Hello everyone and welcome to a new broader series
about mountains and mountain climbing. As with A Collection of Horrible Fates, I want this new series
to include a broader range of stories, limiting it only to disasters excludes all of the insane stories that will still give you that feeling in your stomach
even if they don't necessarily end in disaster. This means that not only will I
have a larger number of stories to cover, but you'll also never quite know
how they end, adding to the suspense. In any case, hopefully, you enjoy today's stories
and as always, viewer discretion is advised. [Music] The Canadian Rocky Mountains are the Canadian segment
of the North American Rocky mountains and extend from the Montana British Columbian border
all the way to just south of the Yukon territory. This gives them a total length
of approximately 1,500 kilometers (932.1 mi). They're also around 200 kilometers (124.2 mi) across,
giving them a total area of 200,000 square kilometers (124,274.2 sq mi). For context, if the Canadian Rockies were in Florida instead,
they would completely cover the entire state and overflow into their Northern neighbor, Georgia. And although they're not quite as tall
as their Southern counterparts, because they're farther north, they get significantly
more permanent ice and snow. All of the glaciers gouging up the surface of the Canadian Rockies has
given them a much more jagged appearance over time. This is in contrast to the much more rounded
features of the American Rockies. Nowhere is this more apparent
than the iconic drive between Banff National Park and Jasper National Park
on the Alberta British Columbia border. The highway through this area
runs right through the mountains and their prominent Rocky Peaks
are displayed on either side the entire distance. Early morning on April 1st, 1983, 28-year-old university student
James and 33-year-old Richard were climbing a mountain known as Deltaform
along this stretch of roadway. This 11,234-foot (3,424.12 mi) peak is the tallest
in an area known as the Valley of Ten Peaks and has the quintessential
sheer, jagged look of the Canadian Rockies. From their camp that morning in the valley, they tracked about
two kilometers (1.24 mi) to where they would start their climb. This area is still in the tail end of winter in early April, and so
there's still significant amounts of ice and snow on the peaks. Using ice tools, they ascended up a steep ice gully
between two rocky sections known as an ice couloir. The pair also climbed roped together and set ice screws
as protection on the steep ice. As Richard planted one of his tools, a chunk of ice broke off
and plummeted down towards James. He yelled down to let James know, and then
the two of them watched it tumbled down the mountain. But then they heard the horrifying roar of an avalanche
that cut loose after the chunk of ice. The tons of snow quickly swept the men down the couloir
and 2,000 feet (609.6 m) down the mountain side. James woke up sometime later and had no idea
where he was or what had happened. Unfortunately, it was clear that he was horribly injured. His back was broken in two places,
his arm was broken, his other shoulder blade was shattered,
he had cracked ribs, torn ligaments in his knees,
a broken nose, broken teeth, internal bleeding, and there was blood
everywhere around him. For a moment, he actually thought he was in a different
mountain range that he had spent time in months earlier, but gradually, he realized where he was
and what he'd been doing. Then, he realized he'd been with Richard and he had no idea
where he was or what state he was in. He painfully made his way to his feet
and saw Richard nearby. Tragically, it was clear from his injuries that Richard was dead. Realizing how bad his own injuries were, James assumed
he was gonna die also, and just laid down next to Richard. At first, he was shivering as he lay there, but after some time,
he started to get very warm and tired. He knew that this meant he was close to dying. Then, suddenly, he felt like someone was with him. Then, whatever it was spoke to him and told him that
he couldn't give up. He had to at least try. So James got up and started making his way
back to their base camp. And over the next few hours, this voice encouraged him
and gave him practical advice. Like for example, the voice told him to make arrows
in the snow with his blood, so that if someone saw them,
they would lead back to him. Despite barely being able to lift his legs with each step,
the voice encouraged him to keep going. Some of the time, he even crawled
because of how badly injured he was. But all the way back to camp, the voice was directly
over his right shoulder, telling him exactly what to do. Finally, he made it back to camp and although it was only
two kilometers, it had taken him almost the entire day. When he got back to camp,
he couldn't even get into his sleeping bag. He couldn't eat and he couldn't light his stove
because of how badly injured he was. By then, it was also late afternoon
and it was starting to get dark. He knew that he wouldn't survive the cold night and again, he was
