WEBVTT 00:00:09.884 --> 00:00:10.884 - Yeah. 00:00:19.686 --> 00:00:20.770 Whew! 00:00:24.107 --> 00:00:26.151 This is real deal. 00:00:28.194 --> 00:00:31.406 To come down this? 00:00:31.489 --> 00:00:32.489 - Yeah. 00:00:47.881 --> 00:00:49.257 Holy shit. 00:00:50.884 --> 00:00:52.594 I just went from everything's fine 00:00:52.677 --> 00:00:54.971 to, like, we need to move. 00:01:03.229 --> 00:01:05.273 Doing something that nobody's ever done before, 00:01:05.356 --> 00:01:08.234 there's no guarantee that your plan's gonna work. 00:01:10.528 --> 00:01:11.613 - Once you commit, 00:01:11.696 --> 00:01:13.239 there is no turning around. 00:01:15.742 --> 00:01:18.328 - We're entirely removed from civilization. 00:01:18.411 --> 00:01:20.622 - Look at this one! 00:01:20.705 --> 00:01:22.916 - We know once we get there, we're on our own. 00:01:22.999 --> 00:01:24.125 - Climbing. 00:01:24.209 --> 00:01:26.795 - We've chosen to live a life that does have risk. 00:01:26.878 --> 00:01:28.838 Oh, my God. 00:01:28.922 --> 00:01:30.673 - One mistake, and you're dead. 00:01:30.757 --> 00:01:32.008 Come on now. 00:01:32.091 --> 00:01:33.218 - If you harness that fear, 00:01:33.301 --> 00:01:35.553 you can do something that you never thought possible. 00:01:35.637 --> 00:01:37.388 - Yeah! 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:42.602 - Is the pursuit worth the risk? 00:02:18.888 --> 00:02:20.390 - Alaska is so different 00:02:20.473 --> 00:02:23.560 than everywhere else on the planet. 00:02:25.186 --> 00:02:27.397 The most unique factors 00:02:27.480 --> 00:02:32.861 allow for primo snowboarding. 00:02:32.944 --> 00:02:35.029 We can do things here that you can't do 00:02:35.113 --> 00:02:37.782 anywhere else in the world. 00:02:37.866 --> 00:02:41.536 But weather dictates everything out here, 00:02:41.619 --> 00:02:43.746 snow dictates everything, 00:02:43.830 --> 00:02:48.084 and there's no mastering Mother Nature. 00:02:54.257 --> 00:02:56.426 The trip started in Juneau, Alaska, 00:02:56.509 --> 00:02:58.052 which is... there's roads here, 00:02:58.136 --> 00:03:00.305 but it's not connected to anywhere. 00:03:00.388 --> 00:03:02.307 The mountains are so radical 00:03:02.390 --> 00:03:05.894 that the only way to get here is on boat or plane. 00:03:09.355 --> 00:03:11.399 So we're gonna get on a boat from here, 00:03:11.482 --> 00:03:14.152 take that boat about 25 hours 00:03:14.235 --> 00:03:17.238 up into Glacier Bay National Park. 00:03:17.322 --> 00:03:19.782 We're gonna get dropped off at the edge of a glacier. 00:03:19.866 --> 00:03:23.953 Then we're gonna walk 15 miles to a base camp, 00:03:24.037 --> 00:03:26.789 and, ideally, go and ride 00:03:26.873 --> 00:03:29.125 one of the most beautiful mountains in the world, 00:03:29.208 --> 00:03:30.543 Mount Bertha. 00:03:32.003 --> 00:03:34.464 I mean, this is certainly 00:03:34.547 --> 00:03:38.301 one of the most ambitious missions I've ever attempted. 00:03:41.971 --> 00:03:45.391 You don't just walk into these serious mountains and be like, 00:03:45.475 --> 00:03:46.309 "That's where we want to go. 00:03:46.392 --> 00:03:48.186 It's sunny. We're gonna walk up to it." 00:03:48.269 --> 00:03:50.313 It's this process. 00:03:51.522 --> 00:03:54.525 Having the right crew is critical. 00:03:56.527 --> 00:03:58.613 When you're this far out on the edge, 00:03:58.696 --> 00:04:00.740 you have to rely on your team to make it back. 00:04:02.575 --> 00:04:04.215 - Early on in the planning of this trip... 00:04:05.453 --> 00:04:07.121 We were looking to go out into Glacier Bay 00:04:07.205 --> 00:04:08.748 and ski and snowboard some lines 00:04:08.831 --> 00:04:11.334 that nobody else had ridden before. 00:04:11.417 --> 00:04:14.212 But you can't really make a trip like this happen 00:04:14.295 --> 00:04:17.382 on Google Earth and a couple of old photos alone, 00:04:17.465 --> 00:04:19.676 so from Juneau, 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:21.844 hopped on a fixed-wing flight, 00:04:21.928 --> 00:04:22.929 flew around the zone, 00:04:23.012 --> 00:04:25.515 and saw it in the light for the first time. 00:04:47.286 --> 00:04:48.286 - Yeah. 00:04:50.456 --> 00:04:51.499 - Right? 00:04:54.627 --> 00:04:55.795 - Oh, yeah. 00:04:58.131 --> 00:05:00.091 - There's definitely an allure 00:05:00.174 --> 00:05:03.177 to wanting to do something that's never been done, 00:05:03.261 --> 00:05:06.389 and we've honed in on Mount Bertha 00:05:06.472 --> 00:05:07.932 in Glacier Bay National Park. 00:05:08.016 --> 00:05:09.892 It's a really, really beautiful peak, 00:05:09.976 --> 00:05:12.311 very remote, and there's a line on it 00:05:12.395 --> 00:05:15.648 that has never been skied or snowboarded. 00:05:19.657 --> 00:05:20.657 - Yeah. 00:05:35.334 --> 00:05:37.837 - Very few people have tried trips like this before, 00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:39.314 and I think probably for good reason, 00:05:39.338 --> 00:05:41.549 where you're going in from the ocean, 00:05:41.632 --> 00:05:43.593 crossing these glaciers that have crevasses 00:05:43.676 --> 00:05:44.594 you can fall in, 00:05:44.677 --> 00:05:46.429 and then getting onto mountains 00:05:46.512 --> 00:05:49.265 that have avalanches that can come down on you. 00:05:49.348 --> 00:05:51.267 So there's no shortage of dangers. 00:05:51.350 --> 00:05:53.120 It's about being able to adapt to different things 00:05:53.144 --> 00:05:54.437 the mountain might throw at you. 00:05:57.023 --> 00:05:58.733 - There is a lot of risks involved, 00:05:58.816 --> 00:06:01.736 and putting it all on the line is where 00:06:01.819 --> 00:06:05.948 that feeling of freedom and excitement comes from. 00:06:08.576 --> 00:06:12.121 It's hard not to consider what could happen. 00:06:12.205 --> 00:06:15.333 You know, worst-case scenario is we don't come home. 00:06:23.549 --> 00:06:26.803 This area and these mountains are really important to us, 00:06:26.886 --> 00:06:30.139 but we really recognize that we are visitors here. 00:06:30.223 --> 00:06:32.308 And so before we left on our mission, 00:06:32.391 --> 00:06:35.812 we wanted to talk to someone from the Tlingit tribe. 00:06:35.895 --> 00:06:38.314 They've been calling this place home for generations, 00:06:38.397 --> 00:06:41.776 and we wanted to really learn about their culture 00:06:41.859 --> 00:06:44.612 so that we could be as respectful as possible 00:06:44.695 --> 00:06:46.906 on their lands. 00:06:46.989 --> 00:06:48.783 - My name is Lgeik'i. 00:06:48.866 --> 00:06:51.160 My name is the sound that the glacier makes 00:06:51.244 --> 00:06:53.579 right before it calves into the water. 00:06:53.663 --> 00:06:56.165 Our names carry our identity, 00:06:56.249 --> 00:06:59.043 and they have for many generations. 00:06:59.127 --> 00:07:02.171 And it directly comes from Glacier Bay. 00:07:03.965 --> 00:07:07.343 Over 10,000 years ago, our families lived there. 