But there are a ton of
other homes popping up
around the neighborhood.
These two are just beginning
the development stages
of a new project,
so, they're gonna be our
neighbors.
Love that we got some
diversity in the neighborhood,
Canadian.
It's a really gentrified
neighborhood
that we've got here.
We've got all types of people.
And when you look at the view,
all the way up there,
that's Tocllaraju,
where we're gonna be summiting,
and we'll probably putting
up more properties there.
We're really just developing the
market.
- [Juha] What about you, Nikki,
how are you?
- How are you?
- [Nikki] My legs are getting
fatigued.
I'm tired.
- [Juha] Yeah, I know.
Do you have any sweets left,
because you are running out of
energy.
That's it.
Squeeze.
Lia, how're you doing?
- [Lia] I'm doing good.
- [Juha] Yeah, I can see that.
- [Lia] Almost there.
- [Juha] Give me more.
Are you tired?
-How you feel?
- [Lia] I'm exhausted.
-How exhausted?
- [Juha] If the scale is from
one to five,
- [Lia] Five.
- [Juha] No, your mind is the
strongest muscle you have.
- [Jukka] Woo!
Is it 40,000 feet yet?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, girl.
- [Chachi] Finally.
- You guys be speeding.
You guys' been busting your
balls.
- Good job, brother.
- Good job, girl.
- So, it's 91,
- Ok
and saturation level is 87.
So you are doing pretty good.
- Excited.
- 500 meters to base camp.
We almost made it.
- 500?
- [Chuck] You guys ready?
- [Juha] Shall we go?
- [Chuck] We're almost there.
You've got it.
You all right?
- A few more steps to go, guys.
And we do it together.
- Did you already saw the camp?
- [Chuck] Yeah.
I'll take your bag.
- I've got it.
Thank you, though.
- [Juha] Okay, let's take the
last steps.
- My sport was an individual
sport,
but we also had a fight team,
and guys that were responsible
for getting me good,
and, so, I felt the
responsibility to help them
get better and help them
get ready for the fights.
Every time I needed them for
something they showed up,
so, when they needed me I showed
up too.
I think I'm a good team player.
I'd like to see everybody get
to the top of the mountain.
If we can make it happen,
that'd be awesome.
- It was a huge accomplishment
just to get to base camp,
'cause I've never done any
remotely close to this.
- [Chachi] So proud of you.
Look who did it.
Look who made it.
- I thought I would give up, but
I didn't.
Like, everybody's just been
motivating me the whole time.
- [Chuck] That was awesome.
You pushed through it.
That was awesome.
- Thanks so much.
- My pleasure.
- [Lia] Thank you.
- We're at base camp,
and everybody made it,
which makes me really happy,
because that was,
it wasn't obvious that
everybody will make it.
- Oh, thank you.
- But the fact is that it's
not getting any easier.
Every day is just gonna get
tougher,
and tougher, and tougher,
and you gotta learn all these
skills,
and then you gotta keep
pushing yourself physically,
and more and more.
- 110 and 84.
- [Sampsa] That's good.
- 141, and the saturation level
is 85.
- Heart rate is 150.
Oxygen saturation is 75, 74.
- Is that okay for this hike?
I want it to get better.
- In the evening or tomorrow
it should be getting better.
- Okay, thank you.
- Well, done.
- Thanks.
- [Narrator] With minutes
remaining until nightfall,
no one is removed from
the summit team today.
But both Nikki and Lia
will be watched closely
by expedition leaders.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- [Narrator] Because when
climbing a 20,000 foot peak,
a team is only as strong
as its weakest link.
- The first night at the 14,000
level,
it's hard to sleep, I think so,
because your heart is
pumping all the time.
Your heart doesn't go low,
because you don't recover
here like at sea level.
For the people who struggle,
it will be a very long night for
them.
- [Chachi] I'm so cold.
- [Jukka] Move around.
- [Chachi] My fingers don't
work,
so I can't zip anything up.
- I don't know what it is
about the toilet paper here,
but it smells so good.
Why? It smells like fresh soap.
