A lot of fear, man.

A lot of stuff's happened to me on that mountain.

I have not had big success at mountain climbing.

I've had frostbite.

I've fallen in a crevice.

Coming back for my fifth attempt at Mount Denali in Alaska.

The reason I'm coming back is I just don't...quit, and I'm not gonna quit till I make this thing.

♪ [Wind blowing] [Device beeps, camera's shutter clicking] Man: For Bill Bradley, life began in the late forties.

The Bay Area resident is preparing for the world's toughest footrace.

The 50 year old became a glutton for punishment in 2005, after he went through bankruptcy and a divorce simultaneously.

Bradley: It was total devastation for me.

There was nothing left but my life, really.

4 months after-- after filing bankruptcy and--and my wife leaving, I woke up at, like, 5:00 in the morning or 4:00 in the morning and got out the door and--and went down and ran 50 miles like my life depended on it, because it did, man.

I needed to do something to snap me out of that funk, and it did.

Man: He is one of the all-time greats in endurance, extreme competition.

Bill Bradley completed what is called the ultimate Tahoe Triathlon.

15-mile bike, swim, 300-mile bike over 8 mountain passes, capped off by a 100-mile run.

Finished it in 5 days, 16 hours, and as the old saying goes, lived to tell about it.

Bradley: And that was the start.

And then I said, man, if that makes me feel good, what about if I ran 100 miles?

Or what if I bike?

I did, uh, you know, I did a 200-mile bike and then a 500-mile bike and did 100-mile run, you know, in, in the Bay Area, 100-mile race, and then thought, wow, that was great.

I wonder if I could do that in Alaska.

Heh.

So, I ran 100 miles in Alaska, and then I went to Death Valley and ran 100 miles, you know, and I just kind of kept doing it.

And I was biking, you know, I ended up, you know, biking 100, you know, 200 miles, 500 miles.

Then I biked all the way across America in 16 days.

And I, you know, I climbed Whitney.

I mean, I did Whitney when I was--when I was doing the triathlons, and I had done a double Badwater where you climb Whitney, so, I was looking for the next big challenge, and then I must have-- I don't know if I know anybody who's cl-- who had at that time who had climbed Denali, but I had heard of it.

All right.

Coming back for my fifth attempt at Mount Denali in Alaska, the world's coldest mountain.

♪ We start our climb... tomorrow, am I right?

Holy cows.

We start our climb tomorrow!

[Laughs] The 30th.

♪ Packing up for the fifth attempt at Mount Denali.

[Laughs] And the reason I'm coming back is I just don't...quit, man.

I can't stand if something gets the best of me.

And so, this is my fifth attempt, and every time I-- when I--when I don't make the mountain, when I don't finish it, I learn from it, and I go back and adjust my training.

Now that I've done some different training and stuff and different working on my mind and my weaknesses, is to take my fifth attempt, um, at the mountain.

Men: Go time.

Man: Go time.

♪ Bradley: It's like, been about, like, 10 years, probably, since I did my first attempt.

The first one, I felt sick when I got to Anchorage, you know, like just coming down with some bug, right?

And I remember I got, like, a-- I had a fever, man.

I was so hot, I unzipped my sleeping bag down to air myself out because I was--because I was so hot and it was, like, -5 degrees, and--and then I'm--and I'm going, man, I'm really sick.

And then I went to sleep and I woke up with my hand outside the bag, right, which is, like, my bare hand, which is like, "No!"

And I put it back in here, and it couldn't have been for very long, though.

But then I said, OK, I think I need to talk to the guides about going down, you know, because, yeah, I was really, really in bad shape.

And then when I went down, it was, like, somewhere between, like, 200 yards and 400 yards.

If you slid, you're going off a 2,000-foot drop.

And when I got to that section, I fell.

And I'm, like, digging my, you know, self-arrest where you dig your ice ax into the snow, and then I went down.

I had to go to the hospital because they thought I had pneumonia and I was so sick, but I just had, like, a really, really bad case of bronchitis, but-- and that falling in the no-fall zone, like, left...crap in my head, you know, like, because I remember-- I went back up a couple years later, so, I took a year off from mountain climbing and I went back up a couple years later to Shasta and I was, like, freezing up, you know, just, like, in fear, like, right away.

