Spencer Matthews: Finding Michael *MNHQ adding spoiler alert on this one*

I also found the initial conversation with the brother of the dead Sherpa a bit odd.

" if we don't find my brother, we'll look for yours"

Seems maybe that conversation could have waited until they had concluded Michael couldn't be found.

I found this really strange and quite hurtful initially, but I've realised it was because they only had one more run at the mountain and the search, so for the team to come down and then go back up for the other body when they'd exhausted their search for Michael would have put them at more risk so they needed a clear plan beforehand and the permission of the family that they would want that. So in that respect it made sense just a bit brutal though. I imagine it would have been strange watching another family have the emotional reaction that you wanted for your family. I found it odd that he hadn't considered the impact on his family if he didn't find the body he seemed a bit maybe naieve in that respect or like he hadn't fully thought it through if it didn't go to plan.

@Lavender14 yes, I understand it was those logistics that made it a bit of a jarring conversation. But yes, I can see it had to be that way.

The returning of the Sherpas body still doesn't sit well with me. I don't think they really considered the impact on the Sherpas family and whether this would be in their best interests (which I don't particularly think it was, per my post above). I feel it was done so that the search for Michael wasn't in vain. So that they could still say they achieved something.

I actually liked it and thought it was moving. Particularly the side by side footage with his brother's journey.

I watched Sherpa after this and apparently if the body isn't recovered they believe that the soul cannot be reincarnated/move on to Nirvana so, knowing this, I think it is actually a good thing that they brought him down. Agree though that the way it was filmed was quite jarring - I definitely thought that it is quite uncomfortable that they could have given them hope and then not ended up doing it.

This is what I posted on the telly addicts thread...

It felt very much like two programmes joined into one.
the first half was absolutely stunning. The way they had the footage of Michael and replicating exactly with Spencer and interspersed with the interviews with the other climbers was brilliant. I actually wish they’d shown more of their reactions after it was confirmed they hadn’t found Michael.

then when it became apparent that they wouldn’t be able to find him (even before they set off beyond base camp) it felt so intrusive. I’m gobsmacked that allegedly Disney hadn’t blurred the bodies and I really hated the scene talking to the Sherpa’s mum where she broke down, and also the scene with his daughter crying. It felt overly personal and intrusive for that poor family.

I do think that Spencer had been over romanticising the whole thing and hadn’t really truly understood the scale of the mountain and the number of bodies. I hope that he’s had some counselling because that must have opened up huge trauma memories for him.

there were a few odd things though.

a). If the footage was readily available of Mike on his climb, I find it weird that 24 years later Spencer had never seen it. Surely the first thing you would do is give a copy of any film footage and photos to a family after they got back so they could see for themselves?

b). If the Matthew recieved the photo in 2017, why did it take so long to go to Everest to try and find the body? Surely waiting 4-5 years would be a huge issue in terms of snow fall/body decomposing? Also wouldn’t Spencer have needed to train for the climb? It felt very much like “see you later darling, I’m just heading out to climb a mountain…”

c). The Bear Grylls but was remarkable. What school would be so insensitive that they would invite a man to come in an do a talk about climbing Everest when one of the pupils in that room had a brother who had died during the exact same thing? Surely the teachers would have known that?????

The bear grylls bit shocked me too! Like he had to eat his words after claiming a glory which wasn’t his?!

@Potatomashed I just find it hard to believe that any school could be cruel enough to invite someone into talk about climbing Everest in front of a pupil who had experienced an immediate family member's death doing the same thing. It stuns all reason

The documentary didn't really cover the environmental and problematic issues that are a concern about the Everest tourism. There are lots of other documentaries out there about it which I've found fascinating. One on Netflix is called "Death Zone" and is all about sherpas doing a clean-up operation, I'd highly recommend it. The key issues that the Everest tourism is causing are:

• the amount of litter/waste that is left. Thousands of abandoned tents, human waste, gas cannisters, clothing etc. There is zero effort put in by the excursion companies to ensure that everyone who is taking this stuff up the mountain brings it back down again. The responsibility then lies with the Nepalese government to form clean-up operations which costs money and risk lives.
• the (many) dead bodies are (slowly) decomposing on the mountain. That's tainting the water supply that feeds into the Khumbu drinking water
• The quantity of people who climb the mountain is rising year-on-year. This causes pressure on the Nepalese infrastructure and threatens the health of the local people.

