HORRIFYING Mountain Stories 

Hey everyone! If you enjoy this video and want me to cover any stories that you think would fit this series, reply to this comment with your suggestions! Thank you all for watching!

Third Man Syndrome is quite fascinating. It is not that they cannot survive without it, it is their own minds grappling with the fact that they need someone else there to motivate them, so their normally internal thoughts take on an external form to become this motivator. It can only give advice that they themselves know, but in the moment it feels like they did not know it.

Third man factor has also been reported by race car drivers. Dale Ernhart Jr swore that he felt someone pull him out of a wrecked car that was burning, but video and witnesses all saw him climb out. Honestly, you could probably do a whole series on auto racing disasters and near misses.

I would love to hear more Third Man Factor stories. There are very few of them on RU-vid. It's fascinating

You are the only channel I watch for this type of content. Other channels have sensationalized content, classic "Top 10" style of editing with very excited voiceover and stock photos that don't make sense or don't match the location. Yours are realistic and the explanation of gear and techniques is technically accurate. You explain technical topics without losing novices and without boring those with knowledge of the field. Your voice is calm and very nice to listen to. Also, your VO is very well written, and it never sounds like you're trying to make a cringy WatchMojo video.

My grandfather told me when he got lost while in Korea looking for a comrad who had not returned (during the Korean war), he nearly entered a clearing when heard his friend say "I am coming, turn around and follow your muddy steps back to camp". He returned to camp and asked where his friend was as he expected him to return and that is when they told him that his friend had been killed, found in the clearing that was a mind field and they had recovered his body before my grandfather even made it to the area. Makes you wonder.

I've experienced the third man factor when I got into trouble my first time kayaking. I probably wouldn't have died, but I definitely would have needed rescuing if the voice hadn't been there to tell me how to get myself out of the situation. Simultaneously very comforting and terrifying.

I would love it if you covered the story of Scott Adamson. He disappeared climbing Ogre II in Pakistan a few years ago. I only met him a couple of times, but he was my husband’s cousin. Such a neat dude 💛

Crazy that the Transworld Snowboarding article doesn’t mention the very distinct possibility that the figure the sherpas saw 1300 meters below them was Marco dying of exhaustion and sliding down the face of the mountain, and instead lists two less likely scenarios and mentions the fact that his sister apparently believes he is alive in Tibet somewhere, which is impossible.

4:57 - I learned something tonight. The Third Man Factor. I've had that and it was so comforting I'll always remember it. I had anxiety (luckily outgrew it) as a young kid but didn't know what it was. Sometimes it was all I could do to stay in school and not want to come home. One time when I was ready to have a tears breakdown, a man's voice came into my head and it was just comforting and it felt like a secure rope to my life and diminished my anxiety a lot. The voice sounded similar to Dana Hersey, who was a tv broadcaster out of Boston at the time. It worked so well I never forgot it, and I sometimes talk to myself in my head as third person when I've encountered dangerous situations throughout my life. I thought I was a weirdo and never brought it up to anyone LOL - now I know there's something out there that's at least similar others have experienced. That's really neat!

Interesting to see that at a certain point some people value more an accomplishment than their own life. Great video as always, thanks for the explanations.

Maybe when you cover the first few stories of Everest and K2, I think it would be nice to mention how important the Sherpas jobs are. Too many times their work goes unnoticed in these stories. They are the ones who carry the gear and set up the lines for the climbers to transverse to the submit.

Your story telling is so much better than others. A very clear, relaxing voice to listen to. Other youtubers (I won't name names) are starting to just get ''too into it'', if that makes sense...added noises (and very repeated in most videos), sensationalized version of the story (i.e. with some details we can't possibly know)...well done and congrats on the quick growth of your channel, you deserve it!

The small side picture of the “American Rockies” at 1:22 in the corner is actually a picture of the Canadian Rockies specifically of Moraine Lake in Banff national park.

An interesting tidbit I read in a paper is that above 6000m, the partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere is the same as the ideal in your blood. This means that above 6000m, it's physically impossible to saturate your blood with oxygen. I assume this is why acclimatization can only get you so far.