As soon as it got any kind of steep, I was like-- And so, as soon as I started going up the hill, I felt like I was going up, you know, just a little.

It felt like I was going up the no-fall zone, you know, so, I had to just keep working at it, working at it, working at it until I could go back up Denali again, you know.

♪ And the second time, I think I was-- I was swimming at the same time with the English Channel, and I was not in real good mountain climbing shape, I remember, so, I mean, that's the only one where I didn't feel like, you know, the cross-training from swimming did not cross over to mountain climbing, like, half brain-- half my brain was still not right and half was-- I really wasn't in the right kind of shape for mountain climbing, you know?

And then--let me think.

My third attempt.

♪ Yeah.

We got snowed in for 8 days.

8 feet of snow in 8 days, you know, at the 10,000-foot camp.

The guy got the weather report.

There was going to be a short period of time where it cleared, and our team decided to go for the next camp, you know, and we just get hammered with a blizzard, man.

The temperature drops, like, -20, you know, hardly any visibility.

We're just hammered, man.

And we had to retreat, you know, to go back down, and then we had to re-set back up our camp and all this stuff, but when all this was going on, I had like, um, I just had liner gloves and, you know, we're trying to set back up our camp ,and it just was not smart, you know, and I pushed it a little far with the liner gloves.

Anyway, the bottom line is I frostbit my hands pretty good, man.

♪ I ended up having to go down because my--I was in so-- I was in a lot of pain and I was really frostbit pretty good.

So, then I went and I was visiting my buddy in Homer, Alaska.

So, we went down there and we went to the doctor again, my third doctor, and this guy, like, really knew frostbite really good.

And he's, like, putting his hand, you know, like, rubbing around and doing all this and he says, "If you can-- Can you feel that?"

I go, "Yeah."

He goes, "Well, you're going to keep the thumb then."

And so, then I put a glove on it and I said, "I ain't taking this off because I want no more amateur opinions, you know."

And so, I put the glove on, but, man, my-- this--it hurt like hell for, like, 6 weeks.

Like really, really bad, man.

I mean, it was, you know, I was in a lot of pain.

Yeah.

My fourth attempt was the one where I was, you know, I was strong and I made it up to, uh...

I made it up to 14,000, so, I hadn't made it up to 14,000 since the first year.

So, my fourth attempt, I made it up to 14,000 again, and we went up the fixed lines, which I'd never done before, which is straight up, you know.

♪ And I made it up that, and I made it all the way up to high camp, and the team, you know, we only had one day rest and the team's going up, and if I'm not strong enough to go up, I got to go down, and you throw on that I'm weak.

And then, you know, I went down and, you know, and, uh, we went to the high camp-- and I was worked.

You know, I was really exhausted.

It was--a hard push for me that day.

Anyway, so, we're going down, and--and I remember, like, there's this crevasse or whatever.

It was off to the right, and I was--I was just so tired that when we were going down, I kind of slid over to the left, and the guy was yelling at me.

He goes, "Don't slide over to the left," right?

You know?

And I couldn't help it.

I was just exhausted, you know, and I got a little bit off and went through.

I broke through this crevasse.

All of a sudden, I just go down, man, and I'm roped, but I dropped 25 feet.

And then I look, I swear to God, I look over to my right, right, because you can see the daylight from the-- from the hole above, and there's a...gloved hand sticking out of the wall.

And so, I climbed out, and the girl who was coming down with me, she goes, "Man, Bill, you were so exhausted, man."

And then the guy was really mad at me, so, he roped his rope around my pack and started dragging it down the hill.

You know, I'm following this guy, pulling my thing with the rest of the team, and I'm-- and he's pulling my, you know, and we only had, like, not that much further to camp.

So, it was just to humiliate me, you know what I mean, and he did a good job of it.

And so, I got into camp, you know, with my tail between my legs, and, uh, we ended up--we hiked down a little bit further, and then we got to another, you know, I think we spent the night there, then we got down to another camp, and there was somebody else from this guide group down there.

And so, he left us with them till our team came off the mountain, you know.

