Dave Rodney discusses new 'Finding Michael' documentary on Disney+

Finding Michael is the story of a family’s search for the body of Michael Matthews, the youngest Brit to summit Everest who went missing on his descent in 1999.  Canmore resident Dave Rodney was Michael’s climbing partner on that journey and is featured in the film.  He joined me on the show this morning to share his perspective.

ROB MURRAY: What is the premise behind this Finding Michael documentary?

DAVE RODNEY: One of the greatest challenges and most amazing adventures mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, culturally, etc., is climbing the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. In 1999 it was a dream come true – I was the first person from Saskatchewan to get to the top. But sadly, tragically, that dream turned into a nightmare when my climbing partner disappeared upon descent. I climbed with him every day of the expedition except summit day. I found out the next day when sadly it had turned from 40 below to 50 below, when strong winds had turned to hurricane force, and I was literally commanded to get off the mountain, save my life if I could, and a couple other people if I could help them save their lives as well. His body had never been seen until a few years ago. There was a picture taken, sent to Michael’s family back in London, England, and it was the first hope that we’d ever had that perhaps his body might be recovered. The film is really about brotherly love and family, grief, mourning, and loss. I trust that everyone who watches this movie not only will be moved by it, but it’ll make a difference in their lives.

I can tell you a little bit about what it was like a couple weeks ago in London when I was privileged to go see the world premiere of it. That experience, like, oh my goodness. Michael was only 22, the youngest Brit in history to get to the top. It was actually through this movie that I met his younger brother, Spencer, way back in 2000 when I was over visiting his parents. Coming down the stairs, I saw a little boy leaving through the front door and his parents both turned to me and, and said, yeah, that’s Michael’s younger brother Spencer. I thought, hopefully there’s a day where I can tell him how amazing his older brother was in so many different ways, and perhaps help in some sort of process of closure for him. Going back to this premiere a couple weeks ago in London, it was actually a great step in the process for me. I don’t know what I believe about closure anymore. I think that things just continue on in different ways, but hopefully there’s a bunch of healing that occurred. This is about extreme adventure, but it’s so much about family, which indeed is the most important thing. There’s no question in  my mind.

RM: The documentary itself is about Michael’s family essentially launching an expedition to try to recover Michael’s body from the mountain based on that photo. Canmore makes a cameo in the documentary. Obviously you are in the documentary as well, and you got an opportunity to talk to Spencer and and tell him how amazing his brother was, in person in your own home it looks like.

DR: It was a year ago where we first met in person. Spencer came by and we had quite a conversation. In fact, it lasted three days. We did a bunch of filming in the area and a whole bunch didn’t make the cut. I want to say thank you also to our friend Michael, the cinematographer, for another local component as well. After that, Spencer took off to Nepal and there was a team that was in the area climbing anyway. So like I did in 2001 when I went back…I didn’t go back to become the first Canadian to summit Everest twice, although I guess that happened. I went to help a couple of friends of mine who didn’t need a whole lot of help, Leo and Deryl Kelly, but every step of the way, all the way up and down when it was daylight on Summit Day in 2001, I was a little distracted, Rob. I was scanning the entire mountain looking for any sign of Michael’s body. It’s tough enough when we mourn a loss, but when there’s no body at the funeral, that makes it a lot tougher for everyone.

RM:  The film also includes some video footage you took from that ‘99 expedition. There was one scene that really struck me – after you’d summited, you were in your tent and you were very upset that Michael didn’t make it back down again. I’d imagine 23 years later when you got that phone call saying “Michael Matthews”…I mean, what was your reaction? Did it bring up a lot of stuff from the past for you?