00:07:07.426 --> 00:07:10.596 We've been through two ice ages since then. 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:13.307 This is the land you're getting ready to go into. 00:07:13.391 --> 00:07:15.226 This is the land of our grandparents. 00:07:17.270 --> 00:07:18.896 - All right, well, I gotta go, 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:20.565 but I love you guys. 00:07:20.648 --> 00:07:21.983 - We love you too. - Love you too. 00:07:22.066 --> 00:07:23.484 - Love you. 00:07:28.406 --> 00:07:29.550 - You know, from a young age, 00:07:29.574 --> 00:07:31.951 we're taught that the water is really unforgiving. 00:07:39.041 --> 00:07:40.501 - Tlingit people, 00:07:40.585 --> 00:07:43.087 haashuká kwáan, our ancestors, 00:07:43.171 --> 00:07:45.506 our past, our present, and our future. 00:07:47.508 --> 00:07:49.051 The relationship that we have 00:07:49.135 --> 00:07:51.679 with our lands, with our waters, 00:07:51.762 --> 00:07:55.099 it's something that's bigger than we are. 00:07:55.183 --> 00:07:57.435 It's our being. It's our DNA. 00:07:57.518 --> 00:07:59.520 It's who we are. It's how we're connected. 00:08:04.192 --> 00:08:06.152 Every time you see these animals... 00:08:07.486 --> 00:08:09.614 Every time you hear the glacier calve, 00:08:09.697 --> 00:08:10.740 that's the spirit 00:08:10.823 --> 00:08:12.825 that embodies the place you're going. 00:08:19.790 --> 00:08:22.084 And that's something very sacred to us. 00:08:22.168 --> 00:08:23.586 So please keep that with you, 00:08:23.669 --> 00:08:25.087 because you're gonna need that. 00:08:25.171 --> 00:08:27.048 You'll need that strength at some point 00:08:27.131 --> 00:08:28.716 during this journey. 00:08:42.063 --> 00:08:44.232 - Epic. 00:08:44.315 --> 00:08:47.151 Look at the glacier over there. 00:08:47.235 --> 00:08:49.570 We're in it now. - Wow. 00:08:49.654 --> 00:08:52.365 - Jer has been in the game for 25 years, 00:08:52.448 --> 00:08:56.160 and he's kind of the guru of this style of trip. 00:08:56.953 --> 00:08:58.120 - On belay. 00:08:59.372 --> 00:09:01.415 - I don't know if there's any other person 00:09:01.499 --> 00:09:05.294 in the ski or snowboard world that I look up to as much, 00:09:05.378 --> 00:09:08.297 and his approach to planning a ski trip 00:09:08.381 --> 00:09:10.174 more like a climbing expedition 00:09:10.258 --> 00:09:12.134 really changed the game. 00:09:14.262 --> 00:09:17.223 Okay. 00:09:20.226 --> 00:09:23.604 - At a very young age, I just fell in love 00:09:23.688 --> 00:09:26.440 with going really fast on a race board. 00:09:26.524 --> 00:09:28.943 - Next at the top, Jeremy Jones, 16 years old. 00:09:29.026 --> 00:09:31.904 - By 21, I had success at every level, 00:09:31.988 --> 00:09:33.614 but pretty quickly, 00:09:33.698 --> 00:09:36.534 I got burnt out on it. 00:09:36.617 --> 00:09:39.120 My brothers went to Alaska 00:09:39.203 --> 00:09:41.247 and were like, 00:09:41.330 --> 00:09:42.957 "You need to come to Alaska." 00:09:45.459 --> 00:09:49.672 I get brought to this peak right near the helipad. 00:09:49.755 --> 00:09:51.841 I'm terrified, and I drop in, 00:09:51.924 --> 00:09:54.010 and it's like coming over the edge of the world. 00:09:54.093 --> 00:09:57.179 And I see this... like, the longest, steepest, 00:09:57.263 --> 00:10:01.142 most beautiful run of my life, and I just... 00:10:01.225 --> 00:10:04.186 I'd never felt that feeling snowboarding. 00:10:08.232 --> 00:10:11.819 It's like freefalling down the mountain. 00:10:11.902 --> 00:10:13.612 You're totally in control 00:10:13.696 --> 00:10:16.240 but hanging on to the earth 00:10:16.324 --> 00:10:20.202 by just this narrow edge of your snowboard. 00:10:20.286 --> 00:10:24.165 That just opened up this world, 00:10:24.248 --> 00:10:27.209 this universe that I didn't know existed. 00:10:27.293 --> 00:10:28.544 No question, 00:10:28.627 --> 00:10:31.839 like, this is where you'll find me. 00:10:34.550 --> 00:10:36.886 The size of that mountain is 00:10:36.969 --> 00:10:38.721 a little more substantial 00:10:38.804 --> 00:10:41.057 if we're looking at it from down here. 00:10:43.726 --> 00:10:46.729 Eventually, I got really good 00:10:46.812 --> 00:10:49.190 at filming snowboard movies 00:10:49.273 --> 00:10:51.650 in Alaska with a helicopter. 00:10:51.734 --> 00:10:54.236 And over time, more people started coming. 00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.364 We started racing people to mountains. 00:10:56.447 --> 00:10:59.241 You know, it changed with that. 00:10:59.325 --> 00:11:03.704 I had been wanting to get past the heli boundaries, 00:11:03.788 --> 00:11:08.042 expand my snowboard universe. 00:11:08.125 --> 00:11:11.420 That's what led to this new phase, 00:11:11.504 --> 00:11:14.006 which was this foot-powered snowboarding. 00:11:18.761 --> 00:11:20.971 - Jeremy Jones dropping in ten seconds. 00:11:23.182 --> 00:11:25.226 - I've been all over the state 00:11:25.309 --> 00:11:27.978 to a variety of different mountain ranges, 00:11:28.062 --> 00:11:31.232 and this area in Alaska, to me, 00:11:31.315 --> 00:11:34.318 is just the most spectacular. 00:11:42.118 --> 00:11:44.912 - It's feeling more and more real. 00:11:44.995 --> 00:11:48.249 - A little bit of swell in the ocean. 00:11:54.839 --> 00:11:57.925 - "Gulf low continue to bring onshore flow 00:11:58.008 --> 00:11:59.343 "Thursday, Friday. 00:11:59.427 --> 00:12:01.971 Bigger storm with 3 to 4 feet of snow." 00:12:02.054 --> 00:12:06.142 - We know we got a significant storm coming in... 00:12:06.225 --> 00:12:08.269 and the question is, 00:12:08.352 --> 00:12:11.564 is there a end to it? 00:12:11.647 --> 00:12:13.232 - End in sight? - Yeah. 00:12:13.315 --> 00:12:16.861 - And if there's not an end to it, 00:12:16.944 --> 00:12:19.613 things get more complicated. 00:12:20.239 --> 00:12:21.633 We thought we were getting on the boat 00:12:21.657 --> 00:12:25.995 for, like, a 25-hour boat ride to where we were gonna launch. 00:12:26.078 --> 00:12:30.082 And then this small storm that was coming in 00:12:30.166 --> 00:12:32.126 totally elevated, 00:12:32.209 --> 00:12:34.545 and we had to retrace our steps 00:12:34.628 --> 00:12:36.213 to hide in an inlet 00:12:36.297 --> 00:12:39.633 while the weather just cranked. 00:12:47.141 --> 00:12:49.185 A lot of traditional pro snowboarders 00:12:49.268 --> 00:12:51.645 snowboard when the camera's there, rest when it's not, 00:12:51.729 --> 00:12:55.608 but the people that I end up spending time with 00:12:55.691 --> 00:12:58.319 and snowboarding don't just need perfect conditions... 00:12:58.402 --> 00:13:02.031 Like, enjoy the process, love putting in the time. 00:13:02.114 --> 00:13:05.451 With Elena, she is all those things. 00:13:08.245 --> 00:13:09.830 - I started snowboarding at six. 00:13:09.914 --> 00:13:11.790 I started competing. 00:13:11.874 --> 00:13:15.044 Elena Hight, right here... 00:13:15.127 --> 00:13:17.296 Only 11 years old. 