Rulon Gardner (3:58)

Through my experience and dropping off the side of the hill, I realized I had no idea where I was at, no clue what was ahead of me. But my whole goal was to survive.

Narrator (4:18)

Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes if your life depended on your next decision? Could you make the right choice? Welcome to REAL Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode we meet Olympic gold medalist rulan gardner. In 2002, the world champion wrestler finds himself in a different kind of fight. A monumental clash of man versus nature in the mountains of Wyoming on Valentine's Day. Rulon and two friends head out for an afternoon of snowmobiling in the cold wilderness of the cowboy state. But within a few hours, they get separated from one another and Rulon finds himself alone and under siege from the savage elements. With daylight disappearing and no idea where he is, he'll need every last drop of his will if he's to make it out of this snow covered nightmare.

Rulon Gardner (5:26)

I'm like I won the Olympics. I'm like I'm the best in the world. I can save myself. I'm okay. And I now have to think about self preservation. What are you going to do? What's your thought process? How are you going to make it through this night?

Narrator (5:40)

I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Network. This is Real Survival Stories. It's midday on February 14, 2002 in Wyoming and in the small towns nestled beneath the Rocky Mountains, love is in the air. Among the swooning couples celebrating Valentine's Day, 31 year old Roland Gardner drives his truck through the streets smiling at the Love Heart decorations and and cupid cutouts adorning the shop windows. All around he can see mountains nearby. The Salt River Range and the Wyoming Range meet, creating a complex snow speckled formation of summits and Valleys bordered by dense, dark green forests. That's where he's headed. The excitement grows as he drives towards the wild, ready to begin an adventure he's dreamt of since he was a kid.

Rulon Gardner (7:07)

Growing up on the farm, we didn't have a lot of fun. And so when we were out in the fields, you know, we always looked at the mountains and we always thought, man, I wonder what it's like up there.

Narrator (7:18)

Raised on a dairy farm in the community of Afton, the youngest of nine siblings, there was little time to explore.

Rulon Gardner (7:26)

I grew up in a climate where it's cold in the winter, it's beautiful in the summer, but for us being farmers, it was a lot of work. You know, we had fields, we had chores, we had hay, we had just so much agriculture that had to be done. The cows had to be milked twice a day. There was no day off from being a dairy farmer. The wintertime I love to be out there feeding the cows, you know, when the temperature is freezing, it's just absolutely brutal. We had snow, you know, three or four feet deep out in the fields and it was just so brutally cold. And I just thought to myself as a kid growing up, how many people can survive this?

Narrator (8:10)

Survival was a recurring theme in Ruland's upbringing. While the farm taught him nature's circle of life, his own existence was punctuated with near death experiences. In fact, by the time Rouland had reached his early teens, he'd already racked up a significant number. During a class show and tell, he was impaled with an arrow. Later, he was thrown off the back of a truck. Then there was the time he suffered a near fatal infection. Not to mention when he was branded by fire or run over by a farm vehicle. But while danger seemed to stalk Ruland's every move and work on the farm was tough. His childhood was also filled with love.

Rulon Gardner (8:53)

My mom, you know, she truly was always there for me, always supporting me. And my siblings always say, you were mom's favorite. I'm like, no, I wasn't. And I was, you know, she always tried to protect me, always tried to make sure I had everything I needed to. My mom made me the person I am today.

Narrator (9:14)

Aside from his mother, the other great influence in Ruland's life came further away from home. From a young age, he discovered a talent for one of the toughest, most physically demanding hobbies out there. Wrestling.

Rulon Gardner (9:29)

I got into wrestling because if I didn't wrestle or do sports, I was out working on the farm and I didn't like to work on the farm 24 hours a day. So for me I got into sports because I'm like, well, I can get off the farm, I can go and I can have friends.

Narrator (9:45)

What began as an after school activity soon evolved into a lifelong passion. Roland grew into an enormous physical specimen. He wrestled his way through high school, collegiate and national competitions. After graduating in 1996, a coach advised him to learn Greco Roman wrestling, an official Olympic sport. And in the year 2000, after four years of training, Ruland found himself at the Sydney Olympic Games, standing face to face with the undefeated Russian champion, ready to battle for gold.