So, he was-- he was done with us.

And, uh, and so, yeah, we ended up going down with our original team, so, but, yeah, a lot of fear, man.

A lot.

A lot of stuff's happened to me on that mountain.

A lot, man.

It's like a crazy mountain... [Laughs] for me, anyway.

♪ Day one.

We're up at base camp!

[Laughs] 7,000-something feet, like, 400 or something.

We did our gear check today.

They went through all our gear, make sure we're ready for coming up on the mountain and climbing.

And then we took our plane ride up here, which is always fun and beautiful and thrilling, and you never know if you're going to get up here, because the clouds come in and out, and now we're ready to start day two tomorrow!

♪ Today was a pretty tough day.

[Laughs] I think we were dragging about 120 pounds between our pack and our sled up Denali, so, we went from base camp and up at camp one.

I think base camp was 7,200 feet and I think we're at, like, what are we at now?

Man: 8,200.

Bradley: We went up 1,000 feet?

Man: Yeah.

Bradley: Wow, that was hard.

[Laughs] It took 5 1/2 hours to go 1,000 feet, but it was all uphill and dragging.

♪ Whoo-hoo!

♪ And it was, like, a crazy day because we cached-- like, we took half our gear from camp one, moved it up to about 9,000 feet, and buried it in a hole.

[Laughs] So, we take half of it up so that it makes it more palatable to move around 120 pounds of gear.

It works to move your gear around, and then what it also works for is acclimating you, too, to the altitude by moving you up and down, and that was our-- what we did today, and we had, like, two guides go in crevices today, and it was, like, it was a big deal, man.

It's pretty emotional to me because they just, like, immediately just disappeared down in these holes.

The guides were just great at how to anchor them in and get us all teamed up to pull them out, and that's what we did.

So, we pulled both of them out, but what a crazy day.

Like I said, I've done this 4 times and I'm the only person I've ever seen fall in a crevice.

So, when you're on the mountain, man, it's definitely a dangerous mountain, man, but we got half our gear up, so, we're still on schedule.

We haven't even lost a day to snow or anything yet.

We're just still moving our way up the mountain, and it's not an easy mountain.

♪ We're going up Motorcycle Hill.

♪ And we're in the--You know, in the meat of it for me, man, it's where the steeper parts start.

♪ My first attempt at Denali, I got sick and fell pretty much all the way down the mountain, which really freaked me out on falling and steepness.

♪ Just started getting over that, and then I fell in a crevice, so, that whole thing came back again where I'm gripping, going downhill like this, just so nervous.

♪ Tough day.

Really tough day.

Uh, we moved from camp 2 to camp 3.

11,000 feet to 14,000 feet.

I had probably between a 55- and 60-pound pack and a 6 1/2-hour climb, and that was our seventh day in a row of climbing.

So, I was really, really feeling it.

But, you know, got in, set up camp, which is--takes another hour, hour and a half to set up camp, but a really productive day but a really hard day.

[Wind blowing] [Indistinct conversations] Man: Bill, you doing all right here?

Bradley: I'm done, man.

These conditions are a lot harder than when I climbed it before, man.

There was a lot of fixed steps.

Every time I saw snow, man, I just--I just don't-- I don't want to endanger the team.

And that, like, really bothers me.

♪ Man: Roy, I'm going to go to the right.

Bradley: Tim, whatever works, but I think, um, this is-- these conditions are a lot harder than when I climbed up here before.

Tim: Yeah.

Are they?

Bradley: They are.

There was--everything was pretty set, you know what I mean?

It was--it was firm steps and all the way up that thing, there were-- Tim: This is going to be firm steps.

Bradley: OK. Tim: For sure.

Woman: ...guarantee that there are steps [indistinct].

Bradley: Yeah, because I was watching those guys, and they're spreading their feet and that's-- that's just so tough, man.

When you're, uh, you know I mean?

That's, like, tough for me.

When you're putting your, you know, your feet out and you're trying to get your grip and do it.

I don't know.

I just-- I got worked pretty good.

Just--it concerns me.

I think I'm just, uh, postponing the inevitable.