Green Boots had a friend for awhile. David Sharpe died in that cave too. There's another interesting Everest story. David tried climbing Everest on his own and Russell Brice's team got criticized for not helping him. He wasn't on Russell's team. Russell has never lost anyone from his guide service. Russell knows how to run a Everest guide service.

i remember when i lived in colorado, our family use to hike up the mountains. i stepped off the edge of the mountain, past these ropes blocking it (for obvious reasons) and started sliding down and below me it looked like a deep abyss of trees tens of thousands of feet below me. i managed to catch myself and climb back up but damn that was scary. i was about 10 or 11 at the time so i didn't realize how dangerous it was to go past those ropes, or what purpose they served.

I find the Third Man syndrome interesting. However, what is the difference between that experience and the voices that many others have heard when they were in dire straits? For example, people travelling may hear a voice telling them to take another road, only to learn later of a disaster on the road they were going to take. These voices are often attributed to angels, so maybe that's why they're discounted compared to the Third Man stories. But just as often, people will just say they heard a voice. They don't know who or what it is. For the most part, I think these voices are a way for our mind to cut out all the extraneous clutter when we're in an emergency, and help us focus on things we already know or pay closer attention to our environment. But other times, who knows? I look forward to more entries in this series.

As a mountaineer, it scares me when I hear your stories but they are also a good sense of knowledge and learning from peoples past mistakes! I love your channel.

I think the stories where we just never find the person's body are among the most haunting. That last image of (possibly?) Marco sliding down a slope and then just...vanishing is really spooky

I didn't know it's called the third man factor in english, i always read about it as just this presence or companion. Our famous climber Krzysztof Wielicki mentioned this during his mad accomplishment when he soloed broad peak in one day. He mentions that there just was this presence following him, and he was really chill about them. Also in Elisabeth Revol's book she mentions it during her descent from Nanga - that this presence was messing with her and convinced her to take off her boot. As a doctor it's always both fascinating and scary seeing what our brain is doing on high altitudes with lack of oxygen. A doctor in my hospital who accompanied some himalayan expedition did some research on the topic, and it's just wild, how we can be unable to do just the most basic and simple things in those conditions - and obv the fact that it's so demanding and hard work to even get up there is not helping. I have mad respect for mountain climbers, but i'm not going anywhere near that height ever XD

I did hear of a Third Man story where a woman woke up one day with a voice in her head telling her she had a brain tumor and needed to see a doctor. At first she thought she was going crazy, as did her husband and the doctor she saw. Until eventually she *insisted* on getting a brain scan, and shockingly, she *did* have a brain tumor. After the surgery, the voice even said goodbye to her. I'm not a spiritual or religious person, by any means. With the climbers, the voice can be easily explained away as their conscience, stuff they already knew. But that woman has no way of knowing she had a brain tumor. The brain is a powerful thing, and there's lots that we don't know about it, sure. But idk, it makes you wonder.

Ah yes, nothing better then doing homework while listening to scary interesting explain horrible tragedies

I love the level of detail that you put into these videos and how you care to explain various concepts related to the event, I think it really makes the story more comprehensive and enjoyable. I'm a med student and that explanation of altitude sicknes was perfect. Even though it was a summarized version, the fact that you cared to explain how athmosferic preasure affects hematosis, and the phisiological reactions to low oxigen levels demonstrates the amount of research that you put into your work. Great video!

A story I've always wanted to hear: the ascents of the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat. It's the tallest mountain face in the world and 31 people died trying to climb it before the first successful ascent. To put that in perspective, 6 people died trying to climb The Eiger before the first successful ascent. The Eiger's north face is widely considered to be one of the most dangerous routes in mountain climbing. Who the hell were these people trying to climb the Rupal Face? How insane do you have to be to try that when literally no one has done it and many have died? I am so curious to hear about these stories, but I basically can't find any info about it online. It's like those people never existed.

LFG!!! Love all the vids but especially enjoy the mountain ones, Hope your channel grows expeditiously

So cool that you are covering Marco"s story, i read his story in an old Transworld Snowboarding Magazine (I think) and was quite moved by it. It always amazed me that his story never went more mainstream and has never been covered more! Great work with new series, I'm all in!

I’ve been unpacking and moving into a new place over the past few days, and your videos have been brilliant to have on in the background. Thank you for all the effort you put into these, you’re a fantastic storyteller!