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:18.797 - When I was 12 years old, 00:13:18.881 --> 00:13:21.175 I was watching the 2002 Olympics. 00:13:21.258 --> 00:13:24.220 I watched Kelly Clark win the Women's Halfpipe. 00:13:24.303 --> 00:13:26.222 That was, like, all I wanted to do. 00:13:26.305 --> 00:13:29.266 - Never been done, female or male. 00:13:29.350 --> 00:13:30.893 - Started winning contests. 00:13:30.976 --> 00:13:32.645 I went to two Olympics 00:13:32.728 --> 00:13:35.356 and didn't have an Olympic medal. 00:13:35.439 --> 00:13:37.191 On the last Olympic year, 00:13:37.274 --> 00:13:39.068 I was like, this is it. 00:13:39.151 --> 00:13:43.739 I had the tricks, but I totally cracked, 00:13:43.822 --> 00:13:47.993 and I didn't even come close to qualifying. 00:13:48.077 --> 00:13:50.204 For whatever reason, I was just like... 00:13:50.287 --> 00:13:51.705 Couldn't get my head in the game. 00:13:54.625 --> 00:13:56.418 I don't know, maybe this is the end 00:13:56.502 --> 00:13:58.212 of my snowboard career. 00:14:02.466 --> 00:14:04.426 And then about a month later, 00:14:04.510 --> 00:14:06.262 I got a call from Jeremy 00:14:06.345 --> 00:14:10.099 to go on this trip for a film he was making. 00:14:10.182 --> 00:14:12.268 I've never been winter camping. 00:14:12.351 --> 00:14:14.478 It was totally out of my comfort zone. 00:14:14.562 --> 00:14:16.689 Sounds like a good idea in theory. 00:14:16.772 --> 00:14:17.606 We'll see. - You're like, 00:14:17.690 --> 00:14:19.290 "What am I doing out here with this guy?" 00:14:20.526 --> 00:14:23.237 - But I was like, this is the perfect opportunity. 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:25.864 I'm gonna go walk through the mountains 00:14:25.948 --> 00:14:27.783 and figure out the rest of my life. 00:14:27.866 --> 00:14:29.827 Like, this is it. 00:14:31.996 --> 00:14:33.372 On the last day, 00:14:33.455 --> 00:14:35.916 I realized I hadn't thought about it much, 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:38.127 any of it, at all. 00:14:38.210 --> 00:14:42.214 You know, you could stay out here forever. 00:14:44.925 --> 00:14:48.262 It was a new focus for me beyond competition 00:14:48.345 --> 00:14:50.681 that I had never had before. 00:14:50.764 --> 00:14:54.768 That trip completely altered my future. 00:14:56.145 --> 00:14:58.147 This is definitely what I want to do. 00:14:59.987 --> 00:15:03.616 Woke up to... that. 00:15:08.699 --> 00:15:11.285 Look at that. 00:15:11.368 --> 00:15:13.287 The storm is here. 00:15:15.789 --> 00:15:17.458 This mellow boat ride 00:15:17.541 --> 00:15:21.211 turned into quite the experience. 00:15:21.295 --> 00:15:23.339 We hunkered down for a couple days 00:15:23.422 --> 00:15:25.442 because there was no way we'd be able to get on land, 00:15:25.429 --> 00:15:27.723 - We're just pinned in this cove. 00:15:30.466 --> 00:15:35.346 and we couldn't really hike in that type of storm anyways. 00:15:32.806 --> 00:15:36.727 Hoping to go to the next phase of the mission, 00:15:36.810 --> 00:15:38.705 but that's been hard... harder than I would have thought. 00:15:38.729 --> 00:15:40.856 This is, like, day four on the boat. 00:15:42.900 --> 00:15:45.319 - Boats and snow don't really mix. 00:15:45.402 --> 00:15:47.780 The extra weight is a hazard for sinking 00:15:47.863 --> 00:15:49.198 or just for leaks. 00:15:49.281 --> 00:15:51.408 We had to keep shoveling the boat 00:15:51.492 --> 00:15:53.410 because it was just coming down. 00:15:55.746 --> 00:15:57.766 - Well, I've been on this boat since I was six years old, 00:15:57.790 --> 00:15:59.208 and in 51 years, 00:15:59.291 --> 00:16:01.168 I've never seen this much snow on this boat 00:16:01.251 --> 00:16:03.128 in my entire life, ever. 00:16:03.212 --> 00:16:06.382 I'm just absolutely freaking stunned, man. 00:16:06.465 --> 00:16:08.509 I wouldn't say it's the worst-case scenario, 00:16:08.592 --> 00:16:11.387 but it's about as bad as it gets, you know? 00:16:11.470 --> 00:16:13.347 - Apparently, that's how boats sink 00:16:13.430 --> 00:16:15.224 is you get a bunch of snow on it, 00:16:15.307 --> 00:16:17.601 and then it starts rolling, and it just rolls over. 00:16:17.685 --> 00:16:19.353 And you could feel it on the boat. 00:16:25.109 --> 00:16:27.611 Days kept rolling by, 00:16:27.695 --> 00:16:31.073 and it became clear that we needed a window 00:16:31.156 --> 00:16:32.199 or we were gonna have to 00:16:32.282 --> 00:16:34.576 abandon the mission altogether. 00:16:38.956 --> 00:16:41.709 - We are, like, threading the needle 00:16:41.792 --> 00:16:43.252 between two storms. 00:16:43.335 --> 00:16:44.586 We are waiting 00:16:44.670 --> 00:16:48.424 for the perfect moment 00:16:48.507 --> 00:16:49.967 because we got north winds. 00:16:50.050 --> 00:16:51.468 It's gonna switch to south winds. 00:16:51.552 --> 00:16:52.987 We're gonna barely be able to make it 00:16:53.011 --> 00:16:54.847 into our landing zone. 00:16:56.598 --> 00:16:58.100 - To get to shore, we have to jump 00:16:58.183 --> 00:17:01.645 into this little Munson or smaller boat. 00:17:01.729 --> 00:17:04.481 You realize how big the waves are 00:17:04.565 --> 00:17:06.817 when you're in, like, a boat that size. 00:17:09.194 --> 00:17:11.864 - This'll be, I think, an impossible launch 00:17:11.947 --> 00:17:14.783 as well as an impossible landing. 00:17:14.867 --> 00:17:16.511 You know, I can get across with that Munson, 00:17:16.535 --> 00:17:19.455 but I can guarantee you that everybody will be soaking wet 00:17:19.538 --> 00:17:20.956 and all our stuff'll be wet. 00:17:28.589 --> 00:17:30.466 - The classic pro skier route 00:17:30.549 --> 00:17:32.718 is figuring out you have what it takes 00:17:32.801 --> 00:17:34.678 when you're maybe 15 or 16, 00:17:34.762 --> 00:17:36.472 but I was the opposite of that. 00:17:36.555 --> 00:17:38.515 I didn't even really become a pro skier 00:17:38.599 --> 00:17:41.018 until I was 23 or 24. 00:17:43.228 --> 00:17:45.773 Before that, it was all about, you know, going to school. 00:17:45.856 --> 00:17:47.941 I got my MBA from the University of Denver, 00:17:48.025 --> 00:17:49.735 which gave me a lot of good assets 00:17:49.818 --> 00:17:52.488 to approach the business and skiing world. 