Last year, "Big Tim" Medvetz, the Hollywood biker, almost lost his life when summit fever left him exhausted 350 feet below the summit. "I wouldn’t wish Summit Day on my worst enemy," he said at the time. Mogens Jensen, an asthmatic from Denmark, attempted the climb without oxygen and crashed out, blind and disoriented in the Death Zone, "I just thought, '**** I’m gonna die here.'" But they're back with everything to prove and a backpack full of attitude that doesn’t sit well with Russell and his team of professional guides.

High-resolution Sherpa cams capture the action as Russell's elite team of Sherpas gamble on the weather as they attempt the earliest ever summit to fix three miles of safety ropes for the amateur climbers to follow. Back at Base Camp, Brice pulls no punches as he realizes he's got his work cut out for him to get through this season without casualties. Along with Tim and Mogens, his team this year includes L.A. journalist Betsy Huelskamp, who hasn't climbed a mountain in 10 years, and a Japanese pensioner, Katsusuke Yanagisawa, who at 71 years old, wants to become the oldest man ever to summit.