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ExplorersWeb interview with Trynt Young, an Everest 'Survivor'
11:31 a.m. EDT Jun 6, 2003
ExplorersWeb caught up via telephone with Trynt Young in Kathmandu, fresh off the heels of her recent summit on Everest. Trynt was a former contestant on Global Extremes, the ‘Everest Survivor show,’ where 50 contestants started off last autumn competing with one another for 5 coveted spots to climb Mount Everest.
Trynt was one of the nine finalists that made it all the way to Iceland, the last stop before Everest in a series of competitions held in various locations throughout the world. It was there that in 'survivor' fashion her teammates voted her off the television show and the Everest team. What made Trynt different from all the others eliminated before her was that she wasn’t going to let a setback like this keep her away from Everest.
ExWeb: So, how did you end up going to Everest after getting voted off Global Extremes?
Trynt: After I got voted off we were all out that evening and I had approached Russell and asked him what the best way to get to Everest was. I asked, “What would you recommend at this point to do it the right way?” He suggested going to do Cho Oyu with him in October and then doing Everest a year from now, and I said ok.
And then later on that night I kept talking to him and we were talking about being voted off and making plans for Cho Oyu, and he just blurted out, “You can come to Everest with me now, this time!” I said ok, I’m there. We talked about it the following morning, just to make sure that he meant it and I double-checked with him, asked if he had any qualms with taking me. He said none, whatsoever, and we made the arrangements.
I sat in on the meeting with the GE team and they had no idea why I was there, and I came home for a one and a half weeks and then left for Everest.
Russell Brice is the owner of a commercial guiding outfit. This season he arranged the logistics for the Global Extreme’s team as well as ran his own separate commercial Everest expedition – both on the North Side of Everest
ExWeb: How did it feel when you finally made it up there to the top?
Trynt: I felt incredulous actually, I was kind of subdued. We had turned back once, Dorji and I, because of the wind, it was my decision. And as we got close to the second step going back down I though to myself, this is crazy, I’m so close and we turned back around. So we went up and looked, and by the time we got back up, the winds had kind of died back down a bit, so we went for it. As soon as we got into the dihedral leading up to the summit ridge, it was calmer. So at that point I thought, oh my gosh I am going to make it!
By the time I got to the last few steps I was absolutely incredulous.
I sat up there and it didn’t even start to sink in until days after. I just remember sitting up there and thinking, gosh I’m on top of Mount Everest. I was feeling quite unbelieving and amazed that I had made it, although I was so focused and intent all day.
Once I got down to base camp I was kind of elated for a few days. And now I’m back in Kathmandu it’s kind of like life as usual.
ExWeb: How did the Global Extremes team react when they heard you made it?
Trynt: Everyone was really cool about it. Lots of congratulations, people said I did it the right way - everyone was gracious and congratulatory. I certainly saw the irony in what had happened, but didn’t want to rub it in anyone’s face. Especially since I felt really bad for those guys after they lost their first summit bid. So, it was kind of ironic that I made it before them, after people had been vocal about my lack of ability and speed.
I didn’t lower myself into getting back at them or anything like that. It’s funny because I was thinking later, the comments that everyone made on TV had nothing to do with me getting to the top, but I do think that they had something to do with making sure I did things right.
ExWeb: What do you mean?
Trynt: Having someone tell me on national TV that I had no place being on Everest, that I was going to have to be rescued. I was pretty determined that if things weren’t going well for me that I would not screw up and need to be rescued.
I felt confident, but it probably moved the line a little closer to the side of caution as to when I was going to turn around. I was even more motivated not to put myself into a position where everyone would say; we knew she would have to be rescued. I was more willing to err on the side of caution because of the show.
ExWeb: While you were climbing Everest, when were you most scared?
Trynt: Two times, both on summit day, one was when I turned around because of the wind. It was so strong at one point, it was blowing tennis ball sized rocks up the slope. It was amazing it was so strong. One team passed me at that point, I think it was the UK guys and I thought, you know, it’s just not that bad. And then we just went ahead with the intent to go as far as we could in the wind. I don’t think Dorji was too worried about the wind, it was me.
The second time I was really scared was on the way down, rapping off the second step, Those ropes, I just didn’t trust ‘em, even the new ropes, there were so many, and so many were frayed. I choose the ones that looked the best, but they all looked weathered because of the wind. When you rap off the second step as you go over the lip of the rock, you are right over the north face. I just didn’t like that. I prefer to climb up things; I don’t like the rapping off. It would have been hard to down-climb though.
ExWeb: Now that you’ve been on one, what are your views on the ‘survivor type shows,’ would you do it again?
Trynt: I would do it again for the experience and the travel in a heartbeat. I would not do it again for the game. It was lame, the way we voted each other off. I am really, really happy in retrospect that I made the summit, because the show itself was not that great for my confidence level. I always thought that I was in shape and fast, racing mountain bikes and been doing well, placing and wining a lot.
I came into Global Extremes thinking I was strong, and with that crowd I felt, just, out of shape and old and slow. The show gave people personalities and edited it around those personalities. I have never had feedback that I was a whiner, or slow, or a complainer, and that was what I was getting from the show.
ExWeb: Is that how you saw yourself on the show?
Trynt: Not how I saw myself, but how they seemed to edit the show, and how I came across on the show, it was kind of weird.
ExWeb: What was it like down in Base Camp this season?
Trynt: It was fun, I liked it. To me it was a real opportunity to meet a lot of great people and have fun. How often are you in some place where there are people from all over the world with the same interests and a lot of time on their hands? It was great, we’d all visit each other, go down to yak town and have beers and pancakes.
It was great having the Global Extremes team there too. Had a lot of good friends on that team, the production crew and Petit. The people on our Himex team were great too. As a whole the people there were amazing. I was in tears leaving, saying goodbye’s to everyone.
ExWeb: Did you have a favorite team down in Base Camp?
Trynt: It would be hard to say, I made so many good friends. The Swiss guys were amazing; the Irish team was very entertaining. It was lots of fun hanging out with IMG and there was a small British team was right next to our camp. I really couldn’t pick a favorite team. There were so many amazing people.
ExWeb: So now that you’ve climbed Mount Everest, what’s next for you?
Trynt: Just to go home and get back into my life, go back to work. I am thinking about doing Denali next June with a North Col climber I met on Everest. In the meantime, I’ll be doing a lot of ski mountaineering in the Sierras. I do feel inspired to get back into rock climbing. I used to climb a lot.
Exweb: Thanks Trynt, do you have any final words you’d like to share?
Trynt: Just that I am glad I didn’t listen to everyone that said I couldn’t do it. I knew at the start of Global Extremes that I had it in me, and I am really happy I didn’t let all that talk go to my head and I stuck to what I felt I could do.
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