00:17:52.571 --> 00:17:54.448 It was only the last couple years of college 00:17:54.531 --> 00:17:57.493 that I realized there could be a different path. 00:17:57.576 --> 00:17:59.995 The first free skiing contest I entered, I won, 00:18:00.078 --> 00:18:01.723 and I was like, well, maybe this skiing thing 00:18:01.747 --> 00:18:04.541 can, you know, work out. 00:18:04.625 --> 00:18:08.212 - Griffin has made major descents 00:18:08.295 --> 00:18:11.840 in some of the most remote places on the planet 00:18:11.924 --> 00:18:15.844 and is just voracious studier 00:18:15.928 --> 00:18:18.972 of maps and routes and weather 00:18:19.056 --> 00:18:23.560 and just every little detail on a mission like this. 00:18:26.688 --> 00:18:28.982 - Big mountain skiing has that combination 00:18:29.066 --> 00:18:31.652 of being in nature, that adrenaline rush, 00:18:31.735 --> 00:18:33.695 and that challenge... It checks all the boxes 00:18:33.779 --> 00:18:36.990 of what really does it for me in life. 00:18:44.915 --> 00:18:46.834 - It's like we finally see the sun 00:18:46.917 --> 00:18:49.419 for, really, the first time since we've been here, 00:18:49.503 --> 00:18:52.714 and we got a really stiff wind 00:18:52.798 --> 00:18:56.093 that we can't really move in. 00:18:57.261 --> 00:18:59.555 All we can do is be right on the doorstep, 00:18:59.638 --> 00:19:01.932 and we're on the doorstep right now. 00:19:04.184 --> 00:19:05.184 Yeah. 00:19:19.449 --> 00:19:22.077 - Okay. What about tomorrow? 00:19:26.290 --> 00:19:27.666 - How about Monday? 00:19:54.943 --> 00:19:57.905 - My concern with not going, 00:19:57.988 --> 00:20:01.742 even though that sounds not ideal... 00:20:04.369 --> 00:20:06.622 Is waking up 00:20:06.705 --> 00:20:09.875 and it not being calm tomorrow. 00:20:09.958 --> 00:20:12.920 - Yeah. - What if that's our chance? 00:20:17.925 --> 00:20:20.928 If it's forecasted to be nice tomorrow, 00:20:21.011 --> 00:20:22.679 we have to wait, 00:20:22.763 --> 00:20:25.641 but it's after that that it gets sketchy, 00:20:25.724 --> 00:20:27.684 because now there's another storm coming in, 00:20:27.768 --> 00:20:31.313 and that storm is gonna be three days plus. 00:20:31.396 --> 00:20:33.774 We can't walk across the glacier in a whiteout. 00:20:33.857 --> 00:20:36.735 We get on land at... 00:20:36.818 --> 00:20:39.571 if everyone's up and moving in the dark, 00:20:39.655 --> 00:20:42.658 we get on land as soon as day breaks, 00:20:42.741 --> 00:20:45.118 'cause it's supposed to be nice. 00:20:45.202 --> 00:20:48.163 And if we just * walk for 15 hours, 00:20:48.246 --> 00:20:50.499 we probably can make it to camp. 00:20:56.797 --> 00:20:59.841 - Winds have calmed down finally. 00:20:59.925 --> 00:21:02.344 Hopefully push to base camp, 00:21:02.427 --> 00:21:04.846 which is about 15 miles and 4,000 feet, 00:21:04.930 --> 00:21:06.473 before this next storm hits, 00:21:06.603 --> 00:21:09.147 All right. - Thank you, Pamela Rae. 00:21:11.556 --> 00:21:13.850 so not gonna be an easy day by any means. 00:21:14.231 --> 00:21:16.149 Whoo! 00:21:36.003 --> 00:21:37.004 Whoo! - Wow! 00:21:50.142 --> 00:21:52.644 - First steps. 00:21:52.728 --> 00:21:56.356 Let the games begin, ladies and gentlemen. 00:22:01.153 --> 00:22:03.530 - In order to take on an objective of this size, 00:22:03.613 --> 00:22:05.532 we had a pilot drop a gear cache 00:22:05.615 --> 00:22:07.534 with supplies and food, 00:22:07.617 --> 00:22:09.202 and what we're walking in with 00:22:09.286 --> 00:22:12.873 is enough to sustain ourselves for a day or two, tops. 00:22:15.709 --> 00:22:18.128 - Going into the trip, we always looked at 00:22:18.211 --> 00:22:19.755 the hike to our gear stash 00:22:19.838 --> 00:22:21.673 as two big days in the mountains, 00:22:21.757 --> 00:22:24.718 but due to this really tight break in the weather, 00:22:24.801 --> 00:22:26.762 we're gonna have to do it in a single push. 00:22:26.845 --> 00:22:29.890 And as soon as we started walking, 00:22:29.973 --> 00:22:34.061 we realized this was gonna be even harder than we thought. 00:22:39.858 --> 00:22:43.236 Freaking hard going, man. 00:22:43.325 --> 00:22:47.454 - See that mountain way out there that looks really small? 00:22:48.320 --> 00:22:51.198 You'd think it'd get easier, but it doesn't get easier. 00:22:52.537 --> 00:22:55.957 We're going behind that, so we got a ways to go still. 00:22:57.667 --> 00:22:59.795 It's just exhausting. 00:22:59.878 --> 00:23:01.147 We've been breaking trail in shifts, 00:23:01.171 --> 00:23:03.131 probably 15, 20 minutes at a time, 00:23:03.215 --> 00:23:07.844 'cause that's about as much as you can handle. 00:23:07.928 --> 00:23:09.888 - Whew! 00:23:09.971 --> 00:23:13.100 My hip flexors are on fire. 00:23:17.896 --> 00:23:21.608 - We've been moving for nine hours. 00:23:21.691 --> 00:23:25.070 We're really kinda... slowing down. 00:23:26.196 --> 00:23:28.782 We're still a ways out. 00:23:30.909 --> 00:23:32.619 - Here comes the storm. 00:23:32.702 --> 00:23:35.747 Right on time or little early. 00:23:35.831 --> 00:23:37.958 Pretty far from camp still. 00:23:38.041 --> 00:23:40.252 Not really what we were looking for. 00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:48.176 - Man, when it gets white out here, 00:23:48.260 --> 00:23:51.555 you could miss, like, a milewide glacier 00:23:51.638 --> 00:23:53.682 and walk right by it, 00:23:53.765 --> 00:23:56.268 which is concerning. 00:23:58.603 --> 00:24:00.355 - Being out in the glacier on a cloudy day 00:24:00.438 --> 00:24:03.150 is like being on the inside of a ping pong ball. 00:24:03.233 --> 00:24:06.987 You could just walk into a crevasse or a hole 00:24:07.070 --> 00:24:08.155 that will swallow you up, 00:24:08.238 --> 00:24:11.533 and so it's not an option to move during storms. 00:24:14.411 --> 00:24:17.164 - The reality set in that this storm that's coming in 00:24:17.247 --> 00:24:19.499 could really pin us on this glacier. 00:24:19.583 --> 00:24:22.043 That is worst-case scenario. 00:24:22.127 --> 00:24:25.589 We don't have the supplies to stay out here for that long, 00:24:25.672 --> 00:24:29.801 and we're really in the middle of no man's land. 00:24:31.678 --> 00:24:34.014 There is no other option but to keep going. 00:24:38.852 --> 00:24:40.979 14 hours now. 00:24:41.062 --> 00:24:43.607 Working really, really hard. 00:24:43.690 --> 00:24:45.692 We haven't even really stopped. 00:24:48.612 --> 00:24:51.781 - It was the most tired that I've ever been, 00:24:51.865 --> 00:24:53.575 and all I wanted to do was stop, 00:24:53.658 --> 00:24:55.327 but it was not an option. 00:25:14.679 --> 00:25:17.140 - Oh, my God. 00:25:20.018 --> 00:25:21.436 - Nice work. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:24.105 - Yeah. Ha. 00:25:24.189 --> 00:25:26.399 Holy... 00:25:26.483 --> 00:25:29.778 Big push. 00:25:29.861 --> 00:25:32.989 - Really looking forward to being horizontal. 00:26:34.592 --> 00:26:37.220 - Rule number 32: 00:26:37.304 --> 00:26:39.681 sleep with your shovel. 00:26:50.859 --> 00:26:54.821 Just the most epic snowstorm 00:26:54.904 --> 00:26:57.574 you could ever imagine. 00:26:57.657 --> 00:27:01.077 - It's not often your skis almost get buried vertically. 00:27:02.329 --> 00:27:04.497 - And all we did was 00:27:04.581 --> 00:27:08.043 dig our tents out, eat some food, 00:27:08.126 --> 00:27:10.378 sleep, and repeat. 00:27:14.632 --> 00:27:18.261 I've never been in a camping winter storm situation 00:27:18.345 --> 00:27:20.096 like that. 00:27:22.515 --> 00:27:26.686 We were very just far from civilization. 00:27:28.313 --> 00:27:31.441 Unlike anything I've ever experienced. 