31:20 Is the pinnacle of why mountaineering is not the same now as it was then. Above all else, all these lads knew that they needed to get their friends off that damn mountain.
And what was the result? Their friend died and they almost got killed trying to save him.The 3 sherpas in the first story were not so lucky,they died along with the guy they were trying to rescue. Mountaineering is not the same now as it was then because they realized that getting someone down of that altitude is impossible and they learned that from all those mistakes of the past. They don't lack compassion as you suggest.
Seems to me the ones who really deserve the recognition are the Sherpas. Seriously, it sounds like, in all these climbing stories, they wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of Sherpas.
Very true!! It’s important to recognize these guys who make it even possible for most of the people to climb these mountains. They are truly special people and it’s important not only to recognize their actions and efforts to keep climbers alive and safe, but to also acknowledge their beliefs and practices regarding these mountains and the land the sherpas inhabit. Mad respect for all the sherpas and porters
They do it for a living, and they take people up there that don’t belong up there. I’m not sure how to feel about that. On one hand, if I take people on a death defying boat ride, and some of them die, am I a hero for bringing back the ones that survived my boating?
@@ericastier1646 right? The weight of 5 men plus the pull of gravity from the incline….that’s math I have no idea how to do. That’s miracle math. (Not good at normal math anyway)
Cromwell had a lot of nerve accusing anyone else of murdering Dudley Wolfe. He very clearly is the man responsible for the death of Dudley and the sherpas, and he used the relative hatred of Germans in that era to save face and smear Veisner
Even I know that you don't destroy base camps in case any unknown survivors come down off the mountain later. You always leave shelter and survival gear for them to find. I have only respect and admiration for these men. If I had been Fritz I would have gone nuts with rage.
It wasn't base camp that they dismantled, it was actually every camp with the exception of the base camp that was dismantled, as the rest of the team was still living at the base camp, preparing to break down the base camp & leave, having presumed fritz & the last sherpa to have already died, just like dudley & the 3 of the 4 sherpa whom made up the rescue team sent back up to retrieve dudley from his filth.
I was wondering while watching this - who is responsible for all this great footage, and how do they get the zoomed out shots, and from all those interesting angles? It's fascinating.
@@CoolBreeze1232 agreed, but any film at all of the journey still remarkable. I'm thankful, I can't get enough of these Himalayan peaks and the mountaineers who brave to climb them. The first 30 years though of attempts....those guys, all of them, just massive balls. No modern eqt, no oxygen, not enough years on the mountain to understand it yet for human kind......just big balls
Cromwell sealed everyone's fate behind him by stripping the campsites bare. Also, spreading the food left behind to ensure no one had any, that IMHO was murderous behavior.
Outstanding documentary. Sooo glad to see the survivors give personal input ... HONEST reactions. I tried climbing near Cheyenne Mountain while in service around 1963-4 with a few Army buddies. At one point I found myself stuck and not able to go up or down. We had no climbing gear, just army boots and clothing. Prayer got me out of it. After that we went on the road that wound around and stayed at the resort on the top overnight before taking transportation down. NORAD was in place. That ended my climbing career.
I don’t know if I am weird but I truly love listening to the stories of men and women who have lived for so much longer than me. Watching their faces you can see their younger selves shine through and they are no longer the stereotypical slow, boring and forgetful souls that many of us ignorant and naive people assume they are. There’s so much wisdom to be shared and we should all be begging to hear anything they have to say. And it’s not about whether or not they agree with our way of thinking and living nor is it about disagreeing with the way they lived their lives. It’s about getting lost in the stories of which we cannot and will not ever experience ourselves. It’s about enjoying the time spent listening, letting our guard down and being drawn into the passion and heartache of people that brought us into this world. It’s watching how time and circumstance fades away leaving only the truth and emotion bringing forth exactly who they were,are and always will be regardless of age or how much time they have left. Their faces become animated but at the same time the wrinkles of life disappear completely making it obvious that every single one us never feel as old as we are and it is only our bodies, our mode of transportation, the vessel in which we exist that dies.
I love how you put it! I think you are talking about all the wonderful life stories , we can enjoy, from older people. Also the way the older face becomes almost young when sharing some fasinating tale that is important in their memories. AND we need to listen to the stories of elders.
To me, it sounds like Cromwell wanted to make sure the others did not survive by stripping the camps of supplies and intentionally destroying food. There is no other reason to do that except to make sure that anyone left behind does not have the supplies to make it off the mountain.
"penguins" , that's the answer, they love biscuits, you leave any food around and they find it, even that far up a mountain. You really don't want being harassed by penguins that far up a mountain. It could be argued that they could of used those penguins to slide down the mountain faster, but I don't write the history books.
@@matthewhoyland4617 when using penguins for transportation I only know of using harnesses and rigging them up in pairs in a row 2 sets for each 50lbs of weight with the person being pulled through the water wearing fins to help guide the team. Would you wear the penguins as skis or harness several up and wear as a suit to slide down the mountain? There's nothing like the feeling of cutting through the water being pulled by a team of penguins!
@@ryannocera6690well we all know who hasn't been on a mountain side above 17 thousand feet. high altitude penguins have saved many a mountaineer in trouble, leaving food and milk from the males which is full of vitamin bs. Many lost and snow blinded men will say they don't know how they made it down,,,, penguins that's how
This is an excellent documentary. The narrator did a wonderful job. The interviews with the climbers gave it a more realistic feeling. I have listened to many mountain climbing videos and I enjoyed this one the most. Thank you.
It seems to me that Cromwell bore a lot more responsibility for mistakes of the first expedition than he's been given. He should never abandoned the party without waiting it out longer, &/or at least leaving them food and shelter.