Fresh soap and linen.
My skin has been awful here.
There are no showers.
I can't wash my face.
I've been using makeup wipes.
- I'm wearing like seven
jackets,
so, if you're feeling cold,
just shut up and go put on more
jackets.
As you can see I'm breathing
heavily,
because we're freaking
all the way up here,
and then you gotta,
you know what I mean?
Man, I don't know if I'm making
any sense,
because I'm so high up in the
air.
I'm not making sense.
I'm gonna get some sleep.
I'm gonna go to sleep.
Goodbye.
Give me a kiss.
Bye.
- It was a good one today.
It was hard work.
Kind of stuck around and
helped out some of the girls.
Getting the mind right,
and getting through the hike.
I just saw that mountain, and
I'm ready.
I'm so ready to get up that
thing.
- [Narrator] Coming up
on Ultimate Expedition.
The team will face a
200 foot vertical repel.
- Nobody has any fear of
heights?
- [JusReign] It's not
like a big fear, but ...
- It's really high up,
and you're walking off a cliff.
- [Furious Pete] That drop is
lethal.
[Bleep]
- [Narrator] They will
need to conquer their fears,
or be cut from the expedition.
on Ultimate Expedition:
Eight novice climbers took the
first steps
to climb this 20,000
foot mountain in Peru.
- The altitude was kind of
making me feel really wonky.
- It's like I already drank a
beer,
but I haven't.
- I am so winded.
- [Narrator] And on the test
hike,
the lower oxygen levels hit even
harder.
- I'm not naming names,
but Nikki was falling far
behind.
- [Nikki] I feel short of
oxygen.
My heart rate gets really high.
I'm not gonna lie, I was in the
back.
- Everything hurts.
- [Narrator] Now the team
faces its true ascent,
a 10-mile hike to base
camp at 14,000 feet.
For those already struggling,
the expedition may end
before it even really begins.
- It's like 5:30 a.m.
Our hike to base camp;
nine miles, 14,000 feet.
Why am I so out of breath?
God, this is gonna be hard.
No turning back.
Here we go.
- They say most of the team
won't make it to the summit.
- We never done anything like
this.
- I really don't know
what a nine-mile hike
at 14,000 feet feels like.
- Apparently, most of
us are gonna get sick
when we reach the base camp.
I don't know, it's supposed to
be gnarly.
- I'm so happy and I'm so
excited
for all this to go down.
Everybody's a little tense.
Everybody's ready
to take a look at
if they have what it takes
to go through with this.
This is when it gets real.
- Come on, baby girl.
All right, let's go trek, dudes.
- I don't think I've fully
known this whole time,
like, what I'm getting myself
into,
and I think I still don't.
But I think that just getting
here
and seeing the mountain is
getting me really excited,
and I'm looking forward
to finding out exactly
what we are doing.
- One hour drive and
then a nine-mile hike.
Anybody ever hike nine-miles?
- [Group] No.
- [Chachi] We never walked to--
- Yeah, of course.
- [Narrator] After four days
of acclimating in Huaraz,
the team is ready for
the trek up to base camp,
where they will eat, sleep,
and learn all the skills
they will need to summit
Tocllaraju.
- [Steve-O] Yeah!
Come on, girl.
- Now it's finally time to
start hiking up to base camp.
It's actually happening.
And this is where we're gonna be
going.
I don't know what to expect.
I don't know how my
body's gonna handle this,
but I'm excited.
I'm really excited.
I think I'll be okay.
If I take it super slow,
I think we've got this.
We got this!
- [Jukka] Go Chachi!
- Go me (laughs)!
- [Mikko] Good morning everyone.
- [Jukka] All right, how do
you feel about everybody?
- They look good, but you never
know.
- [Jukka] They're not sure
what they're getting themselves
into.
What about Nikki?
- I think she's rushing too
much.
- Is she?
- Yeah.
- She's got to keep it cool?
- Yeah, much, much cooler.
- [Jukka] What about Lia?
- Most of mountaineering is
mental.