My uncle and his wife were snowboarding and got caught in an avalanche. He had a compound femur fracture and my aunt put a tourniquet around it and bc they never arrived to pick up their kids from school, rescuers were sent out and they both lived and my uncle recovered

Greenboots isn’t there anymore. He was moved during the cleanup, if I remember correctly. Sharp and Mallory are the only two bodies very high up left. And maybe Irvine.

CRAZY about the Rockies first story - I'm James and I went scrambling with my buddy Rich a few days ago near where the narrator mentioned. Gnarly rockfall sliced his calf and gave a severe contusion to his leg - any different and it would've shattered his leg and we had no service and 6km down very steep scree before getting near the roadway. Mountains are very unforgiving of any mistake!

I grew up in Alaska, and one of the field trips my 7th grade class took as a hike up a mountain that, once we reached the peak, allowed us to look down upon my entire hometown. It was incredibly awe-inspiring, and I'd love to take up hiking/mountaineering again, but I'm in OK rn and can't handle the heat. I've never experienced anything as clear as a voice, but I'm fully convinced that the land itself communicates with us in ways we don't fully understand. If you listen, you're much less likely to die out there. The Earth is alive beneath our feet and will continue to be here long after we're gone.

Climbing Everest is Playing Russian Roulette, if you survive you loose a few fingers or toes, if you dont survive you can be gone forever, great story loved listening.

I’m in college working towards a psychology degree and to me the third man factor is one of the most interesting psychological phenomena I’ve heard of. The fact that the brain can push through it’s own trauma and a person’s decision to give up to give practical and rational advice is amazing. It also shows how our willingness to listen to help from others is stronger than our own will to keep going sometimes because it is experienced as a completely external person from the person experiencing it. It’s fascinating thinking about the ways this little cheat to make people work to live even when all seems hopeless may have evolved in humans, either biologically/physiologically or psychologically/socially and the fact that it is a shared experience across time and culture. God I love the way humans work, we are such weird creatures and I’m happy to be here to observe it

Imagine being a ghost on Everest. People stopping by and saying hello to you, but not much else. And just sitting there waiting for time to end. Assuming they even know they are dead, and don't believe they are having a strange dream.

Just in case anyone is unsure about where exactly this channel is heading, I can help you out. It's headed to the top. The very top. Congratulations on your success Scary Interesting, you absolutely deserve it! Please don't stop anytime soon!

I had this ‘third man’ experience when i skied into a tree a dozen years ago. I partially crushed 5 vertebrae. I was upside down in a tree well facing away from the tree. I tried to call the ski patrol and a voice told me that I had to self rescue. I always thought it was a supernatural connection with my mother in law who passed away at the same time that I hit the tree. It’s helpful to know there’s a name for this experience. I argued with the voice and the voice won. It saved my life.

How does a guy with a back broken in two places AND internal bleeding get up, much less walk??????

Maybe you could do a series of polar explorers? Like Shackleton, or Tom Crean? Maybe the elephant Island case?

Your prononciation of Aiguille du Midi is spot on 👌🏻 It's rare to see people actually put effort into learning how to say names right :>

For more context, there's also Alpine style climbing where you basically just haul ass to the top by yourself with minimal equipment. If you are climbing with equipment and staying at camps, sometimes you have to climb up and back DOWN to previous camps to acclimatize before pushing for the summit. 8000m climbers are crazy

I have gotten so sick of Mr. Ballen and I haven’t been able to find anyone I like who tells stories on here without completely embellishing stories to the point they’re barely recognizable and just straight lies. I’m so glad I found you!! You also have an amazing speaking voice which is something else hard to find on here it seems lol. You tell so many interesting stories, thank you 🙏🏻❤ I’ve been binge watching your videos for hours and even got my husband addicted 😂

I had never heard of the Third Man Syndrome, but it makes a lot of sense. Across time and culture we have seen similar concepts with different names, the bicameral mind, tulpas, spirit guides, even imaginary friends. Twice I've been pushed to my absolute limit through injury or illness and that's when an imaginary entity will appear to comfort and guide me.

I dig this new series a lot, dude. I look forward to more from you. I’ve yet to be anything but impressed, intrigued or some combination thereof. Thank you for how you do what you do.