100% I think it highly likely that had he stayed and kept the other camps above stocked with enough resources and comforts (as comfortable as you can up there lol) then its very possible it would have been summited in 1939. Also makes me think had there been no ww2 a lot of these mountains most likely would've been summited much earlier
Yes there clearly was a roastbeef stab in the back reflex by the Briton against the old fashioned German. But what makes it far worse is that crumywell accused Wissner of having killed Dudley just to evade his flagrant responsibility. Hate to say this but British are known for this kind of actions when things don't turn their way or when they're guilty. History has shown it on numerous occasions.
Cromwell's party was the first to leave the karakoram, and when they reached srinagar, Cromwell made sure to disseminate his view of the events to the media, before fritz had any chance to do so. Cromwell really seemed to have a problem with Fritz, so much so that he put the lives of everyone in danger. I've never seen more cowardly and petty behaviour from anyone in mountain climbing.
All risk/rewards look differently after a real price has been paid. It's clearly sad and somewhat tragic for sure. I remember walking 2x4 plates on 2 story houses with a 60' fall on two sides of the house for min wage in Austin Tx in 1979. It was a job I chose to do just like the sherpas that could kill me. It was necessary to eat.
@@TerlinguaTalkeetnathis guy is comparing a construction job in the wealthiest country on earth with some poor asian guy whos genetically adjusted to living in the mountain, who risked his life climbing the most dangerous mountain on earth... youre nowhere close to those guys
The cameraman needs a documentary. He endured so much and survived! While having to starve while they descended. So this goes out to *”Jim”* the camera guy!
What an amazing story! The climbers who did it without oxygen, before there were fancy tools and gear, who did it out of a driving need deep within......it's always incredible.
Takes guts to do it even WITH all that fancy gear. I just can't imagine feeling THAT far from comfort and civilization. Not for everyone :-). I've always respected mountaineers, even though I think them mad.
I'm not into mountaineering at all but these mountaineering documentaries are fascinating. They seem to be more about the human spirit of adventure,hardship and survival all rolled into one.
They are very fascinating. I don’t have an ache in my body to climb any of those mountains. I watch them to understand why anyone else would dare want to.
There is something I can never understand: we all know how hard it is to do this and yet people choose to go to risk life and limb from the weather, altitude sickness, oxygen deprivation just to push yourself to the limit so that you can say I did it. If you have young kids shame on you
Amazing Video thank you. Fritz Wiessner a true "Hero" fantastic to see a man with such love and determination; he enjoyed mountain climbing. I pray Dudley Wolfe did not suffer, he was the least capable to ascend, yet while all others return he stayed with Fritz and the Sherpa until he could no more. RIP. The views are breath taking. Excellent documentary.
@@coreymadden3650basically every piece of equipment you’re carrying or wearing is critical. Also, when climbing that high, you’re trying to minimize your extra weight as much as possible
It’s so nice to see the guys talking about not going further because they have families. It’s one of the most frustrating things about so many of the deaths still happening. The ones that choose to put their lives at severe risk despite having children that depend on them deserve no respect.
@@brynnharris-hamm1321 that was different it was his job to bring ppl up the mountain, he had a whole company and his wife knew how dangerous it was. She was a doctor in that area too and thats how they met. They even climbed Mt. Everest together.
Thanks for posting this documentary. I can never get enough of these firsts. Mountaineering is such a demanding activity, and considering that a bunch of these guys summitted 8000m+ mountains with very primitive climbing gear is a true testimony to their courage and hardship. Thx!
Seeing those two tents at 26:55....quite an eerie sight. Left behind when the three sherpas never came back down, the packs and gear sitting as they were left, 15 years before. Can't imagine what it must have been like to come across the silent remnants of the '39 disaster.
Wow. Absolutely riveting. I had heard of Pete Schoening, but had no idea of what he and his fellow climbers endured. An extraordinary tale of heroism, sacrifice, suffering, and teamwork. Excellent production!
Oh. My. God. I've been waiting for someone to upload this series for years. I was periodically searching for it for ages but gave up hope. Popped up in my recommended. Thank you so much!
I'm a bit skeptical of the claim at 13:10 or so that if they hadn't turned back, they would have summitted that day. It was 6pm, and they were 700ft from the summit... hmm. At that altitude, 700ft is not exactly a doddle, and that's very late in the day to be summitting, let alone be that far away, and still having to descend.
Yeah i agree. I have heard other sources say that it makes sense that you would not want to descend the hardest parts of that stretch in the dark. Pinning it on the sherpa’s superstition doesnt seem right
“ well, we did I best, this is it”. Here we are listening to these mountaineers that survived that “ hell slide “ down K2 with one man, Peter Shoening having all lives in the palm of his hand and ice pic … and saving them …WOW what an accolade!!
It didn't happen in modern times with modern technology. They had no idea that they weren't in the camp when the avalanche happened. They made a choice based on an educated guess. They chose poorly in hindsight. But hindsight is always 20/20 now isn't it?
@@spiderfan1974 - I see that and you’re right that it’s very hard to judge the actions of people from another era operating under circumstances that we can’t fully understand. At the same time, it was said that stripping camps as they did in the timeframe that they did was considered, at least by some, to be pretty outrageous. I think what I took issue with the most was that, upon arrival back to the States, the deputy-leader began to accuse Wiessner of the negligent murder of Dudley. Surely leaving Dudley at the high camp was a grave error, but the summit team had every reason to expect supplies to be at the lower camps. Perhaps Weissner was a terrible leader and perhaps he made bad decisions after his failed summit, but to be accused of murder by someone who’s decisions also played a part in the calamity seems a little outrageous to me. But again, point taken and all of this has me wanting to learn more about that expedition.
Totally concur. They wanted to believe the news of the avalanche wiping out the team higher up so they could go home and write their own narrative stead of making sure by double checking to see if someone had survived. It was a callous decision informed by their hatred of Weissener and later they tried to absolve themselves of their portion of the blame.
Extraordinary documentary. It is fantastic to see the faces and hear the voices of men we all have read so much about, and hear the tale of their efforts from their own mouth. Absolutely extraordinary.
I would be apprehensive on a K2 expedition. I would be scared to death on an Annapurna expedition. The most frightening and disturbing part of this whole documentary? The fact that there is a "Cromwell" in every crowd.