You gotta be in good shape
to be able to keep up.
But it's still a mental decision
to find that inner strength
that you can keep on pushing.
Sniper, want to come talk to me?
I've been talking with
Mikko and (mumbles),
and I want to do the base camp.
So, today, take it easy,
and just set your own pace.
It's not a race.
Is the backpack too heavy?
- Yeah, it's really heavy.
- Take it easy and push through,
you've got this.
- I don't spend a lot of time
outside.
I don't work out.
I don't do exercise.
If you asked me a couple of
months ago,
like, "Can you do this?"
I'd be like, "No, I'm not doing
this."
But here I am.
Like, I want to see what I'm
capable of,
like, that I can do this,
that I can go without my phone,
that I could just be in
the middle of nowhere
and climb a mountain.
- You know, you're gonna
have struggle acclimating
in base camp,
and tomorrow's the first
training day.
- I don't know how long it's
gonna take me to acclimate,
'cause I feel good today.
I feel good now.
And I feel like I can do this
hike.
- See you in base camp.
You got this.
- I've got it.
- Okay, please attention.
Today is the first real
challenge.
Remember, tomorrow is
the first training day,
so, take it really calm.
- Mikko Vermas, he's
the expedition leader,
and its his responsibility
to keep us safe.
He's climbed Mount Everest.
He's key to the geographical
north pole.
And he's been here climbing
these mountain for 20 years.
- Set your own pace.
And we start evaluating you
right now.
Let's go.
- [Jukka] We're gonna be
walking for quite many hours.
- [Lia] Yeah.
I mean, as long as we take
breaks with food, I'm good.
- [Narrator] To get to base camp
the team
will face a steep vertical
climb through the desert,
then switch backs in rugged
terrain through a forest
before the final stage,
a demanding ascent
through a glacial valley
before they reach base camp.
If anyone fails to make it by
nightfall,
they will be removed from the
expedition.
- The hike is officially
beginning.
They've said it's about
a six or seven-hour trek
potentially.
I'm gonna try to do it in three
hours.
We'll see if that's possible.
I've kind of been
battling demons of my own
going into this next Olympics,
and going into the last
Olympics,
I had like really no expectation
on me.
But now, this time around,
I've got such a bigger online
presence,
and I've had a previous medal,
and I've just signed all
of these Olympic sponsors,
and I feel like I have all
this pressure on myself,
and I think that having a task
like getting to the top of a
mountain,
having something to accomplish
that's just now, it's this
moment,
and I think that that's
gonna kind of help me
just get to a better place in my
head.
- Wendy!
Come here, girl.
Daddy's coming.
Good girl.
A big part of this for me,
is that I feel that with
my following online,
and with my kind of persona,
what I put out there needs
to match a certain crazy and,
when in reality, that's
not necessarily who I am.
So, I think a big part of
this expedition for me,
is to just let my guard down,
and not worry about
keeping up with the persona
of the crazy Steve-O,
and just being myself.
- It's a 10-mile hike we're
doing today to get to base camp.
And I had to bring my laptop,
just had to, idiot.
It's so stupid.
Good job.
Got it in 15-inch,
had to put it in there,
with all the other really heavy
equipment.
Making a lot of great decisions
today.
Just climbing mountains
to get to base camp.
This is isn't even the,
I'm gonna stop talking.
Shut up.
Just enjoy the view, shut up.
- [Narrator] Olympic Silver
Medalist, Gus Kenworthy,
is already starting to break
away
from the rest of the group.
- [Jukka] I've been just
cruising with these guys;
Chachi and--
- [Chachi] What's up?
- Lia, and Chuck.
But Chuck kind of got left
behind.
It's just us girls and Chuck.
- [Lia] Us girls.
- Woo!
- [Lia] Oh my God, there's so
much more.
- First break.
Take off your backpacks,
and drink and eat.
- I am prone to worrying about
things,
that is just in my nature.
I'm a worrier.
I struggled with something
called somniphobia for a while.
It sounds like something
dumb to be afraid of.