so tired and injured, he just figured that this would be the end. Then, he thought he heard some other voices
and the voice told him to call out. So James yelled out for help
and told him he was in an avalanche. But then, unfortunately, the voices were gone
and so was the voice over his shoulder. He figured that this meant the voice also knew that
his situation was hopeless, and so it too had left him to die. But then miraculously, moments later,
some skier skied up to his camp. They happened to be the only ones in the area
and they had heard his cry for help. James now realizes that the voice hadn't left him to die -
it only left him when he was rescued. This voice that James heard is actually a known phenomenon
called the third man factor or third man syndrome. The first reported occurrence of this in modern human history
was by the legendary Explorer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. In his 1919 book, South, Shackleton described a bodiless companion
that joined him on the final leg of his Antarctic journey. This was also experienced by legendary climber, Reinhold Messner,
and polar explorers Peter Hillary and Ann Bancroft. Apparently, this phenomenon is
most commonly observed in climbers, solo sailors, and polar explorers in dire situations. Modern psychologists believe that this third man factor is a way
of coping with severe trauma in life or death situations. James has never experienced this since, but is confident
that he wouldn't have been able to survive the situation otherwise. Since I started covering
mountain climbing stories on this channel, I've wanted to cover many of the great epics
and disasters from the 8,000-meter (26,247 ft) peaks. The reason that I've held off is that much like the mountains themselves,
these stories are kind of overwhelming. Similar to technical cave diving, there's a lot
of context to establish to fully grasp the situations that many
of the climbers found themselves in. These include things like the month-long
or more expeditions, the literal tons of equipment,
the events, the technical climbing, and even the weather. And not only do I enjoy covering these aspects,
but I think most people enjoy learning about them as well. So I really wanna do them the proper justice,
but it is a large undertaking and so I've held off. But this next topic provides an nice prelude
to some of that information and some of the challenges faced
by people in the world's highest peaks. This won't necessarily be comprehensive,
but it'll provide a good introduction I think. This is the story of the Rainbow Valley. Since people have started climbing mountains
and started taking mountain climbing seriously, the logical progression of the activity for any climber
is to climb higher and more challenging mountains. Mount Everest is therefore the pinnacle of this pursuit
because it's the highest of them all. And this is evident in the fact that it's by far the most
climbed of any of the 8,000-plus meter peaks. Even if you don't know anything about mountaineering, you understand why it would make sense that
the highest mountain on Earth is an accomplishment. But with this popularity, there's also more death even if the death rate is relatively low. Because although Mount Everest is far from the
most dangerous of the 8,000-meter peaks, it has the most deaths by far because it's the most climbed. It's for this reason that it has three times the number
of deaths of any other 8,000-meter mountain. An underappreciated aspect of these climbs, despite how
well known they've become in recent years is just how much equipment needs to be transported
to the various camps along the way. These mountains are so large and take so much time
to climb that they have to be climbed in stages. So what mountaineers have done is establish a series
of camps at different heights along the way where climbers can stop and sleep and rest
and acclimatize in their long journey to the top. Each camp is sequentially higher up the mountain,
making the air thinner and the climbing more challenging. As you get higher as well, it's colder and
there's more permanent ice and snow as a result. The highest regularly established camp that climbers use to make the final push
to the top is at 26,000 feet or 7,924 meters. This is just below the fabled Death Zone,
which is at 8,000 meters. As the name of their grouping suggests, these 8,000 meter peaks are the only mountains above that height and are therefore the only mountains where climbers climb
into this Death Zone. This is the point at which the pressure of oxygen
is too low to sustain human life. This is in contrast to sea level where the human body
functions best. This is because the air at sea level pressure allows the oxygen carrying
red blood cells within the body to be fully saturated with oxygen. Without enough oxygen,
your cells slowly cease to function so in the Death Zone
you are literally slowly dying. The body can adapt to a degree. If you spend time at low pressures,
the body detects this lack of oxygen and responds by creating more blood cells
to carry more oxygen. But there are limits to this process.