I dont feel like Fritz was at fault. I feel like Dudley had a desire to die on that mountain. Imo .Even his nephew said when he'd gone, his dad said they'd never see him again. There was something in his demeanor he had picked up on subconsciously. He continued to refuse to come down, were they supposed to drag him down the mountain kicking and screaming? He was actually the cause of the 3 going back up dying because of his continually refusing to do what he should have done, they returned again to try and get him to come down and never made it back. Fritz was no more to blame then the expedition all those years later were at fault, for the death on their climb. Any hidden medical conditions become visible climbing just as they do in deep diving. Your playing Russian roulette when you engage in extreme sports only your not using a gun. Cromwell committed what was tantamount to homicidal actions, and bears more responsibility then anyone! If your going to judge anyone he's at the top of the list. Imo
I agree, Fritz was not to blame at all, it was the coward that ordered all the camps to be stripped that is to blame. Dudley was a true badass just like Fritz and he stayed in a stripped camp thinking they would continue with the plan once the others just go one camp lower and get supplies. Little did he know, as well as Fritz and the other guy that all camps below was also stripped. Dudleys decision to stay when rescue came the first time was not a sane decision. He was weakened and suffered from low oxygen in the brain after being so high up for days. His brain did not work and his decisions where not made by reasoning or his willpower, he was in a severe deadly physical condition.
It came out later he cut the ropes himself to save the friends ,,that were trying to save him. That's why the good Dr went temporary amnesia in order to deal with the death of his friend.
In 1909 The Duke Of The Abruzzi a great mountaineer attempted to climb K2. There is a pass there named after him The Abruzzi Ridge. Read the book The Duke Of The Abruzzi An Explorers Life. He also adventured to Mount Saint Elias in Alaska.
Excellent documentary! Climbing was so different back then. I remember reading about Maurice Herzog conquering Annapurna. He had to climb something like 4 20,000' Peaks just to get to Annapurna.
I remember attending many years ago, a fascinating talk and presentation by mountaineer Doug Scott, where he mentioned this very mountain. R.I.P. Doug.
I am only a trekker from kerela in India.But I love mountains n snow peaks a lot. I have lots of respect for sherpas n mountaineers for their courage. May all the souls RIP who gave their lives on various peaks. ♥️❤️🙏
This is the most fantastic narration I've ever heard - like if Shackleton had stepped in, in the flesh giving his story about Elephant island. Extraordinary! Gets you to realize how dear life is - one doesn't see that all the time...
The patience and stoicism of the sherpas to allow Dudley another day to decide to come down the mountain, in doing so giving their lives, is incomprehensible.
That was not stoicism, nor patience. That was "yes yes boss man, whatever you say". What they should have done, since they were experienced mountaineers, was realize the man couldn't make any kind of decision to save himself, and go back down, with him if possible.
Thanks for posting this great film! There is a biography of Fritz Wiessner, though I think it may only be available in German. It tells a somewhat different version of events. Wiessner makes a pretty good case as to why he was treated very unfairly. He was also, along with Hans Kraus, the person who popularised the Shawangunks as a climbing area, making many of the first ascents there, and made the first sporting ascent of Devil's Tower in WY. He also was an early president of the UIAA, and helped set standards for clean climbing based on the ethics of his hometown climbing area, the Sächsische Schweiz. There are more accounts of his life in various older editions of the American Alpine Journal. I really enjoyed this film!
Just like the Greeks had only bad things to say about their enemies the Persians. Britons are never kind with Germans and this is an anglo documentary.
@@ericastier1646 Except it is entirely one-sided. Germans have no special feelings whatsoever regarding Britons- no feelings of rivalry or "enemies" or such. Britain thinks it is a rival to Germany, but Germany is in another league entirely.
@@deannilvalli6579 @Dean Nilvalli Apparently German ways of being is antipathetic to British. But they're both descendant of different barbarians that mixed with Romans. But i think it has something more to do with the high presence of Gews ( about mispelling : youtube totalitarians paranoids returned a "an error occured" fake coward way of censoring comment for absolutely no valid reason) in British financial places and their dominance of British medias and WW2. But already before WW1 britons felt threatened by the German navy, French who were their original royalty conquerors and Spanish after the big spanish armada tried to conquest their Island.
Poor Fritz... I can't believe that all of those men just LEFT them up there to DIE. There's seriously no two ways about it!! They knew deep down that they were basically giving them a death sentence by leaving without knowing for sure that they were dead, and then to STRIP THE CAMP? Pour the food out on the snow? Oh my god, that is seriously like a slap in the face to top it all off! How dare they take everything not even knowing for sure that they were dead? Those other men should be ASHAMED of themselves... What really happened on that mountain we will never really know for sure. Murder? That is something we can be sure of! They didn't care if they were alive or not they wanted to make sure if they were alive that they would starve or freeze by stripping those camps like that... no way Dudley was going to be able to survive the decent with no camps set up for him to get back to a healthy state!! Fritz was lucky he was so strong!! God bless him! God forsake Cromwell!
I'm going to agree with others who commented on the Sherpas: if people who swam the English channel had to be guided by swimmers who then by default *also* swam the channel, why don't we focus more on those people?
The very 1st attempt was by Oscar Eckenstein (he pretty much invented the crampon) and Aleister Crowley. Yeah that Aleister Crowley. They made a bit of progress until several sherpas died.
12:08 Isn't this extremely late, by that time I thought they would be on their way down from the summit. I heard people leave early morning to return before sunset, as with no light, traveling the mountain is very dangerous. I am not a mountaineer so I'm not sure, but I think that returning might've maybe been the right decision. If not for the crampons they could've returned. Climbing in the dark seems dangerous.
Yeah. Blaming the sherpa’s caution on superstition rather than experience feels more like narrativizing by someone who did not know the mountain as well as the sherpa
Отличный фильм, спасибо за освещение этих старинных историй. Человеческое любопытство и желание все узнать движет нас вперед, в горы, на дно океана, в космос.