DR: There is something that reminds me of Michael and that expedition every day. I kind of expected that call from someone from the Matthews family at some point, and I indeed was hoping that there was a chance that they would find Michael. I’m going to keep it a surprise for everyone who’s listening, if they want to tune into Disney+ Finding Michael to find out exactly what happens in that 100 minutes. I was privileged and honured that they used a whole bunch of my footage from 1999. It’s actually an hour long. I knew that there might be a day when we would need an as accurate as possible account of what went on that fateful day, May 13th, 1999, when it was the best weather day of the expedition, that turned into by far the worst, and claimed the life of a young man who literally had his life in front of him. Since then there is the Michael Matthews Foundation that’s resulted, and my wife and I started a little something called the Top of the World Foundation for students, because for those listeners out there who think that mountain is made for those with big egos who are selfish and arrogant…well, maybe there are some folks like that up there, just like there are down here and everywhere we go. But there are some pretty amazing people who truly feel humbled and vulnerable and just want make this world a better place, and pushing yourself to the limit with people that aren’t working with you but are your partners, and then seeing what you can do to help them in return…there’s nothing better in life or makes it more worth living.

If you have a minute, I’ll tell you my favorite story about the top of the world. Before we ever sit foot on the mountain there’s always the puja, the ceremony of blessing. We have a Buddhist monk – often when I was on expedition, it was the Lama Geche. I ended up in the right place at the right time to put a Sherpa on my back and carry him up and down valley to make sure that he lived. After that they called me ‘Sherpa Dave’, and so the Lama Geshe would see me at Base Camp and say “Hey Sherpa Dave, how are you?” I found out about his son, who was a very promising student. He was hoping to get a great education so that he could come back and help the people of his valley to live longer and have a higher quality of life. To do so, believe it or not, his avenue of interest was accounting. Along with another couple, we sent him to New York State University. And on the day of the horrific earthquakes in Nepal, CNN was looking for someone to interview right away in. They found out that he was in New York and within minutes there were millions of dollars of aid pouring in for the folks back in Nepal. That wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t been there. I guess part of the reason was that we were trying to help out. So again, for me, it’s never been about the mountain per se. It’s about the beauty of the place for sure, and the cultures that we encounter. The fun that we can have, to see how far we can push ourselves without pushing over the edge, but it’s really the people that we meet and the differences that we can make in a positive way for each other.

It actually comes right back to the film. Going back to that event back in in London for the premiere screening, you could hear people laughing, and bawling their eyes out. But one of my favorite things walking out with a big lump in my throat was I can hear people saying, oh my goodness, I have got to call my mom. It’s been way too long. You know, my cousin and I had a big rift. While we have time, let’s heal it. I really think different people are going to get different things out of this film, and I hope they’ll take the time to watch it.

RM: What was your reaction when you saw the film in its entirety?

DR: So many emotions. Just bringing back the incredible fun that Mike and I had. We were best mates. At camps two and three we shared a tent, and every day of the trip we were literally on a lifeline. We’d talk when there was downtime about families and friends and futures. We had all sorts of adventures planned on different continents after we came back, and we had really expected and hoped that we’d be paired up that day to go to the summit and take a summit shot together. The reason we were climbing together was that he and I were about the same speed and we were having a great time. However, the organizing company said on summit day, Mike, you get what you paid for. I’d rather not go into too much here, but the fact of the matter is any expedition organization definitely needs to be exactly that – they need to be organized, they have to have a plan, they have to communicate the plan on a communication system that exists and works, with an oxygen system that works. So while I was unable to help the youngest Brit to get to the top on that day I was able to help a couple of folks, a Canadian who got to the South Summit and absolutely had to turn around or else was not going to make it home, a Dutch woman who is in quite serious medical trouble, and then the next day the oldest Brit to get to the top was not going to get down if somebody did not give him a lot of assistance. I’m so sad that Mike and I weren’t paired up on that day, but at least there’s a little silver lining or three that I was able to help three others on their descent.

RM: Finding Michael is available now on Disney+, featuring Dave Rodney from right here in Canmore. It’s a very compelling film. I saw it over the weekend and I highly recommend you give it a watch. Dave, thanks for joining me on the show today.

DR: Thank you.