Rainbow Valley has always been such an intriguing part of Mt Everest to me. In fact it's what got me so interested in learning everything I can about mountain climbing and mountain climbers. You did an incredible job explaining Everest and the base camps along the way. Can't wait to see what other videos you upload!

Sean is one of the best writers on youtube: concise narratives with no fluff, filler or sensationalising - just facts, concisely, clearly and chronologically presented. An excellent channel, highly recommend. Thanks Sean.

I’ve never heard of Rainbow Valley but that’s so interesting! The fact that climbers use dead bodies as land marks is oddly fascinating.

I love these so much , please do more stories about national parks or forested areas in general.

for the record... Mt Everest doesn't necessarily have the most deaths because it has the most people attempting it. It has the most deaths because it has become a business taking anyone that wants to and has enough money to be "guided" to the summit. It is a sad state of affairs and has highly diminished the accomplishment of climbing it. As always, excellent work. Your narrative is fantastic. As an experienced rock and ice climber, backcountry telemark skier and scuba diver I find everything pretty spot on.

I'm not a climber, caver, diver, etc. but I do have extensive experience with extreme endurance sports sometimes even at a professional level. These extreme endurance sports are SIGNIFICANTLY more complex than they seem on the surface. There are many channels on RU-vid that attempt to do what you are doing with your videos, but I have yet to come across one that actually takes their time to do the necessary research and know what they're talking about in order to do justice to the activities that you're covering. I wish for your continued success! edit: typos

I'd love to hear a series about bodysuit gliders or base jumpers.

What if you called them cliffhangers? Like a story and mountain. Just a thought. Youd probably want to keep mountain stories in the title for search results and the algorithm, but it could be a cool series name.

Sean, I've been watching a lot of your videos lately along with other channels that cover similarly grim topics and fates (Dark History, Fascinating Horror, The Raven's Eye, Disasterthon, etc.). Your channel definitely has more of a focus on adventure gone awry and human vs. nature (e.g. caving or climbing), with the occasional "horrible fates" thrown in for good measure. Some common themes I see in all of these channels is the need to have empathy for others, to never take life for granted, to never cut corners when it comes to safety, and to be grateful for what we have. Thanks for your hard work and keep it up!

Great video, Sean, as always. You presented a great primer on what climbers face at high altitudes. One thing you touched on was a of feeling warmth that can happen to climbers. I thought I would share my experience and practice in being board certified in Anesthesia to expand on this feeling of warmth a bit. When the body gets cold, it will protect it’s core for as long as possible. This happens by muscles in arteries that contract and limit blood flow to limbs, skin and the periphery in general. As the cold continues, these small involuntary muscles will fatigue and begin to fail. As the arterial muscles fail, warmer core blood floods into the periphery where sensors in the skin will begin to feel warm once again. This is why some will be seen removing gloves and even parkas in response to this flood of warmer blood.

Excellent I have 20 minutes left of my lunch and this is a little over 17 mins. Perfect.

The 26,000 foot camp on Everest is so high and so cold that there is only one McDonalds and two Starbucks. And three nail salons.

Seriously love this, another banger as usual. One thing that I’d love to be included are more in depth outcomes. In the first story I’d love to have heard if he recovered or ever climbed again etc. Always enjoy when you include that. Thanks again!

35 seconds ago, awesome! Thanks for your great content.

You are very good at telling these stories in an easy to understand way, with unbiased facts, while still managing to maintain the suspense. This is my new favorite channel.

Yo no joke I had Third Man Syndrome on a hike through the desert absolutely blasted on psychedelic mushrooms and I felt like I was sailing on a ship! This homie was me but wasn't, he knew what to do and how to act. And he had a mullet lol.

It is great to see how every episode becomes better quality. And that the stories are still so interesting.