It's the fear of falling asleep,
'cause I was afraid to give
up control to sleeping.
It's almost a mini fear of
dying,
like, "Oh my gosh,
"what if I don't wake
up after I go to sleep?
"How do I know I'm gonna wake up
"after I go to sleep?"
- Now I have to find a bush to
pee in,
'cause I need to pee.
You guys like my hat?
Oh, whoa, whoa,
look at this big-ass fly.
Big-ass fly just,
holy[bleep], flies are really
big here.
Like, it's just a regular house
fly.
What'd they feed these things?
Mother[bleep] Get off my camera.
He's like all over my camera.
Oh my God, there's two
of them on my camera.
Get off.
Oh my god they are on my hand.
Get off my hand.
I am your leader, you ugly.
mother[bleep]
Now get off!
Be on with you.
Now I gotta go find a bush to
pee in.
Which bush looks good?
- Well, I'm doing really great.
We're at the top of kind of
the second vertical climb.
And if you look way down there,
that's where we started at.
And we kind of wrapped around.
You can see this ridge line.
I see a couple of people
coming over the ridge now.
I think that's probably like
Steve-O,
and the next people on the
cruise.
So, everyone's definitely
spread out a lot.
Look at where we are right now.
It's [bleep] beautiful.
The mountains have
really opened up for us.
We've got this beautiful
glacier melt off river
that's coming down,
and, so, it's like this really
pretty,
kind of like murky turquoise.
I know we're in Peru
and we're not in Austria,
or Switzerland,
but I'm very much feeling
like Julie Andrews
in The Sound of Music.
The hills are alive.
- [Mikko] Now you can see--
- [Jukka] Tocllaraju?
- [Mikko] Yeah.
-wow
- I think that climbing a
mountain
really is like a metaphor for
life,
and any kind of journey
that you have to make,
and there's gonna be a lot of
obstacles in the way for me.
I lost a friend when I was
younger skiing.
I had myself in the closet.
I had certain obstacles
that I definitely had
put in my path,
and it's like kind of trying to
find a way
to commandeer these and get
around them,
get over them,
figure out a path that best
suits you
to get to the top of the
mountain.
- [Narrator] Mountaineering
is one of the most demanding
and dangerous sports in the
world.
Avalanches, rock slides,
and extreme weather,
are always threats.
But it's altitude that
is the silent killer.
At sea level,
a person with healthy lungs
can expect 95% to 100% oxygen
saturation in the blood,
but at altitude, things change.
The higher you go, the less
oxygen saturation you get.
- [Jukka] How're you doing, Lia?
- My back really hurts,
and it's really hot.
Oh my God, this is hard.
My backpack's [bleeping] heavy.
Before I got here,
they were telling me how
everybody gets mountain
sickness,
everybody has trouble breathing.
I'm like no, how does that even
happen?
It doesn't make any sense to me.
Like, I can't imagine not
being able to breathe,
in like, I don't know, outside.
- So, you might try to
inhale through your nose
a couple of times,
so, your brain gets a lot of
oxygen.
That's good.
- [Narrator] Two hours into the
hike,
Gus Kenworthy is already
closing in on base camp.
Steve-O is just 30 minutes
behind him,
with JusReign and Furious
Pete next in line.
Jukka and Chachi have broken
away.
At the back of the pack,
Nikki, and Chuck
are falling further behind by
the minute.
- I always knew I wanted to
be a comedian or an actor,
or something,
but there was nobody
that I could look up to
when I was growing up,
and be like, "Man, I want
to be like that dude."
My main reason for doing this,
is like, you know,
people like me will
never climb a mountain.
I'm doing this to push my
people or my culture forward.
I'm gonna be a pioneer.
I'm gonna break grounds.
I'm gonna let everybody
know that's watching us,
like, "Hey, you can do it too."
Representation is super, super
important.
And whether it'd be intentional
or not,
it's just like just do you,
just do whatever you want to do,
and you're gonna inspire other
people
to kind of follow that
trajectory.
- I would say the most
challenging thing I've ever done
was battling cancer.