I simply do not understand the need climbers have to take such dreadful risks but saying that i also am filled with pride to know people like this are here being so very brave...
31:20 Is the pinnacle of why mountaineering is not the same now as it was then. Above all else, all these lads knew that they needed to get their friends off that damn mountain.
And what was the result? Their friend died and they almost got killed trying to save him.The 3 sherpas in the first story were not so lucky,they died along with the guy they were trying to rescue.
Mountaineering is not the same now as it was then because they realized that getting someone down of that altitude is impossible and they learned that from all those mistakes of the past. They don't lack compassion as you suggest.
@@TailGunner1978 It wasn't because it was impossible, it was because he stayed put, when he should have gone with them.
…..
@@TailGunner1978 I agree it would have torn them apart inside
@@TailGunner1978 in&&hhh&
Seems to me the ones who really deserve the recognition are the Sherpas. Seriously, it sounds like, in all these climbing stories, they wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of Sherpas.
Great insight you are really sharp.
@@rogerpattube are you British by chance??
Very true!! It’s important to recognize these guys who make it even possible for most of the people to climb these mountains. They are truly special people and it’s important not only to recognize their actions and efforts to keep climbers alive and safe, but to also acknowledge their beliefs and practices regarding these mountains and the land the sherpas inhabit.
Mad respect for all the sherpas and porters
They do it for a living, and they take people up there that don’t belong up there. I’m not sure how to feel about that. On one hand, if I take people on a death defying boat ride, and some of them die, am I a hero for bringing back the ones that survived my boating?
They could do anything without sherpas. Without them no climbing
Pete Schoening… held a rope and saved nearly a half a dozen people all by himself… legend.
The emotion I feel over that is just…immense. It was a miracle.
The man is the hero, no need to talk about 'nearly half dozen', saving 5 guys with a single rope an ice axe and a rock is plenty magnificent.
@@ericastier1646 right? The weight of 5 men plus the pull of gravity from the incline….that’s math I have no idea how to do. That’s miracle math. (Not good at normal math anyway)
Amazing.... Respect! To GOD be the Glory! 🙏🏾
That entire crew was lucky to escape from that killer.
Cromwell had a lot of nerve accusing anyone else of murdering Dudley Wolfe. He very clearly is the man responsible for the death of Dudley and the sherpas, and he used the relative hatred of Germans in that era to save face and smear Veisner
Indeed...1940, got the onus off his back by the simple fact Wiesner was a German- Cromwell was a reckless, know nothing idiot
Especially given he was so clueless of anything happening up where Wolfe was to have already left them all for dead.
Wiessner ran with the Cromwell story though and blamed Jack Durrance. Truly appalling.
I thought you meant Oliver
Yep, I agree
Even I know that you don't destroy base camps in case any unknown survivors come down off the mountain later. You always leave shelter and survival gear for them to find. I have only respect and admiration for these men. If I had been Fritz I would have gone nuts with rage.
that must be how all the garage ends up there.
It wasn't base camp that they dismantled, it was actually every camp with the exception of the base camp that was dismantled, as the rest of the team was still living at the base camp, preparing to break down the base camp & leave, having presumed fritz & the last sherpa to have already died, just like dudley & the 3 of the 4 sherpa whom made up the rescue team sent back up to retrieve dudley from his filth.
It's absolutely incredible that they have so much footage of those climbs.
I was wondering while watching this - who is responsible for all this great footage, and how do they get the zoomed out shots, and from all those interesting angles? It's fascinating.
I believe a lot of this is recreated
@@CoolBreeze1232 agreed, but any film at all of the journey still remarkable. I'm thankful, I can't get enough of these Himalayan peaks and the mountaineers who brave to climb them. The first 30 years though of attempts....those guys, all of them, just massive balls. No modern eqt, no oxygen, not enough years on the mountain to understand it yet for human kind......just big balls
Dudley had a camera and film on the mountain, though I had assumed it was a still shot camera.
@@CoolBreeze1232 shut up
“He didn’t invite me to go and I wouldn’t have anyway” relatable
I thought the same thing!
I mean he was way to good for everyone in the second team
Cromwell sealed everyone's fate behind him by stripping the campsites bare. Also, spreading the food left behind to ensure no one had any, that IMHO was murderous behavior.
It’s must be a Cromwell thing look at what a Cromwell did in Ireland
And was first to put the blame on another (Wiessner) for his own murderous mistakes!
British empire did the same.
So messed up.
Cromwell is a dirty dirty word in Ireland, England's hero Cromwell is to the Irish the same as Hitler to the Jews
Outstanding documentary. Sooo glad to see the survivors give personal input ... HONEST reactions. I tried climbing near Cheyenne Mountain while in service around 1963-4 with a few Army buddies. At one point I found myself stuck and not able to go up or down. We had no climbing gear, just army boots and clothing. Prayer got me out of it. After that we went on the road that wound around and stayed at the resort on the top overnight before taking transportation down. NORAD was in place. That ended my climbing career.
I don’t know if I am weird but I truly love listening to the stories of men and women who have lived for so much longer than me. Watching their faces you can see their younger selves shine through and they are no longer the stereotypical slow, boring and forgetful souls that many of us ignorant and naive people assume they are. There’s so much wisdom to be shared and we should all be begging to hear anything they have to say. And it’s not about whether or not they agree with our way of thinking and living nor is it about disagreeing with the way they lived their lives. It’s about getting lost in the stories of which we cannot and will not ever experience ourselves. It’s about enjoying the time spent listening, letting our guard down and being drawn into the passion and heartache of people that brought us into this world. It’s watching how time and circumstance fades away leaving only the truth and emotion bringing forth exactly who they were,are and always will be regardless of age or how much time they have left. Their faces become animated but at the same time the wrinkles of life disappear completely making it obvious that every single one us never feel as old as we are and it is only our bodies, our mode of transportation, the vessel in which we exist that dies.