Rulon Gardner (10:24)

I went into 2000 and had an opportunity to wrestle Alexander Karellin, 13 time world Olympic champion, and I beat him. One, nothing to win the Olympics and two, it was one of the biggest upsets of the Olympic Games.

Narrator (10:39)

Gold medal hanging from his neck. Life changed for Rulan in an instant. He became a national celebrity back home chatting to Oprah Winfrey, Rosie O'Donnell and David Letterman. He was even invited to the inauguration of President George W. Bush. A year later, in 2001, he achieved the ultimate sporting double when he fought his way to become world wrestling champion.

Rulon Gardner (11:06)

And that's when, you know, life was good. Everything was really simple and didn't really have any issues with, you know, injuries or any of that stuff. And who would have known what was to come?

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Narrator (12:20)

Now in the winter of 2002, Rulon has the world at his feet. He decides to take a quick hiatus from his newfound celebrity life and treat himself to a visit back home. He hopes to spend a few days in the wilderness of Wyoming, the backdrop of his childhood. Rulon's truck rumbles onwards into the mountains. Joining him for today's excursion are his buddies Danny and Trent. The wrestler's friends are outdoorsy like him, so they've jumped at the chance to explore some beautiful forests and slopes on the back of Rulon's three recently purchased snowmobiles. The men are by no means experts on the vehicles, but they're competent enough for what should be a straightforward trip. They can't be gone long anyway. They're heading out to dinner with their respective partners later. It is Valentine's Day A after all. The truck starts to climb upwards, deeper into the mountains.

Rulon Gardner (13:23)

Our plan was to go up and, you know, it was going to be mid morning. We'd go up to what we called Cottonwood or Dry Creek. It's, you know, a level of the mountains that were about so a mile to two miles from my house you can get into the mountains and then once you get on into one mountain, you can then ride to the next.

Narrator (13:50)

Rulon, Dani and Trent all arrive and park up. The wilderness encircles them. An expanse of white and green, of angular summits and precipitous drops, a patchwork of snow and spruce, boulders and firs. It's as if the mountains and the trees have come together to form the most elaborate of natural mazes. The men start prepping, planning to be outside for just three or four hours. Rulon leaves his thick snow coat in the truck. He's gonna be working hard out there, fighting against powdery Snow on a 600 pound machine. He doesn't want to get too hot. Before setting off, Danny, the most experienced of the three, packs a survival kit in his backpack just in case. Then helmets on. The trio swing their legs over their snowmobiles, twist the keys in the ignition and set off. The first hour passes like a movie montage as the men cruise along the range, exploring the peaks, tearing down hills and racing each other through the snow.

Rulon Gardner (15:01)

So I was just up there with two friends just having a great time and enjoying some magnificent snow. The snow was, you know, six feet deep. You step off your snowmobile, you'd sink up to your chest and snow and it was a real light, fluffy snow. And so you're riding in the snow and you know your head's above you got your helmets on and the snow is almost as high as your helmets as it's going over you and it's just truly magnificent. It's almost like being in heaven. I think.

Narrator (15:34)

It'S fun for sure, but Rulon's always on the lookout for the next challenge. He tells his friends that he's going to ride to the top of nearby Mount Wagner, where he hopes he'll be treated to a stunning view. His friends nod their consent and agree to wait at the bottom as he speeds off into the distance. But the slopes of the mountain are far steeper than Rulon had anticipated. As he climbs, the snow deepens further, engulfing the snowmobile and his legs. He revs the engine and squeezes the throttle as he wills it to move upwards. But then, when he's about 20ft from the top, the vehicle slowly sputters to a halt. Shaking his head in frustration, Rulon turns around and begins to head back down. He'll check in with his friends, then have another go. However, when Rulon reaches the bottom of the mountain at around 3pm, Dani announces that he's had enough. His daughter is playing in a basketball game and he should go to watch. Rulon and Trent think little of Dany's abrupt departure. The sun's still shining and there's more exploring to do. And so Dany heads off, taking with him his snowmobile experience and their only survival pack. The two remaining men agree to spend one more hour on the mountains, and Rulon decide to have another go at climbing Wagner. As before, Trent promises to wait at the bottom. But also as before, Rulon fails to reach the top.