That limit is 8,000 meters. In addition to this, it takes time to adapt. Generally, you have to spend days and up to weeks
in this environment for these adaptations to occur. Otherwise, you'll suffer from altitude sickness,
pulmonary edema and cerebral edema - all of which can be fatal, especially under exertion
like if you were climbing a mountain and this is just one of the challenges
that people face on these peaks. They also have to battle extreme cold and wind,
rapidly changing weather, avalanches, rock falls, and the extreme challenge
of the mountain climbing. It's for this reason that these mountains
represent the pinnacle of mountaineering. And for the same reason, it also makes carrying supplies up
incredibly difficult and often not worth it to carry supplies down. This includes carrying down the bodies
of anyone who dies on the mountain. So below the Northern Ridge of Mount Everest is the infamous Rainbow Valley, which is named for the
numerous colorful bodies that are there permanently. Because when people have died on Everest in their brightly
colored jackets, no one removes the gear or the people. Creating a rainbow colored graveyard on full display
for anyone going up the mountain. Some of these bodies are new and some are decades old
from when Everest first started getting climbed. In fact, there are over 200 bodies
above 8,000 meters on Everest. For context, the second highest mountain, K2, has the
second most number of deaths of any 8,000-meter peak at just 81 total. Unfortunately, due to the danger poses
to anyone trying to remove the bodies, it's either impossible or prohibitively costly. Helicopters can't land that high up the mountain,
so it has to be done manually by a team and costs around 70,000 US dollars. However, even this doesn't guarantee
that the body will even be able to be brought down. Sometimes, conditions are so bad that it's
simply impossible with the current techniques. Over the years, some of these bodies have become iconic and some have even become markers
for prospective climbers on their way up. For example, perhaps the most famous
of these is Green Boots. This is thought to be a man named Tsewang Paljor who was reported missing in 1996, along with
two other climbers whose bodies have never been found. This body with its iconic green boots
is in a small cave near the summit. This cave also happens to be a good rest spot on the way up and so many climbers stop there on the way up
and have Green Boots as company. And there are more of these identifiable bodies, but there are also many bodies
whose names and identities are not known. They likely died cold and alone from sickness or exhaustion,
because it puts others in dangers to stop and help them. Unfortunately, climbers are simply powerless to help
and have to carry on without them. The permanent cold at this altitude freezes the bodies
and slows decomposition, ensuring that they will be there for a long time
or until some better method of retrieving them is created. To some people, the mountains mean nothing. To others, they're like a painting -
beautiful to look at, but not much else. Other people see the mountains
and think of climbing to the top. Some people take this a step further and want to climb mountains high enough and hard enough
that require special skills and special tools. And then there are some people who look at the mountains
and all they see is the beautiful snow-covered slopes. Although they might enjoy the slow technical ascent, their true passion is gliding down at incredible speeds
on snowboards and skis. And much like everything, people fall on a spectrum
of interest, ability and fearlessness. Some people are simply born with a particular set of skills
and an attitude to push the limits of these pursuits. Born on May 22nd in 1979 in Chamonix, Marco Siffredi
was in the latter of these two categories. In the town of Chamonix where he was born,
the Mont Blanc massif was right in his backyard. All of the opportunities that afforded
that most people had to travel to enjoy, Marco could enjoy by simply walking out of his front door. In this birthplace of modern alpinism, the culture is ingrained
by all of the legends who came before Marco and he was highly aware of
and inspired by these individuals. And that's why a year after he learned how to snowboard
in 1996 at 16 years old, he rode down Mallory Couloir on the north face
of Aiguille du Midi. This is a thousand meters of 55-degree slope
with tons of exposed rocks throughout. Now, the degree of difficulty of a slope depends on
several different factors like depth and type of snow, whether the slope is sustained the entire way
and whether there are trees or rocks in the way. But I think an easy way for a non-enthusiast to understand
how difficult something is to ski is to understand that the greatest slope where snow
can even rest on the mountain side is 75 degrees. Top alpinists today are working on roots
with slopes in the low to mid sixties and Marco Siffredi, at 16 years old,
was snowboarding a route that was 55 degrees. Following that descent, he made the first descent of