I finished chemotherapy April
4th, 2017.
And four months ago,
I had my last injection.
And then now I'm here,
you know, about to climb
a 20,000 foot mountain.
Who out there can say that?
- I'm feeling good.
I'm actually really surprised.
I don't feel any like,
I'm like a little out of breath,
but not like super,
like, hyperventilating,
or anything like that.
And it's nice.
And it's so pretty.
- [Jukka] Chachi's killing it.
- It's a lot of fun.
I never thought I would
actually enjoy it this much.
- [Lia] I feel like this isn't
on right.
Like I feel like I have to hold
it up.
- [Chuck] Put one foot
in front of the other.
- [Lia] My shoulders are
[bleeping] burning.
- [Chuck] Wanna hand that to me?
I'll take it for you.
- Thanks.
Do you need help putting it on?
- [Chuck] No yet.
I got it like this.
- Oh, you got it?
Okay, thanks.
- [Chuck] This is a team
adventure.
We're on a team journey.
And we're all trying to make it.
And I'm gonna help out the best
I can.
Hopefully when I need it
someone's gonna help me.
- Before we started today's hike
I wasn't even sure if Wendy was
gonna even hang out with me.
And then something clicked,
and she won't go anywhere
without me.
I've just been intermittently
crying the whole [bleeping]
time,
because I just can't handle the
beauty.
I was thinking about how, like,
I'm out of touch with the world
now,
and no Wi-Fi, no cellphone,
and, like, how I just wanted
to tell the people I love ...
But I will.
I will.
And it's all good man.
Everything's so good.
I'm just so happy.
So, let's go [bleeping] handle
this, dude.
- Fatality!
Got a little colder.
Little breezy.
- I am tired as shit.
We are almost at base camp.
I think Mikko said that we
have an hour and a half left.
So, I'm really excited for that
moment,
'cause now it's starting
to like affect me.
I feel kind of dizzy.
So, the altitude is
making me kind of dizzy.
Me and Jukka are saying that
when speak
we only hear ourselves
like two seconds after,
it's like a weird delay.
It's like you're in your
body but you're not,
and my stomach's going crazy.
- Right now you're starting to
feel
that you're physically getting
tired,
and it feels so good.
- I'm gonna sleep so good
tonight.
Oh, I'm excited.
- [Narrator] With three miles
still to go,
and sunset just two hours away,
Lia, Nikki, and Chuck,
are at risk of missing the
cutoff time.
- You don't feel dizzy, do you?
- A little bit.
- Lightheaded?
- Yeah, a little lightheaded.
Can I just sit for a little bit?
- It's not nice, but it's
normal.
- Is it okay if I sit?
Just give me a minute.
- [Juha] Another please,
so, you won't get dehydrated.
- I feel like it's getting
worse.
- We still have four kilometers
to go.
Less than three miles.
- [Lia] I'm trying.
I'm trying to keep going.
- So, it shouldn't be very bad.
- [Lia] Like I want to do this.
- [Juha] It's gonna get
easier in 30 minutes now.
Little by little.
- I know, it's just my head
really hurts.
- Yeah, try to breathe a
few times, like, heavily.
- My head just feels,
I just feel like really
lightheaded,
and I hate this feeling so much.
When I used to go on hikes at
home,
I would just,
whenever I was ready to go home,
I would just go home.
Whenever I wanted to take a
break,
I would just take a break.
I feel like too much blood
has rushed to my head.
I'm not used to this.
I'm not used to pushing
myself to my limits.
- Keep rolling your head
until you feel a pull,
like I just got bunch of
relief from my headache
after doing that.
I'm feeling really frustrated
again.
Why can't I get my heart rate
low?
I can't acclimate as quickly
as some of the other members of
the team,
and I don't understand why.
I run five miles a day
when I'm back at home,
yet I'm just not acclimating.
- I don't know what happened.
Just coming over that ridge ...
I'm just so, I don't know,
happy with myself that I got
here.
I had a lot of thoughts
that went through my head.