Rulon Gardner (17:14)

You get to a certain point, it gets too steep. Your snowmobile doesn't have enough speed. You get stuck in deep snow. And I got stuck at the top of the mountain. And that's when, you know, I realized, okay, I need to come back around. And that's when I went back to the bottom of the hill. And that's where things started getting a little bit crazy.

Narrator (17:33)

As Rulon travels back down the frosty slope, it clear that something's wrong with his snowmobile. The repeated strain of climbing Wagner has worn through the belt on the motor, and it winds and creaks with exhaustion. Exasperated, Rulon hops off and spends around 10 minutes fiddling with the machinery. Eventually, he's able to get the motor fixed and he's ready to go again. By now, the sun is lowering in the sky and a gloom takes over. And as Rulon finally reaches the bottom of the slope, he's greeted by something unsettling. There's no sign of Trent. Rulon combs around the imposing hillside surrounding him, the snow stretching for miles in all directions. There's nobody within sight. His friend has disappeared, and he is Suddenly alone, despite losing his buddy in the mountains, Rulon initially shrugs off the situation. Trent probably got bored waiting for him in the cold and has gone off to do some more exploration of his own. There's a good chance he'll bump into him if he continues driving along the slopes. Roland sets off and again takes in the wonder of his surroundings.

Rulon Gardner (19:07)

The snow is just so cool. Think about a slight decline, you know, for a half a mile and you have nothing but just crystal clear, you know, virgin snow, nothing in it. And once you ride in it, you know, you're kind of almost, you know, like a just emotion. You're just kind of floating in air as you're on the snow and the snow is going over your helmet. It's cold, it's magnificent, you know, you're alive. And so every emotion is like, man, this is so cool. But you don't realize the danger you're really in.

Narrator (19:44)

The minutes pass, and still Rulon can't find Trent. He starts to drive his snowmobile with more urgency. Roland checks the time on his phone. It's 3:30pm if they're going to make their dinner reservations, they'll need to head back soon. The trouble is, Rouland's now traveled so far in one direction looking for Trent that he's ended up on an isolated slope. There are no tracks here, no discernible landmarks, and the daylight is fast disappearing. After reaching the bottom of the slope, Roulon wrestles with the snowmobile to turn it around, planning on slogging back up the hill he just descended. But there is a problem. The powder is too deep and his snowmobile too heavy. He can't climb the slope.

Rulon Gardner (20:40)

When you have, you know, roughly six feet of snow and it's a lot of fluff, you know, you turn to go up, the snowmobile just digs in the snow and my weight. Plus the snowmobile. Being a stock snowmobile, you can't create a lot of track speed. And the back end of the snowmobile just sits and spins and, you know, there's no snow to get. And so at that point I'm like, I got stuck. And I'm like, okay, well, this sucks.

Narrator (21:04)

Literally, minutes ago, all was well. A simple trip is rapidly becoming far more complicated. With turning back no longer an option, Rulon decides to traverse around the side of the mountain, trying to build momentum and find a spot where he'll have a better chance of climbing the snowy incline. He squeezes the gas, chugging forwards. But the terrain is unpredictable and labyrinthine, and soon he drives into a narrow gully which encloses him on both sides. Again, this isn't where he expected to find himself.

Rulon Gardner (21:48)

There's two mountains and it comes together. And as it drops off the side, it turns into a gully and it started getting really narrow. Then it finally got to a place where I'm like, well, this sucks because I have nowhere else to go.