Aiguille du Chardonnet and several other challenging slopes. Marco's combination of skill, fearlessness, and passion
was exactly the combination needed for these insane descents. Then, in the fall of 1998, he successfully summited
and descended the 6,000-meter or 20,000-foot Tocllaraju in Peru. In 1999, he descended Nant Blanc on Aguille Verte, which is
a route that had only been completed once before. This extremely challenging route averages 55 degrees
and occasionally gets as steep as 60. This completion solidified his place as one of the best
extreme snowboarders on Earth at the time. But as with anyone ambitious,
Marco wanted to keep pushing the limit. His next big project was the 7,000-meter
or 23,000-foot Dorje Lhakpa in Nepal. He would successfully descend this mountain as well, but before he did, on the summit, Mount Everest
was clearly visible - a full thousand meters higher. From then on, Everest was on his horizon. When he got home from Nepal,
he almost immediately started planning. First, he would climb the easier Cho Oyu. This is another one of the 14 8,000-meter peaks
in the Himalayas, and it would help him understand how his body
would react to the Death Zone. Obviously, he had to see if he could even ascend something like that
before thinking of ascending the highest mountain on Earth. Then, in the fall of the year 2000, Marco successfully summited and snowboarded
down the 8,188-meter or 26,864-foot Cho Oyu. With this incredible accomplishment
of both summiting and snowboarding down, Marco felt like he was ready
for the highest point on earth. This expedition began in the spring of 2001, and incredibly, at the same time,
there was another alpinist and snowboarder named Stefan Gatt who planned
to accomplish the same feat. But unlike Marco, Stefan planned to ascend the mountain
without Sherpas and without supplemental oxygen. This is significantly more challenging
and something few mountaineers have accomplished. For his descent, Marco planned to snowboard an area
known as the Hornbein couloir. This was the spot that he personally considered
to be the holy grail of snowboarding. Unfortunately, though, there wasn't enough snow
on that route when he arrived. Ironically, this makes climbing the mountain much easier, but would make it impossible
to snowboard his original planned route. So instead, he chose a different area
known as the Norton couloir. On their way up the mountain, it snowed enough
that this route seemed doable. Then, on the day before Marco's planned summit,
Stefan reached the summit. He then continued on with his planned descent
and snowboarded to 8,600 meters (28,215 ft) but he got to an area of snow
that was very hard and very dangerous so he walked down another a hundred meters or so
of the steepest section. Then, he successfully snowboarded the rest
of the route from there. The following day, Marco also successfully summited
and then latched into his board and started down. Four hours later, he snowboarded
into the advanced base camp, a legend. Although Stefan had done it first, many people credited Marco because it was a true
continuous descent of the highest mountain on Earth. Then, the following year in 2002, Marco was back
at base camp, hoping to snowboard his original planned route. This time, he arrived in fall when there was
much more snow on the mountain. On September 6th, he ascended to high camp where he even
lied to his parents and told him he was lower so they wouldn't worry. On September 7th, he ascended to camp 3
on the edge of the Death Zone. And then on September 8th, Marco and a team of Sherpas
successfully summited Mount Everest once again at 2:10 PM. But rather than being excited about making
it to the top, Marco was exhausted. The snow was chest-deep and the climb had taken
three times longer than a normal ascent because of it. After sitting for a few moments to catch his breath, Marco prepared his gear for his descent. As he was doing this, some clouds were forming
down below that was concerning to the Sherpas. And it was also getting late in the day
and so they asked him to reconsider. But this was now a life's work for Marco -
not going was not an option. So after slipping into his gear, he dropped onto the slope
and made a few zigzags back and forth. Then, he waited for the Sherpas to catch up
and pass him on their descent route. Once they had passed him, he headed for the Hornbein couloir. A couple hours later,
the Sherpas descended to camp 3 and noticed what looked like a man stand up and slide down
the mountain about 1,300 meters (4,265 ft) below them. But when they finally reached that area,
there were no tracks. And when they finally reached the meeting spot,
Marco was not there. In fact, Marco was never seen again
and his body has never been found. He could have fallen or he could have been
swept away in an avalanche. But unfortunately, it's likely that we'll just never know. And this is the same story of
many of the great alpine adventurers. Hello everyone. My name is Sean
and welcome to Scary Interesting. If you made it this far, I just want to thank you so much for watching
and hopefully, I will see you in the next one.