This past year has been the
most difficult time of my life,
and for me to get here is
just a surreal feeling,
that's why I'm,
these are just tears of
happiness.
I wish my family was here.
I wish my fiancee was here.
I'm not even at the summit.
I'm proud of myself for just
getting here.
It's just a surreal moment for
me.
I'm pumped.
- [Narrator] Two hours and
40 minutes after departing,
Gus arrives at base camp.
Elevation: 14,271 foot.
25 minutes behind him,
Steve-O and Wendy are making
great time,
with JusReign and Furious
Pete charging along.
Just over a mile behind Pete,
Yukka and Chachi are well
ahead of the back of the pack.
- How are you?
- Good.
- Sampsa.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
How was the track?
- Fun. It was good.
- Are you okay.?
- Yeah.
- You did it pretty fast.
- Two hours and 40 minutes.
- You are in good shape.
- [Narrator] As each
member of the expedition
arrives in base camp,
they'll have their heart rate
and oxygen saturation levels
checked.
Heart rates vary from person to
person,
but anything over 140 beats per
minute
or under 80% saturation
is cause for concern.
- [Chachi] Oh my God, you scared
me.
- Your heart rate is 125,
and oxygen saturation is ...
At the moment, 80.
- They told us going into it
that it was anywhere between
a four hour and a seven hour
hike,
and that we should just set our
pace.
And I'm competitive,
and I'm an idiot, so, I'm like,
"I'm gonna make it in
less than three hours."
And I ended up making it up here
in like two hours and 40
minutes,
so, I went pretty quick.
Oh, hi, baby!
Come here!
Oh, hi, Wendy!
How was your hike, babe?
(Steve-O laughing)
Nice work, kid.
I'm glad you made it in second.
- [Sampsa] It's 108,
and the saturation, 99.
- [Steve-O] Is that good?
- [Sampsa] Perfect.
- Oh, all right.
I'll take it.
- I mean, honestly,
that's better than mine,
but, also, if I had gone really
slow,
it probably would've been
better (Steve-O laughs).
- Who said brown dudes
couldn't do this shit?
Hey, man.
- [Gus] Nice work, dude.
- When did you guys get here?
It's hard.
It's very, very hard.
It's honestly easily the hardest
thing I've done in my life.
But I did it,
so, I'm happy I did.
- Heart rate is 140,
and your saturation is 93.
Very good.
- Is it?
- Yeah, it is good.
- So, I can do that mountain,
you think?
You think I got that?
- [Gus] Oh my God, nice of you
to make it.
- How the hell did you do that?
That is beyond impressive.
- [Gus] Thanks, man.
- How are you feeling?
- I'm okay.
My fingers are pretty frozen
right now.
- All right, so I'm here
today to show you guys
a really fantastic new neighbor.
It's an up and coming
neighborhood,
but there's a lot of new
development going on.
I actually personally live here.
This is my own home.
I built it myself.
But there are a ton of
other homes popping up
around the neighborhood.
These two are just beginning
the development stages
of a new project,
so, they're gonna be our
neighbors.
Love that we got some
diversity in the neighborhood,
Canadian.
It's a really gentrified
neighborhood
that we've got here.
We've got all types of people.
And when you look at the view,
all the way up there,
that's Tocllaraju,
where we're gonna be summiting,
and we'll probably putting
up more properties there.
We're really just developing the
market.
- [Juha] What about you, Nikki,
how are you?
- How are you?
- [Nikki] My legs are getting
fatigued.
I'm tired.
- [Juha] Yeah, I know.
Do you have any sweets left,
because you are running out of
energy.
That's it.
Squeeze.
Lia, how're you doing?
- [Lia] I'm doing good.
- [Juha] Yeah, I can see that.
- [Lia] Almost there.
- [Juha] Give me more.
Are you tired?
-How you feel?
- [Lia] I'm exhausted.
-How exhausted?
- [Juha] If the scale is from
one to five,
- [Lia] Five.
- [Juha] No, your mind is the
strongest muscle you have.
- [Jukka] Woo!
Is it 40,000 feet yet?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, girl.