Narrator (22:02)

But then Rouland spots something more comforting. Running parallel to his path is a creek, which he recognizes as the start of the Salt River. Having grown up close to this area, he presumes the stream will lead him back home, or at least to lands he knows well. He follows the river as it snakes through the barren mountains, growing wider with every meter. Eventually, it leads him out of the gully. But now, on this more open terrain, the river's waters begin to flood the land, making it dangerously icy in places and causing the snowmobile to skid under Rulon's grip. Without full control of his vehicle, he zigzags over a mixture of slush, rock and ice. The path is pockmarked with gaping holes of freezing cold water. And just then, as he tries to cross this glacial gauntlet, Rulon feels the rear of his snowmobile tip backwards with a chilling splash. His vehicle is sunk, semi submerged in a water hole. The front points in the air while the back rocks dangerously in the chilly liquid. Rulon feels the water climb up his legs. He revs, trying to force the snowmobile out. No good. There's nothing else for it. He'll have to lower himself into the icy waters and heave his snowmobile up.

Rulon Gardner (23:41)

And so it was still light enough to where you could see, but it was getting darker. And so I jumped into the water and I sunk up to my shoulders and I had to pick up my snowmobile down in the water and reach in and grab it. At that point I knew now I was wet. I had a limited time before I'd get in trouble.

Narrator (24:03)

Using his immense strength, Rulon pushes the back of the snowmobile up out of the frigid water, lifting the 600 pound machine with an Olympian's might. Simultaneously, he reaches forwards and grasps for the ignition.

Rulon Gardner (24:19)

And then I'd reach up, I'd turn the key on, and then I'd have to start the snowmobile while I'm holding the snowball up and then push it out of the river and then ride it out of this little pond.

Narrator (24:30)

With a shivering strain, Rulon extricates the snowmobile and himself from the pool. But it's come at a Price. Instantly, the icy wetness starts to creep through his clothes. Wearing just thin fleece layers, the risk of hypothermia is huge. There's hardly any sunlight to warm him up and his body temperature is dropping by the minute. He needs to get moving. Back onto his vehicle, he powers on, squinting through the gloom, trying to shake the cold from his bones. He follows a white hillside and powers up it, trying to reach a new vantage point, perhaps a spot where he'll be able to work out his location or find Trent. But soon he comes to a point where he can go no further.

Rulon Gardner (25:24)

I rode my snowball up to the edge because now it's starting to get dark. It's starting to hard to see any distance. And I come up to the edge and I just see it was kind of like a drop off, it was like straight off the side of the mountain.

Narrator (25:39)

With the cold and the dark gripping him ever tighter, Rulon makes a bold choice. He can barely see what's beneath him, but he is plowing on nonetheless. His snowmobile teaches for a second before plummeting downwards at an alarming pace. Pace. As he descends, the knight makes Rulon totally unaware of the dangers lurking in his path.

Rulon Gardner (26:04)

What I didn't know is the guys that came out later, they're like, how did you miss the trees and the rocks that were in front of you as you were going off the hill? I'm like, it was getting dark enough, I didn't see him as I came off the hill. I came off the bottom, I got to the bottom and I'm like, okay, cool.

Narrator (26:23)

The snowmobile speeds to the bottom of the slope, somehow avoiding the trees, rocks and branches before it judders to a standstill. Steadying his breathing, Rulon gives himself time to pause and take in his surroundings. To his right, the river gently meanders by while the mountains loom behind. Way out in the distance are snow covered trees and ice caps as far as the eye can see. Though Rulon's only a few miles from the area he grew up in, there's no denying he is completely lost. And then, through the silvery beam of his snowmobile's headlight, Rulon spots thick grooves in the snow. They're indented with the unmistakable tread of of tires. Another snowmobiler has been down here. If they manage to find a way out, surely Rulon can too. Placing his faith in the tracks, Rulon once again presses the throttle and heads off.

Rulon Gardner (27:32)

I just started going and now it's getting the point where it's almost completely dark.

Narrator (27:39)

Rulon Weaves his way forwards, following the tracks and then quite suddenly they disappear. Another punch in the stomach and I'm.

Rulon Gardner (27:54)

Like, you know what? I could go, it's probably a half a mile back to where the tracks were and I'm already this far, so I might as well keep going and following the river, thinking that maybe I'll meet up with the tracks again, or maybe I'll just follow the river back to, you know, back to home.

Narrator (28:18)

Welcome to the White Lotus in Thailand. It's a wellness center. You should get a facial. The lady in the airport thought you were my dad.

Rulon Gardner (28:25)

My God.