00:27:40.283 --> 00:27:43.870 - You get in your tent, and it's a safe little bubble. 00:27:43.953 --> 00:27:46.039 You can hear the storm raging outside. 00:27:52.587 --> 00:27:55.131 Then all of a sudden, the storm stops. 00:27:55.215 --> 00:27:58.593 But it's not that it stopped. It's that you're buried. 00:27:58.676 --> 00:28:02.097 - I go to push on the tent, and it's solid. 00:28:02.180 --> 00:28:03.765 Then I'm looking at the poles, 00:28:03.848 --> 00:28:06.267 and I see that they're, like, sagging, 00:28:06.351 --> 00:28:10.438 and I'm like, I got to get out of this tent. 00:28:10.522 --> 00:28:12.065 That is not good. 00:28:13.650 --> 00:28:15.527 - So you'd sleep for a few hours, 00:28:15.610 --> 00:28:17.445 get out and shovel for a few hours. 00:28:19.823 --> 00:28:21.908 - 200 centimeters of new snow 00:28:21.991 --> 00:28:24.244 and counting rapidly. 00:28:24.327 --> 00:28:26.746 I would assume it'll be more of the same 00:28:26.830 --> 00:28:28.581 when we wake up tomorrow. 00:28:32.419 --> 00:28:35.004 - At this point, almost two weeks in on the trip 00:28:35.088 --> 00:28:37.257 with the boat ride and being in Juneau, 00:28:37.340 --> 00:28:40.051 it's been a constant beatdown. 00:28:40.135 --> 00:28:43.471 - I need to deal. The house is falling over. 00:28:43.555 --> 00:28:46.641 Not doing so good. 00:28:46.724 --> 00:28:48.560 We still haven't seen the mountains, 00:28:48.643 --> 00:28:51.312 and we're there for days. 00:28:52.730 --> 00:28:54.274 This stuff gets a little bigger. 00:28:54.357 --> 00:28:55.650 That stuff is... 00:28:57.694 --> 00:29:00.113 - Here? Yeah. - And we're over here. 00:29:00.196 --> 00:29:01.865 - Yeah, it's a little bigger. 00:29:01.948 --> 00:29:03.366 - Someday, we'll strap in 00:29:03.450 --> 00:29:05.618 and make a turn on our snowboard, 00:29:05.702 --> 00:29:08.413 which, apparently, is why we're here... 00:29:11.541 --> 00:29:14.961 But I think I'm here for the storms just as much. 00:29:15.044 --> 00:29:17.505 My life is based around these storms, 00:29:17.589 --> 00:29:19.299 so to actually, like, be out there 00:29:19.382 --> 00:29:22.510 and feel the power of nature... 00:29:24.095 --> 00:29:25.388 I love it. 00:29:58.171 --> 00:29:59.547 Whoa! 00:30:04.135 --> 00:30:06.679 - First time actually seeing the mountains, 00:30:06.763 --> 00:30:09.557 and it's so caked with so much snow. 00:30:09.641 --> 00:30:13.686 It's like the curtains being drawn on this amazing stage. 00:30:13.770 --> 00:30:17.023 Pretty special place to wake up. 00:30:21.611 --> 00:30:24.572 - Spectacular. 00:30:24.656 --> 00:30:27.242 Beyond imagination. 00:30:27.325 --> 00:30:31.162 We've spent so much time trying to get here. 00:30:31.246 --> 00:30:32.932 And then you see this view, and you're like, 00:30:32.956 --> 00:30:35.625 oh, that's why we spent that much time, 'cause... 00:30:39.003 --> 00:30:43.174 You just don't see mountains like this every day. 00:30:47.345 --> 00:30:50.431 - It's crazy, having been posted up here 00:30:50.515 --> 00:30:54.602 for three days and not seeing anything around us 00:30:54.686 --> 00:30:57.689 and just waking up to, like, heaven. 00:30:57.772 --> 00:31:00.024 It's pretty surreal. 00:31:04.529 --> 00:31:06.447 It's all becoming real. 00:31:16.207 --> 00:31:19.127 - That feeling when you have that objective finally, 00:31:19.210 --> 00:31:20.628 like, at your fingertips 00:31:20.712 --> 00:31:24.632 and you're able to arrive at your destination 00:31:24.716 --> 00:31:27.176 makes all that work so worth it. 00:31:57.582 --> 00:31:59.751 - For as beautiful as it is, 00:31:59.834 --> 00:32:02.337 we can't go up into the mountains 00:32:02.420 --> 00:32:05.715 because they're so avalanche-prone at that phase. 00:32:05.798 --> 00:32:08.468 You need to let the mountains heal. 00:32:11.054 --> 00:32:15.433 - The snow is actively falling off of the mountains... 00:32:15.516 --> 00:32:18.895 - Without our weight. - Without our weight, 00:32:18.978 --> 00:32:20.897 and we want to be nowhere near that. 00:32:24.067 --> 00:32:25.985 - Here it comes again. 00:32:32.700 --> 00:32:36.704 We've been waiting two weeks for sun. 00:32:36.788 --> 00:32:41.250 Now we have it, and now... we're afraid to move. 00:32:45.630 --> 00:32:48.216 - In 12 hours of daylight, 00:32:48.299 --> 00:32:52.303 we watched 200 avalanches fall. 00:32:53.888 --> 00:32:56.015 It just was the perfect combination 00:32:56.099 --> 00:32:59.227 of a lot of snow over a short period of time 00:32:59.310 --> 00:33:02.355 and then quickly rising temperatures 00:33:02.438 --> 00:33:04.899 and a lot of sun. 00:33:04.982 --> 00:33:08.361 - This whole perfect place 00:33:08.444 --> 00:33:11.823 turns into this sloppy, dirty, 00:33:11.906 --> 00:33:15.159 dangerous mass of wet snow. 00:33:19.956 --> 00:33:21.582 - Yeah, it's scary, 00:33:21.666 --> 00:33:25.378 but really, it's just more heartbreaking 00:33:25.461 --> 00:33:27.463 thinking you've come all this way 00:33:27.547 --> 00:33:29.507 and might go home with nothing. 00:33:42.603 --> 00:33:44.731 - High record temperature for Juneau 00:33:44.814 --> 00:33:46.107 got smashed yesterday. - Wow. 00:33:46.190 --> 00:33:48.234 - Yeah. It was 70 degrees in Juneau yesterday. 00:33:48.317 --> 00:33:50.111 - Holy... - Whoa. 00:33:50.194 --> 00:33:52.280 - We might 80, like, once or twice a year... 00:33:52.363 --> 00:33:54.574 - Damn. - So to have 70 in April 00:33:54.657 --> 00:33:56.242 is smashed. 00:34:00.580 --> 00:34:03.916 - As someone who spends most of my time 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:07.628 in the outdoors, I see these changes happening, 00:34:07.712 --> 00:34:09.352 and to be standing here in these mountains 00:34:09.422 --> 00:34:11.466 in this crazy heat 00:34:11.549 --> 00:34:14.302 after we just went through one of the biggest snowstorms 00:34:14.385 --> 00:34:15.636 I've ever been in, 00:34:15.720 --> 00:34:19.474 it's a very real reminder that climate change is real, 00:34:19.557 --> 00:34:22.393 and it's here, and there's no escaping it. 00:34:28.399 --> 00:34:31.611 - I fell in love with winter at a really young age, 00:34:31.694 --> 00:34:34.447 and my life revolves around winter. 00:34:34.530 --> 00:34:37.408 I started seeing changes to winter 00:34:37.492 --> 00:34:40.453 that coincided with what scientists were talking about, 00:34:40.536 --> 00:34:41.788 that the climate was changing 00:34:41.871 --> 00:34:45.541 and that humans played a huge role in that. 00:34:47.001 --> 00:34:49.378 Those things were just screaming at me, 00:34:49.462 --> 00:34:52.673 and I could not quiet the noise. 