The obvious written as if it’s philosophy. Just silly.
I love how you put it! I think you are talking about all the wonderful life stories , we can enjoy, from older people. Also the way the older face becomes almost young when sharing some fasinating tale that is important in their memories. AND we need to listen to the stories of elders.
I love what you said, really well put!!
,🤔🤗💖
You sound like someone that will age well (or maybe already has) ❤️
@@Al-jt3dw Why behave like such a jerk on this channel? What do you gain?
"I don't know why, but I think we'll never see Dudley again."
What a quote.... this was an amazing and fascinating story. Thank you. 👏
To me, it sounds like Cromwell wanted to make sure the others did not survive by stripping the camps of supplies and intentionally destroying food. There is no other reason to do that except to make sure that anyone left behind does not have the supplies to make it off the mountain.
17:43 Cromwell was bad news
"penguins" , that's the answer, they love biscuits, you leave any food around and they find it, even that far up a mountain. You really don't want being harassed by penguins that far up a mountain.
It could be argued that they could of used those penguins to slide down the mountain faster, but I don't write the history books.
@matthewhoyland4617 there are no penguins in Pakistan 😂
@@matthewhoyland4617 when using penguins for transportation I only know of using harnesses and rigging them up in pairs in a row 2 sets for each 50lbs of weight with the person being pulled through the water wearing fins to help guide the team. Would you wear the penguins as skis or harness several up and wear as a suit to slide down the mountain? There's nothing like the feeling of cutting through the water being pulled by a team of penguins!
@@ryannocera6690well we all know who hasn't been on a mountain side above 17 thousand feet. high altitude penguins have saved many a mountaineer in trouble, leaving food and milk from the males which is full of vitamin bs. Many lost and snow blinded men will say they don't know how they made it down,,,, penguins that's how
This is an excellent documentary. The narrator did a wonderful job. The interviews with the climbers gave it a more realistic feeling. I have listened to many mountain climbing videos and I enjoyed this one the most.
Thank you.
“If Id been married ,I wouldn’t of gone.”
What a considerate man.
A great documentary thanks.
*have
I so wish mothers thought that way these days
Saw one documentary where a married doctor lost his hands to frost bite. He was not retired. Dumb and inconsiderate.
@@luvsilly60 his story was dramatized in the movie Everest.
@@luvsilly60 he is still alive and does motivational speaking. And he is well off
It seems to me that Cromwell bore a lot more responsibility for mistakes of the first expedition than he's been given. He should never abandoned the party without waiting it out longer, &/or at least leaving them food and shelter.
I'd have taken Cromwells life right then and there when I caught him. He'd be dead. Period.
100% I think it highly likely that had he stayed and kept the other camps above stocked with enough resources and comforts (as comfortable as you can up there lol) then its very possible it would have been summited in 1939. Also makes me think had there been no ww2 a lot of these mountains most likely would've been summited much earlier
Yes there clearly was a roastbeef stab in the back reflex by the Briton against the old fashioned German. But what makes it far worse is that crumywell accused Wissner of having killed Dudley just to evade his flagrant responsibility. Hate to say this but British are known for this kind of actions when things don't turn their way or when they're guilty. History has shown it on numerous occasions.
@@ericastier1646he was an American climber tho ??
Cromwell was a vile coward. Much like the other one of the same name. The Brits have always been good at stabbing "foreigners" in the back.
Sounds like that Cromwell guy is the real villain here.. he legit was trying to make sure no story came back but his story..
Seriously! His whiney ass should have just gone home at the start when he didn't want to be there!
Cromwell's party was the first to leave the karakoram, and when they reached srinagar, Cromwell made sure to disseminate his view of the events to the media, before fritz had any chance to do so. Cromwell really seemed to have a problem with Fritz, so much so that he put the lives of everyone in danger. I've never seen more cowardly and petty behaviour from anyone in mountain climbing.
Are there interviews of crowmell about this?
its crazy.. also why destroying the camps? did he really need that tea and biscuits that much?
I am so sad about the three sherpas that went to save one man, and all disappeared. What a tragic, unnecessary loss of life.
Poverty can make some do unimaginable things.
As can a paycheck.
Every. F'ing. Time, man. Every time.
All risk/rewards look differently after a real price has been paid. It's clearly sad and somewhat tragic for sure. I remember walking 2x4 plates on 2 story houses with a 60' fall on two sides of the house for min wage in Austin Tx in 1979. It was a job I chose to do just like the sherpas that could kill me. It was necessary to eat.
@@TerlinguaTalkeetnathis guy is comparing a construction job in the wealthiest country on earth with some poor asian guy whos genetically adjusted to living in the mountain, who risked his life climbing the most dangerous mountain on earth... youre nowhere close to those guys
The cameraman needs a documentary. He endured so much and survived! While having to starve while they descended. So this goes out to *”Jim”* the camera guy!
Did you just assume the camera person's gender? You monster!
Camera man never dies.
The camerathem
@@AmyAnnLand
Are you mocking the dead?
they just respawn@@oneshothunter9877
What an amazing story! The climbers who did it without oxygen, before there were fancy tools and gear, who did it out of a driving need deep within......it's always incredible.
Takes guts to do it even WITH all that fancy gear. I just can't imagine feeling THAT far from comfort and civilization. Not for everyone :-). I've always respected mountaineers, even though I think them mad.
Égocentriques
@@paulegladu4963probably, but being a climber isn’t a prerequisite for being self centered. We’re inundated with them here on flat ground.
I'm not into mountaineering at all but these mountaineering documentaries are fascinating. They seem to be more about the human spirit of adventure,hardship and survival all rolled into one.
They are very fascinating. I don’t have an ache in my body to climb any of those mountains. I watch them to understand why anyone else would dare want to.
Me too! I would not do it - afraid of heights - but addicted to mountain climbing videos.