HBO Advertiser (28:26)

The Emmy award winning HBO original series returns.

Narrator (28:30)

There has been more crime time on the island. Well, I'm a little freaked out. What happens in Thailand stays in Thailand. What does that mean? It means we're not dead yet. Amen.

Rulon Gardner (28:40)

Amen.

HBO Advertiser (28:41)

A new season of the HBO original series the White Lotus premieres February 16th at 9pm on MAX.

Rulon Gardner (28:48)

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Narrator (28:57)

Oh, oh, oh, oh. Riley Auto Parts. Committed to this path, Roulon carries on. Eventually he emerges from the trees into a wide, snow engulfed meadow. It's now around 5pm in front of him, the river starts to bend back, back and forth, going on as far as he can see, cutting off any clear path forwards. Going around isn't an option. He'll have to try to traverse the river's various curves and crossings. Fortunately, in most places the water is shallow enough for Rulon to cross, which he does four, five, six times. But each one is a struggle. He becomes wetter, colder, more exhausted. At times he's penned in by slopes and has no choice but to ride on through the river itself.

Rulon Gardner (30:02)

There was mountains on both sides, so I didn't really have anywhere else to go. And so at that point I ride my snowball down into the river and now you're riding on rocks, you're riding on, you know, whatever's down there and then you get to the other side and then it's ice again. So then I'd have to go up and grab my snowmobile and lift my snowmobile on top of the ice. And I did this probably for about 100 yards.

Narrator (30:33)

His body is dripping with water from his waist down, but the constant movement on and off his feet is helping to keep him warm. He river hops like this for around 45 minutes until as Roulon goes to cross yet another section of water, his vehicle crunches into a jumble of boulders and comes to an abrupt stop. Disaster has struck.

Rulon Gardner (31:02)

Finally got to a point where my snowball got stuck between two rocks, and now I'm sitting there. It's stuck. I'm like, what am I gonna do? I'm like, you know, you gotta get it unstuck. And so I go and I grab the back of my snowball and I start pulling it. And once I start pulling it backwards, my hands slip and I fall into the river. And now I go to my back, and then I turn over and I stand up, and I'm like, okay, you know, now you're completely wet. Everything is soaked. You're in a lot of trouble.

Narrator (31:32)

The situation is bleaker than ever. Night covers every inch of the mountain range, and there's no telling which way is north, south, east, or west. The river, which he's been following so religiously, has led him even further from safety. With his entire body soaked, Rulon cannot stand still. But with his vehicle immobilized, there's only one thing for it.

Rulon Gardner (31:58)

My snowmobile is still in the river. At that point, I'm like, what do I do? I'm like, you got to leave your snowball. Just leave it.

Narrator (32:13)

The freezing wind batters Rulon as he shuffles along the icy path, wading through snow that reaches his hips. With his snowmobile abandoned in the darkness behind him, every yard is a battle. Step by step, he trudges on until he comes to another steep slope. The prospect of clambering up the incline is unappealing, but it also sparks an idea.

Rulon Gardner (32:41)

Maybe I can climb the hill and get a cell signal. And so I'm climbing through the snow, and I'm climbing through the snow. I probably did it two or three minutes, and I moved about a foot, and the snow was so deep, and, you know, you're trying to. To move on top of it. And I'm like, there's no way.

Narrator (33:05)

Defeated, Rulon turns back around. It seems every path he takes just results in more setbacks, more energy being drained from his body. He continues along the river again as the blackness swallows him, making it near impossible to see. Sometimes he walks on the frozen surface of the river, only for it to suddenly crack and send him into the glacial water again. Finally, some shapes appear through the dark. A small thicket of trees on the horizon. Rulon stumbles towards them. The trees are skinny and twig like, hardly the shelter he needs.

Rulon Gardner (33:51)

I got three trees. You know, Typically, everybody say, well, you need to make a snow cave. You need to make a lean to you need to make xyz. But the problem was there was no low lying branches, there was no leaves I could get and take. So all the leaves were, you know, a lot higher than I could reach and around me there was no bushes, there was really nothing. I could go out scavenging for stuff, but I've just wasted all this energy. I'm now tired, I'm now wet, my clothes are freezing. There was three trees and I was kind of in between them and I was just sitting there just, just thinking, I'm okay, just stay here, everything's good, you're going to be fine. Just relax and just take it and everything's going to be okay. And that was my thought process. But who knew how bad it was going to get.