- [Chachi] Finally.
- You guys be speeding.
You guys' been busting your
balls.
- Good job, brother.
- Good job, girl.
- So, it's 91,
- Ok
and saturation level is 87.
So you are doing pretty good.
- Excited.
- 500 meters to base camp.
We almost made it.
- 500?
- [Chuck] You guys ready?
- [Juha] Shall we go?
- [Chuck] We're almost there.
You've got it.
You all right?
- A few more steps to go, guys.
And we do it together.
- Did you already saw the camp?
- [Chuck] Yeah.
I'll take your bag.
- I've got it.
Thank you, though.
- [Juha] Okay, let's take the
last steps.
- My sport was an individual
sport,
but we also had a fight team,
and guys that were responsible
for getting me good,
and, so, I felt the
responsibility to help them
get better and help them
get ready for the fights.
Every time I needed them for
something they showed up,
so, when they needed me I showed
up too.
I think I'm a good team player.
I'd like to see everybody get
to the top of the mountain.
If we can make it happen,
that'd be awesome.
- It was a huge accomplishment
just to get to base camp,
'cause I've never done any
remotely close to this.
- [Chachi] So proud of you.
Look who did it.
Look who made it.
- I thought I would give up, but
I didn't.
Like, everybody's just been
motivating me the whole time.
- [Chuck] That was awesome.
You pushed through it.
That was awesome.
- Thanks so much.
- My pleasure.
- [Lia] Thank you.
- We're at base camp,
and everybody made it,
which makes me really happy,
because that was,
it wasn't obvious that
everybody will make it.
- Oh, thank you.
- But the fact is that it's
not getting any easier.
Every day is just gonna get
tougher,
and tougher, and tougher,
and you gotta learn all these
skills,
and then you gotta keep
pushing yourself physically,
and more and more.
- 110 and 84.
- [Sampsa] That's good.
- 141, and the saturation level
is 85.
- Heart rate is 150.
Oxygen saturation is 75, 74.
- Is that okay for this hike?
I want it to get better.
- In the evening or tomorrow
it should be getting better.
- Okay, thank you.
- Well, done.
- Thanks.
- [Narrator] With minutes
remaining until nightfall,
no one is removed from
the summit team today.
But both Nikki and Lia
will be watched closely
by expedition leaders.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- [Narrator] Because when
climbing a 20,000 foot peak,
a team is only as strong
as its weakest link.
- The first night at the 14,000
level,
it's hard to sleep, I think so,
because your heart is
pumping all the time.
Your heart doesn't go low,
because you don't recover
here like at sea level.
For the people who struggle,
it will be a very long night for
them.
- [Chachi] I'm so cold.
- [Jukka] Move around.
- [Chachi] My fingers don't
work,
so I can't zip anything up.
- I don't know what it is
about the toilet paper here,
but it smells so good.
Why? It smells like fresh soap.
Fresh soap and linen.
My skin has been awful here.
There are no showers.
I can't wash my face.
I've been using makeup wipes.
- I'm wearing like seven
jackets,
so, if you're feeling cold,
just shut up and go put on more
jackets.
As you can see I'm breathing
heavily,
because we're freaking
all the way up here,
and then you gotta,
you know what I mean?
Man, I don't know if I'm making
any sense,
because I'm so high up in the
air.
I'm not making sense.
I'm gonna get some sleep.
I'm gonna go to sleep.
Goodbye.
Give me a kiss.
Bye.
- It was a good one today.
It was hard work.
Kind of stuck around and
helped out some of the girls.
Getting the mind right,
and getting through the hike.
I just saw that mountain, and
I'm ready.
I'm so ready to get up that
thing.
- [Narrator] Coming up
on Ultimate Expedition.
The team will face a
200 foot vertical repel.
- Nobody has any fear of
heights?
- [JusReign] It's not
like a big fear, but ...
- It's really high up,
and you're walking off a cliff.
- [Furious Pete] That drop is
lethal.
[Bleep]
- [Narrator] They will
need to conquer their fears,
or be cut from the expedition.