00:34:52.757 --> 00:34:54.359 You know, when I started Protect Our Winters, 00:34:54.383 --> 00:34:57.178 I had no idea that the frontlines 00:34:57.261 --> 00:34:59.222 would be here in Washington, D.C., 00:34:59.305 --> 00:35:00.556 but it just became clear 00:35:00.640 --> 00:35:02.517 that real action needs to happen 00:35:02.600 --> 00:35:04.085 at the policy level, at the federal level, 00:35:04.162 --> 00:35:06.690 We represent a huge audience, 00:35:06.773 --> 00:35:08.439 and they want action on this, but we are running out of time. 00:35:11.827 --> 00:35:13.829 I'm like, if we don't have snow, 00:35:16.822 --> 00:35:21.744 and how critical snow is to humanity, 00:35:18.912 --> 00:35:20.497 the least of our problems 00:35:20.581 --> 00:35:23.167 is gonna be that a chairlift isn't spinning. 00:35:25.350 --> 00:35:29.187 The ripple effects on that and the disruption of that... 00:35:29.271 --> 00:35:32.649 I can't even imagine what that means 00:35:32.732 --> 00:35:34.651 on society on a whole. 00:35:36.778 --> 00:35:38.256 The only way I'm looking my kids in the eye 00:35:38.280 --> 00:35:40.657 in 20 years is going, 00:35:40.740 --> 00:35:44.953 "I fought like hell to try to get us on the right path." 00:35:54.087 --> 00:35:56.673 - At this point, there's a lot of concern 00:35:56.756 --> 00:35:58.467 with what we were gonna do 00:35:58.550 --> 00:36:00.802 and how we were going to adjust our plan 00:36:00.886 --> 00:36:04.347 to be able to still have a successful mission. 00:36:08.435 --> 00:36:11.188 - We did a recon skin up valley, 00:36:11.271 --> 00:36:13.023 and walking around, you could tell it was 00:36:13.106 --> 00:36:15.817 so hot, humid. 00:36:20.989 --> 00:36:23.200 - We got a view of Bertha 00:36:23.283 --> 00:36:25.076 and really spent time 00:36:25.160 --> 00:36:26.995 just sitting there watching it. 00:36:30.608 --> 00:36:32.402 - You know, 00:36:31.682 --> 00:36:32.725 - How's it look? 00:36:33.585 --> 00:36:36.755 that summit ridge is, um... 00:36:36.825 --> 00:36:38.160 - That's pretty real. 00:36:38.838 --> 00:36:40.340 that's pretty real right there. 00:36:40.423 --> 00:36:42.342 That is gonna be... 00:36:41.843 --> 00:36:43.929 - Rated R. - Yeah. 00:36:44.012 --> 00:36:45.572 It's really just a matter of what's snow 00:36:45.600 --> 00:36:48.520 - Yeah, hitting, like, unedgeable ice 00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:48.556 and what's white ice. 00:36:48.640 --> 00:36:50.517 Won't know until we're up there. 00:36:51.603 --> 00:36:54.231 on a mountain means you lose your edge 00:36:54.314 --> 00:36:56.900 and accelerate super fast 00:36:56.983 --> 00:36:59.194 and it'd be really hard to catch a fall. 00:36:59.277 --> 00:37:01.071 It's like black ice on the highway. 00:37:01.154 --> 00:37:04.324 - What would it be? 5,000 vert from top to bottom? 00:37:04.407 --> 00:37:06.910 - Nah, it's like 7. - 7? 00:37:07.994 --> 00:37:10.413 - Do we wanna go to the saddle? 00:37:17.462 --> 00:37:19.881 - That serac is insane. 00:37:19.868 --> 00:37:21.995 - It dropped. The temp, just... 00:37:21.965 --> 00:37:23.383 - Yeah, it seems like 00:37:23.466 --> 00:37:25.385 it's pretty cold up there most days. 00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:27.389 getting right here. 00:37:28.765 --> 00:37:30.475 Whoo! 00:37:30.559 --> 00:37:33.436 There's definitely a line that goes. 00:37:33.520 --> 00:37:37.941 - There is a line that goes in that madness. 00:37:38.024 --> 00:37:40.110 Now, that is a mountain. 00:37:46.199 --> 00:37:48.285 Yeah. Serious mountain, man. 00:37:48.368 --> 00:37:51.246 I mean, that's, like, next-level stuff. 00:37:51.329 --> 00:37:53.623 But I think with the current snow situation, 00:37:53.707 --> 00:37:55.917 like, we just gotta put all our attention towards it 00:37:56.001 --> 00:38:00.130 and just... one puzzle piece at a time, 00:38:00.213 --> 00:38:03.508 and we can turn, like, a bunch of noes into yeses. 00:38:03.592 --> 00:38:06.761 We might be able to stand on that thing and ride down it. 00:38:06.845 --> 00:38:08.430 - I mean, there's a shot, for sure. 00:38:08.513 --> 00:38:11.516 If one person's feeling bad, like, turn around. 00:38:11.626 --> 00:38:13.377 a little more scoping down there 00:38:12.700 --> 00:38:13.742 - Yeah, and we should do 00:38:14.561 --> 00:38:17.439 and then really think about timing with the heat. 00:38:17.507 --> 00:38:20.218 Oh, my God! 00:38:18.622 --> 00:38:19.623 - Mm-hmm. 00:38:21.361 --> 00:38:24.323 Oh, my God. - Oh. 00:38:23.401 --> 00:38:25.278 - God! - Look at that thing. 00:38:26.406 --> 00:38:27.532 - Ooh. 00:38:32.203 --> 00:38:34.456 Look at it. - It's still going. 00:38:34.539 --> 00:38:36.207 - That was humbling. 00:38:36.291 --> 00:38:38.460 - That's why we don't hike under seracs. 00:38:38.543 --> 00:38:41.087 - Yeah. - And we give 'em a wide berth. 00:38:41.171 --> 00:38:42.464 - Crazy. 00:38:44.591 --> 00:38:47.135 - What do you guys think about the route up? 00:38:47.220 --> 00:38:49.681 in the twilight, 00:38:49.218 --> 00:38:51.137 - It seems like we have to move 00:38:51.765 --> 00:38:54.601 and that means hiking that thing in the dark. 00:38:57.103 --> 00:39:00.231 That one really narrow, steep section 00:39:00.315 --> 00:39:03.693 just definitely turns my stomach to think about. 00:39:05.445 --> 00:39:08.531 - The earth is just falling away on both sides of you. 00:39:13.286 --> 00:39:16.873 - Due to these, like, extreme, warm temperatures, 00:39:16.956 --> 00:39:20.293 we were only comfortable moving in the mountains, 00:39:20.377 --> 00:39:23.004 like, really early in the morning and late in the day, 00:39:23.072 --> 00:39:24.574 that's when things get really warm 00:39:24.188 --> 00:39:25.248 'cause in the middle of the day, 00:39:25.757 --> 00:39:28.551 and they become very avalanche-prone. 00:39:32.973 --> 00:39:35.892 - We decided it would be best to leave camp in the evening, 00:39:35.975 --> 00:39:39.229 climb the first half of the mountain, 00:39:39.528 --> 00:39:42.447 - We're leaving at 5:00 p.m., which is so counterintuitive, 00:39:41.312 --> 00:39:43.398 have a quick nap at the ridge, 00:39:46.481 --> 00:39:49.401 to the final approach. 00:39:49.531 --> 00:39:50.865 and it's just a matter of time 00:39:50.949 --> 00:39:54.077 before you're engulfed in darkness. 00:39:54.160 --> 00:39:56.204 Are we doing this? - Let's do it. 00:39:58.957 --> 00:40:01.960 Here we go. - Yeah. 00:40:17.809 --> 00:40:20.895 - Snow is firmer than expected. 00:40:20.979 --> 00:40:25.108 Highest altitude we've been at yet this trip. 00:40:25.191 --> 00:40:27.610 It feels good to be up high. 00:40:32.449 --> 00:40:35.618 - Everybody still likes the look of the right ridge, right? 00:40:35.702 --> 00:40:38.037 - We could potentially 00:40:38.121 --> 00:40:42.625 cross the schrund with the debris. 00:40:42.709 --> 00:40:44.210 - Okay. 00:40:45.754 --> 00:40:48.590 - Being in the mountains in the dark 00:40:48.673 --> 00:40:51.259 is... scary. 00:40:53.013 --> 00:40:55.807 you should not be here right now. 00:40:55.052 --> 00:40:56.929 You just get this feeling of, like, 00:40:57.891 --> 00:41:00.143 It's the schrund. 00:41:04.272 --> 00:41:07.192 When you cross the bergschrunds in Alaska... 