Very uncomfortable with the "othering" of sherpas on this thread.

I watched it and thought it was excellent.

Although it became very apparent as soon as he got there that it was highly unlikely that they would find Michael. It was just so long ago.

Who had sent them the pic believing it was Michael? Was there not a way they could have just got in contact with a few highly trained Sherpas who had climbed the mountain many times who could have very quickly told him that this was not in fact Michael - the way they did so quickly once they had arrived.
I know that is over simplified but jeez if they could do a documentary and have Spencer there for weeks doing nothing then surely they would have had the ways and means to contact a few sherpas to simply ask. Their knowledge of the mountain and the bodies was incredible.

I listen to Spencer and Vogue's podcast (thank God this is an anonymous forum!) and I am sure he has said that he was having therapy for his complete lack of empathy...might go some way to explaining why he was so oblivious to the fact that not bringing Michael home may have hurt his family.
Although to me it never really occurred to him that he wouldn't find him. All the "its an impossible task" to me seemed like it was hype to the camera - he very, very much believed that it was a very possible task.

He was alot more likeable on this than on his pod. I find when he talks about his brother it is the once time when he is truly humble and I feel for him and 10 year old Spencer so much. The loss is so evident.

I genuinely have had to make a new account on here so that I have somewhere to voice my opinions on this documentary.

YANBU. But you should probs watch to form your opinion.

I have many reasons why I found it bizarre:

• he left his wife with a newborn baby and two very young children to go to Nepal for weeks.
• when in Nepal he sat on the gravel at the bottom of the mountain for days on end, trying to contact the Sherpa’s about their progress on a walky talky which was too far out of range.
• I don’t believe for a second anyone believed they could recover Michael. I also can’t imagine the state that he would have been in and actually what that would have done to the family to have seen him look like that - there’s images on google of the bodies and some are quite harrowing. I think they always planned to bring down the other body.
• he came across as extremely entitled. I understand the Sherpa are paid etc but the programme made it feel exploitive (although since having a nosy on IG since watching I’ve fallen in love with one of them a little bit!)
• I really struggle to understand why rich people feel the desire to engage in such activities. If you’re in somewhere called the death zone and require oxygen, but even with o2 you’ll die pretty quickly - WHY ARE YOU THERE? The amount that had children and have passed away on this completely unnecessary task (maybe that’s just me though because I’m a massive wimp)
• I know they did bring down a body in the end but I found it quite upsetting from when they left the first body. Bypassing someone else’s loved one feels wrong (I know they can’t possibly bring them all down)
• the ending with the girl crying was horrible and again, the mountaineering brings in a lot of money to area but at what price?

All of that being said, I did actually find it enjoyable and learned loads googling after!

Side note: their pronunciation of Gigi wound me up.

Good point, I hadnt even thought of this

I think that at this point a prerequisite of anyone summiting Everest should be bringing a body back with them. Anyone attempting to summit Everest is an egomaniac, we shouldn't be applauding them.

There were some parts that didn’t make sense to me - like the fact they go all the out out there, trek for days to base camp, on the back of a single photograph, only to show it to the Sherpas there and they immediately say nope, that’s X. Base camp has wifi, email - could they not have emailed the photo over and asked that questions BEFORE arranging it all?? There are a number of extremely experienced and well resourced commercial teams (Himex and Adventure Consultants come to mind particularly) who have people up and down that mountain, every year, laying the ropes, clearing the route every season (of bodies as well) - would it not have made more sense to ask them first??!!

Also, when they were checking MH the bodies, it made me think about the families of those bodies - what if that was your loved one, you had no idea where they were until this documentary and then suddenly, this team has found them…and then left them there! They rule the bodies out as Michael, but was any effort made to ID them for the sake of others? Other families who may have welcomed the opportunity or knowledge of exactly where their loved one is lying. If they do it’s not shown.

Like a PP, I think it became clear as soon as they got to base camp that they were not going to find him. So why risk more lives sending people up there to literally poke around in the snow on the off chance they might find a body that’s been unsighted for over 20yrs??