Narrator (34:43)

It's around 6:30pm Less than four hours ago, Rulon was enjoying a day out with his friends. But he tries not to focus on the negatives. Dinner reservations tonight are at 7:30. By now his friends will be wondering where he is and soon they'll know something is wrong. He just needs to stay calm and coherent until they reach him.

Rulon Gardner (35:10)

They talk about the mindset when you're out there and what you go through and you kind of learn to, I think not being an expert in it, but you learn to accept that you're freezing to death. You learn to accept that I'm going to die. And that's what the process that people go through and being a wrestler and being I was hopefully mentally strong, you put yourself in that situation where I go, I know this is going to happen, I know I'm going to die. I know this. I was like, no, you're not, you're not going to think that way because this is what you're going to do, this is what you're going to think. I now have to think about self preservation. What are you going to do? What's your thought process? How are you going to make it through this night?

Narrator (35:55)

Roulon starts focusing on simple steps he can take to preserve himself. One is just trying to stay warm. He paces up and down, swinging his arms. He tries to wiggle his toes, but this has little effect. They're rigid, covered in ice. Determined to keep frostbite at bay, ruin. Roulon props himself against one of the trees and unties his left boot. His sock is soggy with freezing water. He peels it off and tries to rub some feeling into his foot. The skin is red and prickly as he places it back into the boot. Next, Roulon leans forward to carry out the same procedure on his right foot. But as he wrestles with the frozen laces, his fingers become slower and slower as the cold spreads through them.

Rulon Gardner (36:51)

I'm breathing on my hands, I'm trying to keep my fingers from becoming really painful and I understand the process of your fingers get really cold and then they turn to frostbite.

Narrator (37:03)

Deciding his fingers are more valuable than his toes, Rulon abandons the effort to warm his right foot and instead stuffs his hands inside his fleece. They brush against his cell phone, which he flips open to see the time. 7:30pm A very long night awaits.

Rulon Gardner (37:25)

I'm not going to get frustrated. I'm not going to get down and, you know, going to keep positive. And I'm like, I won the Olympics, I'm the best in the world. I can save myself. I'm okay.

Narrator (37:37)

Rulon sets himself a challenge. The sun will start to rise at around 5 or 6am bringing warmth, light and hopefully a rescue mission. If he doesn't check his phone until sunrise, the time should pass faster and his cell phone battery will last longer. As the time ticks over to 7:31, Rouland sticks his phone back into his pocket and waits. The minutes blur into hours, each one more painful than the last. As the freezing air gnaws into his body. He keeps walking up and down, keeps moving his limbs and keeps an ear out for any sign of life. After an eternity of waiting, Rulon has had enough. It must be nearly morning by now. It must be. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out his phone.

Rulon Gardner (38:36)

I expected it to be 4 to 6 o'clock in the morning and I turned my phone on and it was midnight so I'd make it from 7:30 until midnight and I turned my phone on. I'm like, you, you got to be freaking kidding me. I'm like, you're in trouble. Because everything I had to that point was to get, get to, you know, the sunrise, it just, it just crushed me, it just broke me. And I'm like, oh, what am I.

Narrator (39:03)

Going to do this time? Ron doesn't have an answer. It's taken all of his physical and emotional strength to reach this point and he is utterly exhausted. He collapses in a heap on the ground. But Then at around 2:30am the eerie quiet is broken by the distant rumble of engines rule on strains his ears is the sound of snowmobiles.

Rulon Gardner (39:40)

And I could hear him and I want and, and I hear him stop. And so then I'm like oh hey, they're, they're coming. They're going to come get me. And so then I'm like, I'm going to start whistling.