00:41:07.275 --> 00:41:09.778 That's where the glacier and the mountain meets... 00:41:09.861 --> 00:41:11.279 And you gotta cross this crack, 00:41:11.362 --> 00:41:14.115 and that's generally when things get real. 00:41:26.711 --> 00:41:29.964 - This ridge is safe, right? 00:41:32.091 --> 00:41:35.512 - When in doubt, go right. 00:41:35.595 --> 00:41:39.098 May be a good time to get out one axe. 00:41:39.182 --> 00:41:41.851 - Not the trail that gives you warm and fuzzy feelings. 00:41:43.520 --> 00:41:45.021 45-degree slope that's ice, 00:41:45.104 --> 00:41:48.358 and if you fall, you're... 00:41:48.441 --> 00:41:50.819 yeah, you don't want to fall. 00:41:56.157 --> 00:41:58.243 Boot-packing up this slope 00:41:58.326 --> 00:42:00.703 that was refrozen with a bunch of crevasses 00:42:00.787 --> 00:42:04.499 on the wrong side of darkness 00:42:04.582 --> 00:42:07.127 was by far the sketchiest part of the day. 00:42:08.799 --> 00:42:12.219 Someone could fall several thousand feet. 00:42:10.962 --> 00:42:12.672 You have no idea what's off the back side. 00:42:12.755 --> 00:42:14.715 You don't know if you're walking onto a corner. 00:42:16.302 --> 00:42:19.848 And so you're just gingerly making those last steps 00:42:19.931 --> 00:42:23.560 and hoping that all your guesses are right. 00:42:29.279 --> 00:42:31.531 - Whoo! 00:42:36.614 --> 00:42:39.117 11:30 at night. 00:42:39.200 --> 00:42:42.078 Took us about eight hours to get up here. 00:42:42.161 --> 00:42:44.414 - This is gonna be where I sleep tonight. 00:42:44.497 --> 00:42:45.665 Gonna be a little cold, 00:42:45.748 --> 00:42:47.417 but we're only here for, like, four hours, 00:42:47.500 --> 00:42:50.712 so just enough time to get a little shut-eye, 00:42:50.795 --> 00:42:52.881 make some water, hydrate again, 00:42:52.964 --> 00:42:56.217 and get going for the main objective. 00:42:56.303 --> 00:42:59.890 We can see like the outlines of our surroundings, 00:42:58.301 --> 00:43:00.219 - That was a good push. 00:43:01.973 --> 00:43:05.435 but it'll be an exciting morning. 00:43:11.399 --> 00:43:12.942 When I go on a trip, 00:43:13.026 --> 00:43:15.278 it's like I have my family with me. 00:43:15.361 --> 00:43:18.448 And, you know, I don't hide from that weight, 00:43:18.533 --> 00:43:22.037 it makes for better decision-making. 00:43:20.531 --> 00:43:22.450 and I think, if anything, 00:43:28.708 --> 00:43:30.835 That's why we're so proud of you. 00:43:33.046 --> 00:43:36.090 It's the coolest thing in the world, being a dad. 00:43:36.174 --> 00:43:39.928 We're gonna get dropped off hopefully right here, 00:43:40.011 --> 00:43:41.429 and we'll see when we get there, 00:43:41.512 --> 00:43:44.599 but we'd probably come in right... like this. 00:43:44.726 --> 00:43:47.187 in the 15 years that I've had kids, 00:43:46.682 --> 00:43:48.643 I've done a lot of radical snowboarding 00:43:49.270 --> 00:43:51.522 and it adds weight to it. 00:43:51.606 --> 00:43:55.944 You know, it's not just about me out there now. 00:43:57.153 --> 00:44:01.532 I'm gonna go down on this rock so I can scope everyone. 00:44:01.616 --> 00:44:03.868 Nice! 00:44:06.412 --> 00:44:07.622 Butter 3. 00:44:07.705 --> 00:44:09.165 Now my kids are in the mountains 00:44:09.248 --> 00:44:10.875 and we're in the back country together, 00:44:10.959 --> 00:44:13.753 but we talk real. 00:44:13.836 --> 00:44:15.004 That's a no fall zone. 00:44:15.088 --> 00:44:17.757 No fall zone means no fall, or you die. 00:44:17.840 --> 00:44:21.260 I don't hide them from that. 00:44:34.524 --> 00:44:37.068 I hope to instill in my kids 00:44:37.151 --> 00:44:39.946 that life's this incredible opportunity. 00:44:40.738 --> 00:44:44.492 Find things that you become super passionate about 00:44:44.575 --> 00:44:47.161 and, like, go towards that. 00:44:47.247 --> 00:44:51.001 and get the most out of each day. 00:44:49.245 --> 00:44:51.163 We're not gonna be here forever, 00:45:21.779 --> 00:45:23.614 We're moving by 6:00 a.m. 00:45:23.698 --> 00:45:26.743 We got to the bootpack pretty quickly. 00:45:26.826 --> 00:45:29.787 That entire next section 00:45:29.871 --> 00:45:33.374 was crampons and ice axes. 00:45:33.458 --> 00:45:36.836 We knew we were gonna be facing a lot of variables. 00:45:43.843 --> 00:45:45.428 - Hopefully our timing's right. 00:45:46.929 --> 00:45:50.183 - This is just... 00:45:50.266 --> 00:45:53.144 it's just like disintegrating underneath me. 00:45:58.024 --> 00:46:00.651 - Proper tilt to this thing. 00:46:00.735 --> 00:46:02.487 Holds its pitch. 00:46:05.031 --> 00:46:07.325 - There's definitely ice under there. 00:46:07.408 --> 00:46:09.619 - Yeah, definitely some ice. 00:46:12.663 --> 00:46:16.751 - It's gonna be sketchy on the way down, huh? 00:46:20.505 --> 00:46:23.466 - Oh, yeah. A little firmer. 00:46:23.549 --> 00:46:25.301 - There were some firm spots back there, 00:46:25.384 --> 00:46:27.929 but not this firm. 00:46:28.012 --> 00:46:30.348 Definitely some white ice. 00:46:30.431 --> 00:46:31.557 A little concerned 00:46:31.641 --> 00:46:34.393 about how we were gonna get down that section 00:46:34.477 --> 00:46:38.272 without hitting ice and falling. 00:46:38.356 --> 00:46:40.983 Hoping that the temps warm up just a little bit 00:46:41.067 --> 00:46:43.861 so that that snow is edgeable on my snowboard. 00:46:45.404 --> 00:46:47.657 - We're just getting to the crux. 00:46:47.740 --> 00:46:50.785 Once we get off this little bit, it'll feel way better. 00:46:52.078 --> 00:46:54.163 The last 300 or 400 feet of Bertha, 00:46:54.247 --> 00:46:57.583 it's this really narrow strip that we call the Plank. 00:47:00.294 --> 00:47:03.172 So hot. 00:47:03.256 --> 00:47:05.299 - Holy shit. 00:47:05.383 --> 00:47:07.135 I just went from everything's fine 00:47:07.218 --> 00:47:09.303 to, like, we need to move. 00:47:14.517 --> 00:47:16.602 The Plank is, like, 10 feet wide. 00:47:16.686 --> 00:47:18.729 On your left side, you got a bunch of rocks. 00:47:18.813 --> 00:47:22.859 On your right side, you have 5,000 feet of air. 00:47:22.942 --> 00:47:25.236 You fall anywhere on that, there's no rescue. 00:47:25.319 --> 00:47:26.571 It's just a recovery mission. 00:47:34.120 --> 00:47:35.788 This is real deal. 00:47:37.915 --> 00:47:40.168 To come down this? - Yeah. 00:47:42.420 --> 00:47:44.589 - All of Bertha is a no-fall zone. 00:47:47.800 --> 00:47:51.429 Every step you take has to be a very sure step. 00:47:53.764 --> 00:47:55.516 - The snow gets a little better over here. 00:48:16.037 --> 00:48:17.288 - Whoo! 00:48:19.457 --> 00:48:20.541 - Whoo! 00:48:24.295 --> 00:48:28.382 Holy shit! 00:48:34.639 --> 00:48:36.599 - Yes. - Yes! 00:49:18.391 --> 00:49:20.643 - There's a feeling you can get late in trips 00:49:20.726 --> 00:49:24.855 where you can almost, like, feel the mountain's breath. 00:49:35.574 --> 00:49:37.785 To be able to walk up these mountains 00:49:37.873 --> 00:49:42.169 See every breath of wind and snowflake. 