I don't think there's any way I get up tomorrow with a heavier pack if these conditions stay the same, you know, roughly.

[Tim coughs] ♪ I went right by the--around near where the crevice I fell in last time I was up here, and I got all kinds of crazy feelings and, uh, you know, really stressed feeling, and low energy.

It just drops my energy down to nothing.

And then I called Jessie today, and, uh, and she says--who's my life coach and I love her.

And she says, "You know, Bill, I knew I was "going to get this call, and I knew you'd hit this where you're--" "where your fear would rise up on this thing.

"You know, you just said, you know, just too much stuff up there," and, uh, and she encouraged me to, you know, push through the fear and go for it, you know.

"Bill, you gotta face that fear.

You went up there to face that...fear."

♪ So, two days ago, I went up that mountain again, up that headwall right there, and I went right-- right around that crevice and went up the headwall and up the fixed lines and I went up to 16 and did my acclimating day, just like I should have done a couple days before, and made it and came back down and, uh, and did it all, man.

I just--I went right into the belly of that beast that scared me so...bad.

It's a big--that's--this is a big deal to me.

Big deal, man, because I was really scared 3 days ago, and this time, so, I just go right at the belly of the beast!

You go at the belly of the beast.

It wasn't as bad the second time.

♪ And, so, we're, uh, we're heading down, and I didn't-- I won't get an opportunity to summit.

We were trying to work something out, but it didn't work out, and, uh, but I'll be back.

I never quit, you know?

So, you know, face those fears right in the belly of the beast.

It was a huge load lifted off of me, and I couldn't-- I couldn't face that fear anyplace else but right here, where that...crevice was, you know?

And, uh, so, that's what I'm telling you.

Go after those fears, man, and open up your life, man.

I feel a lot--lot better, man.

I think I would have had a good shot at summiting.

Packing up camp and moving from 14 down to base camp.

We're going to go all through the night.

6:00, 12 hours.

We're going to start at 6:00 and go till 6:00 in the morning.

Pick up a couple caches and head for that little airstrip on the glacier.

♪ Yep.

3 a.m. Looks pretty-- pretty sunny for 3 a.m., doesn't it?

♪ We're on the glacier, man.

Heading back to home base.

I got 6:47, so, 6 hours and 50 minutes going all the way through the night.

So, the snow's hard.

The air's cool.

And, uh, anyway, it was an awesome-- It was great strategy going through the night.

And, you know, I thought I would start falling asleep on my feet and stuff, but it's...it's so light here.

It feels like it's daylight all the time.

I'm sure in the afternoon today, I'll be conked, but, yeah, it was a long hike.

12 hours.

I don't know how many miles.

[Coughs] Probably, like, 20-something miles, I bet, you know, with a heavy sled and a heavy pack.

If you're going to put something big on that goal list and dream list, man, expect it's going to be tough, and you just don't quit.

This is my fifth attempt, and I'm not going to quit till I make this thing.

That's the secret to making it in this life.

As you fall, you just don't quit.

You stay on your dream.

You stay on your dream.

You stay on it.

You just have to have the resilience to never quit, right?

And so, when I come back to Denali, no matter what-- what the hell goes through, whatever happens, whether, you know, the frostbite, the almost falling off the crevasse, the falling in the no-fall zone, the being so sick and so weak, trying to get off the mountain, all I think about is what I told my kids.

"Follow your dreams and never...quit, right?"

I just--I've been telling them and I go, "Well, I gotta walk my talk, man.

I can't quit."

Heh.

"I can't quit because I fell in a crevasse.

"I can't fall," 'cause I almost fell off the mountain.

"I can't quit, you know, for frostbite, I can't quit.

"I got to keep coming back and I got to show them "that you keep going until you do it."

I'm hoping that, you know, 5 failed attempts.

Like, come on, universe, man.

Throw me a bone, baby.

Throw me a bone.

And if I summit this year, wherever you are, you will hear the yell.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Whoo-whoo!

Ha ha ha ha ha!

♪ I'm so grateful for the whole team around here.

Just everybody just is fantastic and so supportive, you know, and really wants to help me try to make it.

Anyway, keep facing those fears, man.

Heh!

♪