Another great mountaineering video!! You give all good context and information, which as you said helps add to understanding why the situations are so dire. I enjoyed your explanation of the Rainbow Valley - I have heard about green boots before, but I had no idea there were so many unknown dead people on the mountain in that one area. I kind of thought they were scattered around. I remember you did 2 videos on The Eiger ("Murder Wal") - were there any successful attempts? I would love to hear more, I think of all your mountain videos those were my favourite :D I would also be really interested in the mountaineering stories of mountains like Denali (I believe in Alaska?), that are maybe not as well known as Mt Everest but are home to conditions that make the climb just as (if not more) challenging. I would also be very interested in the adventures of those like Ernest Shackleton - those early arctic and Antarctic expeditions are always so fascinating, and would be a good story in your hands.

Your attention to detail and the way you narrate your stories is absolutely the best of the best. I’ve honestly never heard anyone better, Thoroughly love getting notifications

SUPER excited to hear more technical mountain climbing stories! I LOVE your diving ones and love learning things while hearing the stories.

Thank you for these excellent documentaries. This one about mountain incidents also includes mini lessons on mountaineering basics and general trivia about the extreme sport. I love the voice, style and calm background music that doesn't distract from the narrator. Keep up the great work!

I regularly forget how new your channel is because everything about it and you come across as a seasoned professional. Im always delighted to see a new video of yours as they all live up to the name of being both scary and also really interesting too. Youve hit it right in the perfect spot from the start.

This has quickly become one of my favorite channels. You deliver the facts, giving us a detailed timeline of events while not wasting time on nonsense. Your voice and cadence is perfect for this as well. Great work, you're doing amazing.

I absolutely love your videos man. The meticulous way you discuss and cover subjects on your channel is nothing short of admirable. I can tell that you don't cut corners when it comes to talking about the unfortunate souls who lost their life in pursuit of their passion. To many RU-vidrs do a blanketed take on a subject matter without getting all the details. And even some details wrong. Everyone slips up but they do it to often. Without any care or seemingly desire to even cover the topics themselves. Just wanted to say your hard work doesn't go unappreciated. Keep up the good work. I've been here from the beginning and I hope there isn't an end in sight for your content. Keep up the good work.

Deeply grateful for this third-man phenomenon snippet. Only now, after 40 yrs, am I learning about what happened to me back then, when I heard this voice in a very stressful situation--lost in the mountains--but didn't make much of it as there wasn't much to go by. It's changed my life completely, effectively putting an end to my unreasonable bouts of juvenile bravado. In my case it didn't come in articulate words, but through some kind of vehement unitary injunction not to waste, or risk, my life like that again, as it it very precious and must be treasured. Again, no distinct words, but just a flux of overwhelming meaning delivered through a punch in my eardrum. The most important is that it pierced through my flesh like a semantic backbone and its echo has been with me ever since.

Notification gang. Your videos are friggen awesome man

I love your channel! I have been to Nepal and your gifted story telling brings me from the comfort of my home back to one of the world's coolest places. Thank you for doing this, it's so fun and I look forward to each new upload. I am interested in adventures from all over the globe, and your narration is perfect to describe these epic journeys brave souls have taken.

Thanks Sean, this was definitely worth the wait, absolutely loved this vid, an awesome extension to your repertoire! 👍

Loving the content, keep it up!

K2 disaster in 2007 is very interesting, especially considering that most of them had cameras on them videoing what was happening.

Loved this story! When you mentioned Shackelton, I was hooked. I love expedition type stories! Thank you so much for this incredible content.

I found your channel a few days ago and have now binged almost every video. The stories are all fascinating and great to listen to while doing work!

Great as always! If you ever want a break from the usual ice and snow maybe look into the Superstition Mountains in Arizona- quite the opposite climate-wise of the mountains you've covered so far and TONS of creepy stories to come out of them!

The Voice that spoke to him was an angel. God was looking out for him.

Having an awful last few days, and the fun new set up of not every story being a disaster made me smile 🧡 thank you for the amazing content

Love your content, I'm glad you focus on the backstory and context leading up to the tragedies rather than just cover the events themselves. Keep it up, I'll love to see more

The best time of the week 🍿

11:59 .....😅 No one is born with any particular set of skills except crying, eating, drinking, breathing and pooping

I want to say great work on these - I've been getting other channel suggestions from RU-vid and I've checked a few of them out but you've got a great voice for storytelling, it fits with the stories. Also, from someone who has done some mountaineering, I can't say how much appreciate your fairly accurate descriptions of systems and routes/ risk involved. So many channels blow the risk and danger through the roof and it does no justice to the very calculated and thoughtful approach I think almost every successful athlete takes to their objectives.