There is something I can never understand: we all know how hard it is to do this and yet people choose to go to risk life and limb from the weather, altitude sickness, oxygen deprivation just to push yourself to the limit so that you can say I did it.
If you have young kids shame on you
Amazing Video thank you. Fritz Wiessner a true "Hero" fantastic to see a man with such love and determination; he enjoyed mountain climbing. I pray Dudley Wolfe did not suffer, he was the least capable to ascend, yet while all others return he stayed with Fritz and the Sherpa until he could no more. RIP. The views are breath taking. Excellent documentary.
Losing their crampons would have been totally devastating. Imagine seeing that critical equipment falling off the mountain, totally unrecoverable.
Why bring 1 set
@@coreymadden3650you don’t want to take any extra weight that you don’t have to
@@coreymadden3650basically every piece of equipment you’re carrying or wearing is critical. Also, when climbing that high, you’re trying to minimize your extra weight as much as possible
@@SuperTf2fan so why not absolutely lock critical equipment to yourself? They don't make seatbelts that "may unclip accidentally".
"The other were either young or inexperienced, or old and inexperienced."
Savage 😂
🤣
It’s so nice to see the guys talking about not going further because they have families. It’s one of the most frustrating things about so many of the deaths still happening. The ones that choose to put their lives at severe risk despite having children that depend on them deserve no respect.
It’s sure hard to understand.. like Rob Hall on Everest leaving his pregnant wife behind. Wtf?
@@brynnharris-hamm1321 that was different it was his job to bring ppl up the mountain, he had a whole company and his wife knew how dangerous it was. She was a doctor in that area too and thats how they met. They even climbed Mt. Everest together.
Thanks for posting this documentary. I can never get enough of these firsts. Mountaineering is such a demanding activity, and considering that a bunch of these guys summitted 8000m+ mountains with very primitive climbing gear is a true testimony to their courage and hardship. Thx!
Incredible fortitude and determination by these men. However, I’ll never understand the desire to do this.
I know, it's so dumb it's not even interesting.. It's like being passionate about and spending your life pursuing "walking". It's just so blah
Me neither. Seems to me it’s a foolhardy thing to do
Seeing those two tents at 26:55....quite an eerie sight. Left behind when the three sherpas never came back down, the packs and gear sitting as they were left, 15 years before. Can't imagine what it must have been like to come across the silent remnants of the '39 disaster.
the way they built things back then, the tea was probably still warm.
The Sherpas are the unsung heroes of mountaineering. Without them mountaineering would be 10.times more difficult.
Nobody else in the world would carry espresso makers up a mountain for wealthy goofballs
Tell that to rheinhold messner who climbed solo no support but his wife at Basecamp. Solo no oxygen no Sherpas from Tibet north face route
@@denniscrowley9965after he had already done it once with a sherpa guide 😉
Wow. Absolutely riveting. I had heard of Pete Schoening, but had no idea of what he and his fellow climbers endured. An extraordinary tale of heroism, sacrifice, suffering, and teamwork. Excellent production!
Yes that was a great documentary
But but it’s only sherpas who deserve recognition riiiight. Being sarcastic
David thank you, keep doing excellent work finding forgotten documentaries and putting them in one place we all can find !
Yes, thank you very very much Mr. Snow!!
Oh. My. God. I've been waiting for someone to upload this series for years. I was periodically searching for it for ages but gave up hope. Popped up in my recommended. Thank you so much!
Glad you enjoy it!
@@DavidSnowClimbing Do you have the other episodes from the series? I seem to remember the one about The Matterhorn was particularly engaging.
I'm a bit skeptical of the claim at 13:10 or so that if they hadn't turned back, they would have summitted that day. It was 6pm, and they were 700ft from the summit... hmm. At that altitude, 700ft is not exactly a doddle, and that's very late in the day to be summitting, let alone be that far away, and still having to descend.
Yeah i agree. I have heard other sources say that it makes sense that you would not want to descend the hardest parts of that stretch in the dark. Pinning it on the sherpa’s superstition doesnt seem right
“ well, we did I best, this is it”.
Here we are listening to these mountaineers that survived that “ hell slide “ down K2 with one man, Peter Shoening having all lives in the palm of his hand and ice pic … and saving them …WOW what an accolade!!
To my thinking, the guy with his bag packed who’d stripped the lower camps is more culpable than any for the losses on K2 on Fritz’s expedition.
It didn't happen in modern times with modern technology. They had no idea that they weren't in the camp when the avalanche happened. They made a choice based on an educated guess. They chose poorly in hindsight. But hindsight is always 20/20 now isn't it?
@@spiderfan1974 That was bullshit he WANTED to believe. With zero actual evidence.
@@spiderfan1974 - I see that and you’re right that it’s very hard to judge the actions of people from another era operating under circumstances that we can’t fully understand. At the same time, it was said that stripping camps as they did in the timeframe that they did was considered, at least by some, to be pretty outrageous. I think what I took issue with the most was that, upon arrival back to the States, the deputy-leader began to accuse Wiessner of the negligent murder of Dudley. Surely leaving Dudley at the high camp was a grave error, but the summit team had every reason to expect supplies to be at the lower camps. Perhaps Weissner was a terrible leader and perhaps he made bad decisions after his failed summit, but to be accused of murder by someone who’s decisions also played a part in the calamity seems a little outrageous to me.
But again, point taken and all of this has me wanting to learn more about that expedition.
Totally concur. They wanted to believe the news of the avalanche wiping out the team higher up so they could go home and write their own narrative stead of making sure by double checking to see if someone had survived. It was a callous decision informed by their hatred of Weissener and later they tried to absolve themselves of their portion of the blame.
seems like it was every man for himself somewhat 😕
Amazing how tough these old men have been. Each as hard as rock yet quiet and unassuming.
Extraordinary documentary. It is fantastic to see the faces and hear the voices of men we all have read so much about, and hear the tale of their efforts from their own mouth. Absolutely extraordinary.