00:49:42.868 --> 00:49:45.162 and to sleep under them... 00:49:55.553 --> 00:49:59.473 The intimacy that you now have with the mountain 00:49:59.557 --> 00:50:01.767 is so much greater. 00:50:05.938 --> 00:50:09.942 These highs are on a totally different level. 00:50:14.822 --> 00:50:17.825 - It makes you feel so small... 00:50:21.704 --> 00:50:23.497 But at the same time, 00:50:23.581 --> 00:50:26.208 so connected to everything around you. 00:50:28.502 --> 00:50:31.589 You feel like you're standing on the edge of the Earth. 00:50:35.468 --> 00:50:39.347 - It's pretty indescribable, 00:50:39.430 --> 00:50:40.848 but you can't forget 00:50:40.931 --> 00:50:43.934 that the most dangerous part is ahead of you. 00:50:47.271 --> 00:50:50.274 - The ice kind of worries me a bit. 00:50:50.358 --> 00:50:52.818 - Well, it should. 00:50:52.902 --> 00:50:55.071 Even though we climbed the line, 00:50:55.154 --> 00:50:57.323 there was so much firm snow 00:50:57.406 --> 00:50:59.575 under the surface that we're like, 00:50:59.658 --> 00:51:01.077 how's this gonna ride? 00:51:01.160 --> 00:51:03.537 We needed to section it out. 00:51:03.621 --> 00:51:06.540 Good in here. You know, speed is your friend. 00:51:06.624 --> 00:51:08.376 And then... - Mm-hmm. 00:51:08.459 --> 00:51:10.252 - Most accidents happen on the way down. 00:51:10.336 --> 00:51:12.046 If one person goes from top to bottom 00:51:12.129 --> 00:51:13.798 and something happens to the next person, 00:51:13.881 --> 00:51:16.884 they're not in a position to provide any rescue. 00:51:16.967 --> 00:51:19.595 And so there was three very natural points 00:51:19.678 --> 00:51:21.597 to stop and regroup. 00:51:26.811 --> 00:51:28.354 Okay. 00:51:28.437 --> 00:51:30.481 Yeah, guys. - Yeah, Elena. 00:51:30.564 --> 00:51:32.691 Whoo! - Whoo! 00:51:33.359 --> 00:51:35.736 - Elena drop in three, two, one. 00:51:35.820 --> 00:51:37.363 - Whoo! 00:51:54.338 --> 00:51:58.008 - Snow's edgeable. Elena clear. 00:51:59.844 --> 00:52:01.053 Yeah, Griff. 00:52:07.893 --> 00:52:09.311 Whoo! 00:52:12.398 --> 00:52:13.399 Nice. 00:52:20.448 --> 00:52:21.991 - Whoo! 00:52:24.285 --> 00:52:26.370 Yeah, team. 00:52:26.454 --> 00:52:29.707 Trending skiers left along this ridge line, 00:52:29.790 --> 00:52:32.126 and then drop and fall line. - Yeah. 00:52:32.209 --> 00:52:36.255 - Watch the rocks on the right. It's gonna be really exposed. 00:52:36.338 --> 00:52:37.756 - Yeah. 00:52:37.840 --> 00:52:39.592 - Griffin dropping. 00:53:12.041 --> 00:53:14.835 - Here the ice is really grippable, 00:53:14.919 --> 00:53:17.838 so you'll have confidence riding with that. 00:53:17.922 --> 00:53:20.341 - So the ice was pretty edgeable? 00:53:20.424 --> 00:53:21.759 - Yeah, for sure. 00:53:21.842 --> 00:53:23.177 - That's good news. 00:53:53.666 --> 00:53:55.459 - Whoo! 00:53:55.543 --> 00:53:58.045 Nice, dude. 00:53:58.128 --> 00:54:00.130 - Elena, the ice is edgeable, 00:54:00.214 --> 00:54:03.050 but the exposure's no joke. 00:54:03.133 --> 00:54:04.885 - Copy that. 00:54:27.908 --> 00:54:29.285 - Oh, yeah! - Whoo! 00:54:32.580 --> 00:54:33.914 Yes, Elena. 00:54:33.998 --> 00:54:35.416 - Heck yeah. 00:54:35.499 --> 00:54:37.835 Thanks. 00:54:37.918 --> 00:54:39.837 - Touching the void. 00:54:41.839 --> 00:54:45.926 Yeah, we need to, uh... evaluate. 00:54:46.010 --> 00:54:49.096 - You guys wanna try to take her all the way down, or... 00:54:49.017 --> 00:54:50.810 - Let's keep this moving. - Yeah. 00:54:51.179 --> 00:54:52.931 - Whoo. - Reset? 00:54:53.015 --> 00:54:54.933 - Yeah, legs are tired. 00:54:54.893 --> 00:54:57.313 - Why don't you guys drop? I'll bring up the rear. 00:54:57.396 --> 00:54:58.897 Link up before those big seracs. 00:54:58.981 --> 00:55:00.149 - Yeah, yeah. - Okay. 00:55:16.165 --> 00:55:18.500 - Yeah, cut left. 00:55:18.584 --> 00:55:21.420 - Griff, snow is good. 00:55:21.503 --> 00:55:22.503 - Copy that. 00:55:29.513 --> 00:55:30.848 - Yeah! 00:55:31.511 --> 00:55:33.430 - Whoo! - Whoo! 00:55:34.433 --> 00:55:37.019 I'm gonna kind of ride more fall line. 00:55:37.102 --> 00:55:40.147 - Yeah. - Okay. Good call. 00:55:40.230 --> 00:55:41.440 Yeah, Jer. 00:56:06.715 --> 00:56:08.550 - Whoo! 00:56:24.191 --> 00:56:25.609 - Yeah! 00:56:26.652 --> 00:56:28.696 - Clear to drop? 00:56:28.779 --> 00:56:31.031 - Elena, it's rippable. Give her. 00:56:31.990 --> 00:56:33.450 - Copy that. 00:57:03.021 --> 00:57:06.942 - Whoo! - Whoo! 00:57:07.025 --> 00:57:08.819 - Whoo! 00:57:08.902 --> 00:57:11.697 - How fun is that? - That was fun. 00:57:11.780 --> 00:57:14.742 The top part was kinda scary. 00:57:14.827 --> 00:57:18.038 - Dude, that is so incredible. 00:57:16.825 --> 00:57:18.744 Oh, yeah, for sure. 00:57:20.122 --> 00:57:23.751 - Just like... surreal. - Totally. 00:57:23.834 --> 00:57:27.838 It's like make believe land. - Make believe land. 00:57:43.562 --> 00:57:47.399 - A lot to be proud of today, ladies and gentlemen. 00:57:51.614 --> 00:57:53.491 and standing on top of it. 00:57:53.570 --> 00:57:55.530 - There's really nothing like climbing a mountain 00:57:55.574 --> 00:58:00.287 That feeling of just complete presence. 00:58:00.370 --> 00:58:03.123 Knowing that you can achieve things 00:58:03.207 --> 00:58:05.375 that you may have not thought possible, 00:58:05.459 --> 00:58:07.252 I think, is like a sense of, like, 00:58:07.336 --> 00:58:09.379 courage and freedom. 00:58:15.010 --> 00:58:17.846 - Packing up. Heading to the ocean. 00:58:17.930 --> 00:58:21.016 - Really excited to see my family. 00:58:21.099 --> 00:58:24.853 But I will always remember this place. 00:58:26.688 --> 00:58:28.690 - Once you're out here, you really settle in 00:58:28.774 --> 00:58:31.193 to this state of presence 00:58:31.276 --> 00:58:34.363 that I think is hard to find in our everyday lives 00:58:34.446 --> 00:58:36.698 just because there's so many distractions, 00:58:36.782 --> 00:58:38.200 and out here, 00:58:38.283 --> 00:58:41.036 we're completely in tune with the mountains 00:58:41.119 --> 00:58:42.871 and our surroundings. 00:58:42.955 --> 00:58:46.583 You definitely find yourself feeling like it's home here. 00:58:48.752 --> 00:58:50.337 - Skiing something from the ocean 00:58:50.420 --> 00:58:51.839 was something I'd never done before, 00:58:51.922 --> 00:58:54.842 and I think 10,200 feet would take it 00:58:54.925 --> 00:58:56.844 as the longest run of my life. 00:58:59.638 --> 00:59:02.516 And knowing that you earned every single foot 00:59:02.599 --> 00:59:06.186 from sea level is pretty rad to know. 00:59:07.771 --> 00:59:10.190 I think that'll make me smile for the rest of my life. 00:59:20.619 --> 00:59:23.038 is where I can kind of go 00:59:22.576 --> 00:59:24.536 - With my snowboard in the mountains 00:59:25.122 --> 00:59:29.126 to this different space, this real special place. 00:59:29.209 --> 00:59:32.379 That's where life feels the most pure, 00:59:32.462 --> 00:59:35.257 the most rich, the most real to me.