Yeah! This made my day seeing there was another collection of stories from you! Keep up the great work! ❤

Thanks for your work! Although my climbing career is nothing to speak of, I am currently recovering from a stroke.( I lived) you keep me fighting. I hope to walk again, once I can tie my shoes!

Looking forward to hearing more, great first episode, thanks. I find the subject of the third man factor fascinating, read a book on the subject a few years ago but can't remember the author or title. TS Elliot also refers to the phenomena in his epic poem, The Wasteland, one of my favourites.. "Who is the third who walks always beside you? When I count, there are only you and I together But when I look ahead up the white road There is always another one walking beside you Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded I do not know whether a man or woman But who is that on the other side of you? " In the poem the protagonist is crossing a desert, out of water and close to death. I sometimes wonder if the phenomena is the origin of the Angel of Mons legend, where exhausted British soldiers marched asleep to escape being surrounded and cut off after the battle of the same name. Many reported a figure, usually female, urging them to keep moving and not to sleep. Thanks again, good luck.

Your videos are respectful of - and sympathetic toward - the intricate circumstances, the delicacies & complexities of the courageous explorers involved, and the dire tragedies which occur as a result of the combination of same. This diligent treatment of your every chosen subject matter is a moving tribute to extreme human endeavor. Thank you.

That Third Man Factor is real. I was in a car accident 14 years ago at about 4 in the morning.. flipped 4 times, hit a tree at 30 feet in the air, landed on the driver’s side, wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.. I know how crazy this sounds, but I KNOW for a fact, without a doubt I heard a voice say “I’ve got you“ and something pulled me out of the passenger side window. There was nobody there and being pitch black at that time of morning nobody stopped when I tried to flag cars down. The same voice said you’ve gotta walk and so I walked what felt like 2.5-3 hours, had no clue where I was going but eventually as the sun is coming up I get to a town and luckily a guy saw me, pulled over, and told me to sit down and called an ambulance. I was responsive in the ambulance and in the hospital once I got there. The nurses took bloodwork and ran tests and x-rays and then I fell asleep. Later, police showed up, took my statement of the events of the accident and gave me my phone which I couldn’t find in the dark. I called my friend to come pick me up and I was talking to the nurse waiting for him to get there. She said I’ve never seen anyone be in an accident like what the police described and walk away from it with no injuries. Come to find out I was on the edge of a ravine and once I got out and walked away the car tumbled down into it. She says, “you must’ve had an angel with you“ and I suddenly remembered the voice at that point. I’m not overly religious but I truly believe God spared me for whatever reason and that voice is God guiding you. Idk why He picked me but I can’t tell you how many ppl I know personally in the 14 years since that happened who have died in car accidents significantly less severe than mine. I literally walked away without so much as a scratch. It’s inconceivable to me, still to this day. The ppl who towed the wreckage said they do that for a living and it’s a miracle I’m alive, ppl don’t usually survive in cars as crumbled as mine was

Third Man Syndrome is fascinating, especially in cases where the voice appears to possess information it wouldn't know if merely a product of the subconscious.

It was very interesting to listen to this video. I hadn't heard about neither the first accident, nor Rainbow valley before. Even though I had heard about Marco Siffredi, I didn't know about what he'd done before Mount Everest.

I love this series , awesome idea to mix it up - thanks for the amazing content, love your speaking voice , and story telling 📕 perfect combo 💎

Congrats on reaching 300k! You deserve it. 🤘🏻

Pretty soon the narrator is going to need a smoking jacket and a fireplace with a skull and mountaineering guide on a table with a framed picture of the Titanic on the wall. "Oh hello..."

Hell ya sum new scary interesting 😎🤟

Great channel and stories :)! Just discovered your channel and listened to all of them in one week.

SO EXCITED FOR THIS SERIES!!! lets gooooo

Yeah, imma be on my couch if you need me.

I binged thee entire channel in two days. Love your vids but its so sad that you can even make this many videos. Rip to all the brave people that gave their lives to sport and curiosity.

Love the new video, keep up the amazing channel, Sean!

i love the calm way you talk! thanks for the awesome content 💜