JUST minutes after he became the youngest ever Briton to summit Mount Everest on 13 May 1999, Spencer Matthews’ brother Michael died aged just 22.
His body was left behind on the mountain’s chillingly named Death Zone at around 8,500 metres after he was caught in a storm.
Spencer Matthews left his showbiz life behind to retrace the steps of his older brother Michael up Mount Everest for the documentary Finding Michael
Spencer was supported by his wife Vogue Williams and their children in his efforts
But while Spencer, 34, and his family thought Michael, like so many other climbers who perished on Everest, was lost for good – a photograph of a body sent to the family in 2017 changed everything.
The picture showed a heaped figure alone in the snow, wearing what appeared to be the same red summit suit worn by Michael.
The hope given to his family from the photograph sparked a chain of events which culminated in Finding Michael – a film which followed Spencer’s heart-wrenching mission to try and bring his beloved brother’s body back to his family.
Spencer says: “We were uncomfortable with him being left on Everest, and the fact that we never had a body to mourn or say goodbye to felt wrong. I always had images of him being alone, cold and face down on the mountain.
“I had to be prepared to come face to face with Michael’s frozen body, which is difficult to prepare for.”
He adds: “Most families have the ability to go and visit their loved ones, we had never had that opportunity.”
Finding Michael shows a side to Spencer that has not been seen before.
After finding fame on Made In Chelsea in 2011, he became a household name with a stint in I’m A Celebrity in 2015 and winning Channel 4’s The Jump in 2017.
In the film, Spencer, who is a broadcaster with a range of popular podcasts and runs a hugely successful non-alcoholic spirits business CleanCo, is seen opening the Pandora’s box which is Michael’s passing.
The arduous journey was fraught with emotion, not only for Spencer but his family.
His mum Jane and sister Nina, speak for the first time publicly about losing Michael in the film.
In the film, Jane explains: “Mike was supposed to summit on the 13th and by the 14th we hadn’t heard anything.
“A storm had come in and Mike was missing. But it was too long after by then, I sort of knew that was it, he was dead. You don’t know if he’s fallen into a crevasse or over the edge or whether just from exhaustion sat down and collapsed.”
Spencer’s wife Vogue had to wave him off just nine days after the birth of their third child, Otto.
Spencer’s wife Vogue, 37, is also seen coping with Spencer leaving for Everest just nine days after giving birth to their third child, Otto, due to the fact there are just a couple of weeks in May that climbers can attempt to successfully summit Everest.
The journey as a whole saw Spencer leaving home for over a month and Vogue’s concern for Spencer is clear to see.
She tells him before he leaves: “I think you’ll find it harder than you think you will.
“I think it will be a lot of emotions about his death you didn’t even know you had. I think it will be very difficult to see your brother like that.”
While Spencer was just ten when Michael died it is clear he has a lot of unresolved emotions when it comes to his late brother – who was a seasoned and experienced mountaineer despite his young age.
Looking at photographs of Michael from the trek, including one taken at the summit, are difficult for Spencer.
Spencer says: “I despise looking at this picture, all I see is a young man in the process of losing his life.
“He is clearly struggling to breathe. He is in agony, he is literally gripping onto what I know now to be a prayer scarf. Gripping, his literal final threads of hope, it bothers me.
“I hate the picture.”
Spencer later adds: “The only consolation is he wouldn’t have known he was hours from death.”
Spencer cannot bear to look at the image of his brother Michael fighting for his life on Mount Everest
As well as Spencer and his family, the film also features family friend Dave Rodney – who climbed Everest with Michael and was the last person to see him alive.
Finding Michael is interspersed with home footage of Michael shot by Dave on their climb.
Spencer visits Dave at his home in Alberta, Canada, and shows him the photograph of what they believe is Michael’s body.
Dave also explains how issues with oxygen tanks had become a concern for the group, after they were issued with Russian breathing systems but UK made bottles – forcing them into making hasty alterations during their climb.
Recalling his heartbreak at saying goodbye to Michael as they passed one another on the Hillary step – a vertical rock face they had to climb to reach the top.
He says: “I was on my way down and he was still on his way up.
“We waved. I thought the wave was I’ll see you soon. Not goodbye.”
Spencer climber Everest with record-breaking mountaineer ‘Nims’ Purja for the documentary Finding Michael
For the trek Spencer teams up with internationally renowned climber Nims Purja – who holds the record for climbing all of the world’s 14 8,000m peaks in just seven months.
Nepali born Nims, 39, agrees to lead the mission to Everest with ten of his best team.
Nims, who was awarded an MBE in 2019 for his services to high altitude mountaineering, explains: “This search is going to be a huge task.
“This big mountain – and you are dying. No one can survive at 8000m. It is why it is called the death zone.”
Spencer also seeks advice from Bear Grylls, 48, a lifelong friend who knew Michael from the climbing world.
He is seen warning Spencer: “On average seven people every year attempting Everest lose their lives.
“Stay at base camp. Be a rock and coordinate stuff. No
mountain is worth dying for second time over.”
In the film, which is released on Disney+ on Friday, Spencer is seen leaving behind Vogue and their children Theodore, four, Gigi, two, and newborn Otto, to retrace Michael’s steps on the eight-day hike to base camp.
The emotional scenes see Spencer standing in the exact locations his brother did more than twenty years before.
He also is filmed following the tradition of saying a prayer in the Tengboche Monastery – a rite of passage for all climbers who take on Everest.
Spencer, who sits in the same spot in the temple as his brother in 1993, says in the film: “You felt like prayer in there was necessary, I found myself praying for a successful trip and that we would find Mike.
“He was really prominent in my thoughts.”
On his journey Spencer also visits a shrine to all the people who have died on Everest.
Upon finding Michael’s etching, with the date of his death 13 May 1993, he says: “Seeing his name written in cold metal dredged up old feelings of anger I suppose for the way in which Mike passed.”
The search and rescue mission does not make for easy watching, as Nims and his team painstakingly try and identify Michael’s body.
Across Everest there are hundreds of corpses, some which lay atop the snow covered ground and Nims’ team defy death to reach the ones they locate in the vast search area using a drone
For each body they find, the team focus on the Michael’s summit suit, his brand of boots and a Rolex watch he was wearing when he died.
Looking at the footage from the drones, it becomes clear the mission will be far harder than Spencer anticipated – with the team admitting it is difficult to differentiate between rock and bodies.
The mammoth task pushes Spencer to his emotional limits.
Speaking from the group’s base camp centre, Spencer says: “Coming across other bodies I am realising there are many families in the position we are in, without the opportunity to bring home their loved ones.”
Viewers will have to wait until Friday to learn whether Spencer was able to return Michael to his family.
It is clear however, that the expedition changed Spencer’s life forever – and after a month at base camp in Everest he wouldn’t be the same again.
Spencer says: “Being on Everest for over a month is a pretty rough environment to exist in. It’s quiet and lifeless.
“The altitude at base camp is just shy of the summit of Kilimanjaro so the air is very thin. You get tired easily and the days are very long. Nights are cold and uncomfortable and your sleep is very broken.
“Every night you hear avalanches from inside your tent getting closer and closer to camp. It’s disconcerting.”
Thinking about Michael, Spencer adds: “If we have to go home and leave him on the mountain it’s just all for nothing. It will just be a total travesty.”
Finding Michael launches on Disney+ on Friday March 3rd, exclusively on Disney Plus.
Spencer Matthews at Everest Base Camp, May 2022