Are these the videos made by them. All sbots???
thank you so much david for giving this beautiful yet forgotten memories to the world.
I would be apprehensive on a K2 expedition. I would be scared to death on an Annapurna expedition.
The most frightening and disturbing part of this whole documentary? The fact that there is a "Cromwell" in every crowd.
I dont feel like Fritz was at fault. I feel like Dudley had a desire to die on that mountain. Imo .Even his nephew said when he'd gone, his dad said they'd never see him again. There was something in his demeanor he had picked up on subconsciously. He continued to refuse to come down, were they supposed to drag him down the mountain kicking and screaming? He was actually the cause of the 3 going back up dying because of his continually refusing to do what he should have done, they returned again to try and get him to come down and never made it back. Fritz was no more to blame then the expedition all those years later were at fault, for the death on their climb. Any hidden medical conditions become visible climbing just as they do in deep diving. Your playing Russian roulette when you engage in extreme sports only your not using a gun. Cromwell committed what was tantamount to homicidal actions, and bears more responsibility then anyone! If your going to judge anyone he's at the top of the list. Imo
I agree, Fritz was not to blame at all, it was the coward that ordered all the camps to be stripped that is to blame.
Dudley was a true badass just like Fritz and he stayed in a stripped camp thinking they would continue with the plan once the others just go one camp lower and get supplies. Little did he know, as well as Fritz and the other guy that all camps below was also stripped.
Dudleys decision to stay when rescue came the first time was not a sane decision. He was weakened and suffered from low oxygen in the brain after being so high up for days. His brain did not work and his decisions where not made by reasoning or his willpower, he was in a severe deadly physical condition.
@@LumocolorARTnr1319 spot on assessment.
No one is to blame save the climber. It’s a near death experience and you should not take anyone down with you…
These old timey climbers achieving those peaks dressed more or less like a modern new york hipster are so damn impressive.
The Art Gilkey story is one of the most classic stories mountaineering. It really cool to hear the story in their own voices.
It came out later he cut the ropes himself to save the friends ,,that were trying to save him. That's why the good Dr went temporary amnesia in order to deal with the death of his friend.
So nice to see a documentary about other mountains besides Everest. So many people have died on others that just go unsaid.
There's a brilliant one on youtube on the 1970 British summit of Annapurna I's south face.
“If you don’t I give you a bash with this ice axe” might be the funniest goddamn thing I’ve heard in a climbing doc. 🤣
Haha I know, especially the English dubbing's line delivery there. And then he gave him his glove!
An incredible film. A great narrator.
This channel is the best on youtube right now. THANK YOU 😘
Fritz was a tough dude. No oxygen, a pack of heaters..........props to him!
In 1909 The Duke Of The Abruzzi a great mountaineer attempted to climb K2. There is a pass there named after him The Abruzzi Ridge. Read the book The Duke Of The Abruzzi An Explorers Life. He also adventured to Mount Saint Elias in Alaska.
Excellent documentary! Climbing was so different back then. I remember reading about Maurice Herzog conquering Annapurna. He had to climb something like 4 20,000' Peaks just to get to Annapurna.
Thanks a lot, Cromwell.
You're very welcome
Yeah, Fritz was a bad ass, thanks for this david, I love this story, been looking for this one,
Tragic shame he didnt make the ascent. He deserved it more than anyone. Would have changed the history of alpinism.
On my annual watch of K2 and Everest documentaries 😅😇
Cromwell tearing down the camps behind him on the first attempt is tantamount to murder. Couldnt umagine trusting the man with my life after that.
I'm so mad at the cowards that stripped the all camps and left them to die.
Congrats for the production team who made this documentary possible. Thanx. Expecting more wonderful climbing videos. 👍🏻❤️
I remember attending many years ago, a fascinating talk and presentation by mountaineer Doug Scott, where he mentioned this very mountain. R.I.P. Doug.
The looks they gave discussing Art may he rest in peace. Wow.
44:08 probably the greatest voice over acting ive ever heard, pure passion :P
hahaha absolutely
The emotional stories even so many decades later make the documentary very real.
I am only a trekker from kerela in India.But I love mountains n snow peaks a lot. I have lots of respect for sherpas n mountaineers for their courage. May all the souls RIP who gave their lives on various peaks. ♥️❤️🙏
👍🙏🏼
Worked with the Italian Army's Alpini Soldiers briefly. They were great mountain troops. They would ski down any mountain around.
This is the most fantastic narration I've ever heard - like if Shackleton had stepped in, in the flesh giving his story about Elephant island. Extraordinary! Gets you to realize how dear life is - one doesn't see that all the time...
Except Shackleton was a very great leader of men. Not one man was lost in the whole of his expedition. Remarkable.
This group displayed amazing courage.
Fritz was done dirty, just like that man "who didnt belong there" yet managed to actually climb further than any of them.
Thank for uploading the classic legendary of mountaineering
My pleasure!
The patience and stoicism of the sherpas to allow Dudley another day to decide to come down the mountain, in doing so giving their lives, is incomprehensible.
They fulfil their dharma until death
Kind of like being scared of night demons and refusing to summit. The picture of stoicism.
@@teddyjackson1902 lol fair
That was not stoicism, nor patience. That was "yes yes boss man, whatever you say". What they should have done, since they were experienced mountaineers, was realize the man couldn't make any kind of decision to save himself, and go back down, with him if possible.
@@coolcat8b depends on one’s perspective and the mindset of the sherpa.
These guys are real athletes, training and preparing so the were able to work together in such severe conditions.
Thanks for posting this great film! There is a biography of Fritz Wiessner, though I think it may only be available in German. It tells a somewhat different version of events. Wiessner makes a pretty good case as to why he was treated very unfairly. He was also, along with Hans Kraus, the person who popularised the Shawangunks as a climbing area, making many of the first ascents there, and made the first sporting ascent of Devil's Tower in WY. He also was an early president of the UIAA, and helped set standards for clean climbing based on the ethics of his hometown climbing area, the Sächsische Schweiz. There are more accounts of his life in various older editions of the American Alpine Journal.
