Spencer Matthews Finding Michael- anyone watched?

[User339406]

Spencer Matthews went to Everest to try to find the body of his brother who died there 23 years ago.

What a fascinating documentary. I didn't expect it to be.

Parts of it upset me, when they were looking at bodies that weren't his and they just walked off and left them. The number of people who died there and didn't have people who could afford to bring them back.

But then it all sort of redeemed itself in the end.

I would hate to think of my loved one being left there in such horrible conditions but I guess you must understand that risk if you go. Maybe you wouldn't want people to risk their lives for your body, maybe you would want to stay there. I'll never climb Everest so I don't know what that's like.

So interesting to watch though, I'd recommend it.

I watched it enjoyed it but recommend that you watch some of the other documentaries about Everest and the conditions up there. They explain just how difficult and dangerous it is to bring the bodies down due to them being literally frozen into the mountain and the sheer weight of them as well as the perils of surviving in the death zone. And of course the cost of doing so.
A lot of the climbers do say that if anything happened to them they would want to be left there.

I find it fascinating and horrifying at the same time.

There was a long thread about it on here which got very vituperative.

Climbers need to sign something specifying that they would want attempts made to recover their body for repatriation or cremation nearby, but most are realists and opt for their bodies to be left, as it’s so risky to try to get them down. My best friend does extreme ultramarathons in the Arctic, and I know all his arrangements as his emergency contact — such people aren’t sentimental...

@GonksHaveNoEyes are there any documentaries about Everest or the Sherpas that you would recommend. Watched Finding Michael tonight with DH and DD3. Can't say I enjoyed it but it's worth watching. Would like to know more about Everest

there's one just called Sherpa (Netflix) I also recommend Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air about the 1996 season. Some criticise it as one sided but it's a good place to start.

Ultimate Survival Everest is good. Also Death Zone where some Sherpas attempt to clean up some of the rubbish left on the mountain and 14 Peaks is worth a watch.

I haven't watched it yet but it's definitely on my list. As a climber myself and know many climbers that are far more experienced than I am, if you're the type of person that wants to attempt Everest, a lot of the time you're also the kind of person who would be happy to be buried there. If I climbed it (dream but probably never a reality) and I didn't make it, I'd be so happy to be left there rather than cremated or buried in the back of a church I don't go to or some other place that isn't significant. I think it's a climber thing.

Also Lost in Everest’s Death Zone - Michael Matthews doc on YouTube gives a lot more detail of what actually happened.