The Summit and where they went?

[eggs]

Hi all

I have been sucked into watching The Summit primarily because it is set in a part of New Zealand that I have longingly studied in the past.
However, I find the degree of misinformation quite bizarre.
It is supposed to be 200km over 14 days, but the map they keep displaying would be lucky to show a 30km track.
I can verify that they got to the start point on the map on day 3!!
Where were they for the first 2 days?
Now while the distance can be stretched by going on a tortuous path - and they seem to be avoiding actual tracks - at least on film - I can also verify they are going to places not on the map.

The best instance of this was shown last night.
The program started mid walk after having left a campsite clearly at the base of Lennox Falls in the Rees Valley [10-11 kms from Mt Head - which I believe is their destination].
By that night they had covered "20 kms" and had arrived at the outlet end of Lochnager.
That would actually fit if they had gone all the way up the Rees and Snowy Creek to descend back down again.
But it means they crossed a high pass on the Richardson Mountains - but this was never shown?
And their direction of approach came from the south and not the north?
This is also their Checkpoint number 4 - but it is around 15kms away from the place that is shown on their map.

Just how much of this do you think is made up for drama?
And how much is it actually a real trial?

[north-north-west]

Just how much of this do you think is made up for drama?

To paraphrase The Goons: Just about everything.

[wayno]

the map just shows them going up the earnslaw burn and over into the rees then up a side valley, past a SMALL lake to Mt Head........ might be 50k with all the going back and forward.... they keep claiming they've completed farcical miles every day when they've usually only moved a few km... but looking at the standard of a lot of the contestants, thats all they are capable of, most don't have much outdoor experience, let along going cross country across mountains.. but they are probably helicoptering them around, theres no way they got to lake lochnigar on foot.. . they dont explain how they know where to go when theres no sign of them doing any practical navigation... and they magically are competent at abseiling without supervision.... theres qualified outdoor people who will be offscreen constantly.

bear grylls jumped around in nz a lot on his programm here. went from rotorua straight to tongariro park... which is 150k.. then he jumped from otago to the west coast
i read a comment about an alaskan programme where teams raced each other through wilderness that it wasnt going where it showed it was on a map they were just looping around... theres another series screening called "tracked" but that actually looks legit, that went down the earnslaw burn via the mountain tops and the map shown looked accurate .. they werent claiming fantastic distances.the weather has been remarkably benign the whole time....makes me wonder if they only shot during dry weather.... and stopped whenever it rained, which happens very regularly, most weeks... regardless of what they think of each other... given how slow they are supposed to be going the priority would be to mainly axe the slowest... but they seem fixated on wanting to get rid of the cockiest despite the fact they are some of the fittest...

[johnw]

Just how much of this do you think is made up for drama?
And how much is it actually a real trial?

Umm, all of it and very little I'd say . Yes I also got sucked into watching it eggs, albeit on catch up TV, think I'm currently an episode behind. Not that I've done more than a bit of day hiking in NZ, but the scenery looked spectacular in the promos. Mostly (poetic?) license I think with the claims to what they have supposedly achieved. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the map scale they keep showing looks totally out of proportion with the supposed distances. I agree with wayno, I'm pretty sure I had a glimpse of crew assisting in the waterfall abseil, and how did those comms radios suddenly appear from nowhere? Also thought I saw a road just to the side and parallel to where they were walking at one point. Who wouldn't use that rather than slosh on through a bog next to it?
I'll keep watching for the wonderful scenery and entertainment factor. Some individual challenges might be real but otherwise credibility is pretty low in terms of what they're actually achieving.

[wayno]

if "Tracked" TV show comes to aus, its far more interesting, the contestants have to genuinely be able to navigate , you soon find out who can and can't navigate, theres no plotting against others... its purely a navigation and evade capture exercise..

[johnw]

if "Tracked" TV show comes to aus, its far more interesting, the contestants have to genuinely be able to navigate , you soon find out who can and can't navigate, theres no plotting against others... its purely a navigation and evade capture exercise..

I just watched the trailer. Hopefully it turns up eventually on something we get here.

[michael_p]

if "Tracked" TV show comes to aus, its far more interesting, the contestants have to genuinely be able to navigate , you soon find out who can and can't navigate, theres no plotting against others... its purely a navigation and evade capture exercise..

WOW. With Bullet Tooth Tony hosting this could be a cracker.

[johnw]

The Summit finale aired I think Monday last week. I watched all episodes to the bitter end. IMO definitely a lot of it was contrived for dramatic effect. For example I was left wondering, when they had to cross a deep gorge on a single rope traverse at significant altitude, whether they had to actually cross there, or was there in fact a track that simply bypassed it. The obstacle had the appearance of being off the main route. Who knows (maybe wayno?). There was probably some poetic justice in how the prize money was awarded among the final three, if the criteria was strength of character, loyalty, honesty etc, rather than outright physical fitness and ability. Anyway I thought the terrain and sublime scenery was enough that I could overlook the shortcomings. And Jai Courtney, as the quasi-villainous host, added some entertainment value.

[wayno]

the steep slope they jumared up was still above lake lochnigar, miles away from the route then they went straight to the mountain slopes half way up Mt Head... they mentioned Lovers leap for the tyrolean traverse... thats above Earnslaw burn at the start of the whole journey

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Hahaha I'm glad i wasn't the only one thinking this. The "map" (with Mt Head's elevation augmented to make it look more like Mt Aspiring) shows, as others have pointed out, a 40-ish km walk up Earnslaw burn, over into the Rees then up to Mt Head via a small lake (way smaller than the 4km paddle they have to do across what is clearly Lochnager). To be fair, they "won" a helo ride to circumvent the next ridge between Lochnager and the final climb, which would be the 25 mile ridge, but that of course is completely at odds with their route shown on the "map". And I'm sure at some point JC said that final summit push was a gruelling 36 km trek, even though it probably a handful of km at most. I get that they have to use a little licence to tie it all together (eg. helo'ing over to Lochnager then back to the main route to tick the "paddling across a lake" box) for TV, but the exaggeration of distances, elevations and misleading plotting or routes on maps kind of makes it all a bit farcical. Still enjoyed it though coz i love that part of the world, makes me want to get back there.

[johnw]

the steep slope they jumared up was still above lake lochnigar, miles away from the route then they went straight to the mountain slopes half way up Mt Head... they mentioned Lovers leap for the tyrolean traverse... thats above Earnslaw burn at the start of the whole journey

Thanks wayno. Yes, the Tyrolean traverse was the obstacle I was thinking of. So that confirms my suspicions that the whole "journey" was somewhat disjointed.

I get that they have to use a little licence to tie it all together (eg. helo'ing over to Lochnager then back to the main route to tick the "paddling across a lake" box) for TV, but the exaggeration of distances, elevations and misleading plotting or routes on maps kind of makes it all a bit farcical. Still enjoyed it though coz i love that part of the world, makes me want to get back there.

That kind of sums it up. My NZ experience is limited, nevertheless it also makes me want to return at some point.

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

Haven't seen the last episode yet? Did the mountain's keeper turn out to be Wayno?

[johnw]

Haven't seen the last episode yet? Did the mountain's keeper turn out to be Wayno?

My lips are sealed. You'll just have to watch the last episode to find out .