I really enjoyed this film!
Just like the Greeks had only bad things to say about their enemies the Persians. Britons are never kind with Germans and this is an anglo documentary.
@@ericastier1646 Except it is entirely one-sided. Germans have no special feelings whatsoever regarding Britons- no feelings of rivalry or "enemies" or such. Britain thinks it is a rival to Germany, but Germany is in another league entirely.
@@deannilvalli6579 @Dean Nilvalli Apparently German ways of being is antipathetic to British. But they're both descendant of different barbarians that mixed with Romans. But i think it has something more to do with the high presence of Gews ( about mispelling : youtube totalitarians paranoids returned a "an error occured" fake coward way of censoring comment for absolutely no valid reason) in British financial places and their dominance of British medias and WW2. But already before WW1 britons felt threatened by the German navy, French who were their original royalty conquerors and Spanish after the big spanish armada tried to conquest their Island.
This is an old people thing I think. I'm 28 and I think the younger generation doesn't have any bad feeling towards Germans
Bell to bell glued. WOW! Hats off to all the Gladiators
People who climb mountains should not be called a hero, people who save the people who climb mountains should be called a hero.
sherpas❤
Generally people who save people who climb mountains also climb mountains
Generally people who save people who climb mountains also climb mountains
what are you even talking about ?
Anyone wanting to experience that tragedy TWICE is completely nuts. Although they are out there! Great video.
Thank you for uploading this. I've been looking for it! Better than any Mt. Everest documentary!
Any documentary of an 8000m peak besides Everest and Lhotse is much better. I wished they had one on Kangchenjunga.
Poor Fritz... I can't believe that all of those men just LEFT them up there to DIE. There's seriously no two ways about it!! They knew deep down that they were basically giving them a death sentence by leaving without knowing for sure that they were dead, and then to STRIP THE CAMP? Pour the food out on the snow? Oh my god, that is seriously like a slap in the face to top it all off! How dare they take everything not even knowing for sure that they were dead? Those other men should be ASHAMED of themselves... What really happened on that mountain we will never really know for sure. Murder? That is something we can be sure of! They didn't care if they were alive or not they wanted to make sure if they were alive that they would starve or freeze by stripping those camps like that... no way Dudley was going to be able to survive the decent with no camps set up for him to get back to a healthy state!! Fritz was lucky he was so strong!! God bless him! God forsake Cromwell!
His story started to sound a lot like William Bligh's after a while.
What an extraordinary story, fascinating.
With friends like Cromwell, you don't need any enemies.
I'm going to agree with others who commented on the Sherpas: if people who swam the English channel had to be guided by swimmers who then by default *also* swam the channel, why don't we focus more on those people?
The early expeditions weren't guided up the mountain by Sherpas.
The lead was almost always the western climbers.
The best period photos and films of and alpine documentary I’ve seen. And I have seen a lot of them
It definitely looks far more challenging than Everest with its almost vertical sides, while Everest has gradually inclined approaches.
my nan actually died on K2 never knew her, and have been to the base camp. She was the first British woman to reach the top. xxxxxxxxxx
Vanessa O'Brien? A remarkable woman!
thanks for the upload, great documentary
This is a pathetic effort to keep Abruzzi out of people's memory.
নাটুকে
Thank you David Snow - I watch everything
I’ve watched this documentary 4 times now and still get caught up in this excellent video
one of the very greatest documentary that I have ever watched about K2.... #k2mylove .
They almost made it , 15 years before Everest was climbed and a harder mountain to climb.
In mountain climbing you either do it successfully or you don't .
I just watched it again, such a great documentary, thanks again
All greatness is built on the shoulders of those before!
indeed
The very 1st attempt was by Oscar Eckenstein (he pretty much invented the crampon) and Aleister Crowley. Yeah that Aleister Crowley. They made a bit of progress until several sherpas died.
Extraordinary documentary. Which I keep revisiting ❤
David...your channel has the Best climbing stuff! Thank you so much!
this is my new favourite youtube channel . keep it up .
Wow, thanks!
12:08 Isn't this extremely late, by that time I thought they would be on their way down from the summit.
I heard people leave early morning to return before sunset, as with no light, traveling the mountain is very dangerous.
I am not a mountaineer so I'm not sure, but I think that returning might've maybe been the right decision. If not for the crampons they could've returned. Climbing in the dark seems dangerous.
Yeah. Blaming the sherpa’s caution on superstition rather than experience feels more like narrativizing by someone who did not know the mountain as well as the sherpa
Отличный фильм, спасибо за освещение этих старинных историй. Человеческое любопытство и желание все узнать движет нас вперед, в горы, на дно океана, в космос.
These are hardly ancient!
The teams, sherpas, and porters in all of the expeditions were amazing.
Astonishing story beautifully captured. Thank you.
I simply do not understand the need climbers have to take such dreadful risks but saying that i also am filled with pride to know people like this are here being so very brave...
K2 never been ascended without the previous steps of these amazing pioners and without the work of the great Walter Bonatti and the sherpa Madhi.
So glad you remembered the sherpha. 🐝
All the Sherpas and Balti people are co-starrings of mountaneering. Real heroes, great people, and amazing human beings.
There definitely had to be a first to fix the ropes at House’s chimney
Amir Medhi is not a Sherpa, but he was a Hunza high altitude porter.
Why is the audio missing from 22:45 to 23:18? (this also happens to the most replayed portion of the video)
Prob copywrite
I love being part of a sporting team but would never compete to die
Fascinating. I don’t know what drives someone to take such risks. I truly believe somethings should stay mysterious.
Thanks so much for the great upload
Glad you enjoyed it
I suffered from Altitude Sickness in the Alps at a ski chalet & let me tell u, that is tough. Very unpleasant!
I live next to pikes peak mountain in Colorado. Sick just looking at it.
@@violagentsch really? I ran Pikes peak. Never had an issue