Narrator (39:51)

Filling his lungs, he whistles as loud as he can. Through the darkness, the search party is tantalizingly close. Rulon can even make out the sounds of their boots crunching in the snow. But while he can hear them, the direction of the wind is making it impossible for them to hear him. After 15 minutes, the snowmobiles start up again, and the rumble of their engines fades into the distance. Crushed, Rulon leans his head against a tree and lets exhaustion overcome him. He drifts in and out of consciousness in a hypothermic daze.

Rulon Gardner (40:42)

And then all of a sudden, I fall asleep and I have a vision where I see Jesus. I see God, and I see my brother. And I had a brother that passed away when I was 8 years old, and they all came to me, and it was a white area, and I guess it was kind of like they were behind a table. I didn't really see that, but I saw their faces and their figures, and I'm like, oh, hi, Jesus. Hi, God. I'm like, oh, it's Ronald. It's. It's my brother. And I was sitting there, and they're like, it's time to come home. And I'm like, huh? I'm like, I got stuff to do. I just. You won the Olympics, won the worlds, and, you know, I'm just finally realizing my potential in the sport of wrestling. I'm, you know, got so many crazy things going on. It's the best time of my life, and why would I want not to be on this earth? And so I'm like, I want to come back, and I want to, you know, continue to follow my dreams. And when I woke up, I'm like, yes. I'm like, I know there's God, you know, life after death, and life is good. God is here, and I got to see Ronald. I'm like, oh, yeah, you're still freezing to death.

Narrator (41:51)

Finally, however, there is a silver lining. Sunrise is around the corner. The sky starts to lighten slowly. At first. Pale blue streaks creep across the horizon. Then the first golden rays break through the trees. It brings warmth and hope. Suddenly, overcome by an awesome thirst, Rulon hauls himself to his feet and stumbles through the snow to a nearby stream. He shovels water into his mouth, lapping it up as though he hasn't drunk in days. He lays down on the snow and stares at the lightning blue sky above. And that's when he sees it.

Rulon Gardner (42:39)

I'm Watching the stars disappearing. And I'm probably there for about 10 minutes and all of a sudden I hear a. And it was an airplane. I was delusional because of the hypothermia and the mental stuff. And I see him and I wave at him and he tips his wings like this. And I know that he knows that I'm there.

Narrator (42:59)

Roulon lays on the ground, slipping in and out of hallucinations as a rescue mission unfolds around him. The plane continues circling, keeping an eye on Rulon and reporting his condition. At one point, the pilot even throws down a coat to keep him warm. But the clock is ticking. After almost 18 hours, Rulon's body is losing its fight against the cold. Every second counts. Finally, at around 6am, with Rulon barely able to tell dreams from reality, a helicopter descends from the sky and lands in a clearing 30 yards away. A section of river separates Rulon from the rotorcraft. Despite being utterly depleted, doesn't hesitate.

Rulon Gardner (43:53)

Then finally I'm like start swimming. So I just start, you know, fast as I can getting to him. And I don't know how long. For me it was like a second, you know, I just was ready to get there.

Narrator (44:04)

And delirious, shaking with cold, Rulon clambers on board the helicopter. Salvation.

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HBO Advertiser (44:50)

I'm Natalia Melman Petruzella and from the BBC. This is Extreme Peak Danger, the most.

Narrator (44:57)

Beautiful mountain in the world.

Rulon Gardner (44:59)

If you die on the mountain, you.

Narrator (45:01)

Stay on the mountain.

HBO Advertiser (45:03)

This is the story of what happened when 11 climbers died on one of the world's deadliest mountains, K2. And of the risks we'll take to feel truly alive.

Narrator (45:14)

If I tell all the details, you won't believe it anymore.

HBO Advertiser (45:18)

Extreme Peak Danger. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts.

Narrator (45:23)

As they take to the sky, a nurse measures Rulon's temperature. It's dropped to 26 degrees Celsius. 11 degrees below the norm. There's no way he should be alive right now, let alone coherent. The helicopter speeds to the nearest hospital, where Rulon is rushed in due to his severe frostbite. The doctor's priority is to get him out of his icy clothes as quickly as possible. But his boots are frozen to his feet. The doctors have to use a saw to cut them off.

Rulon Gardner (46:00)

One of the guys that pulled the boots off of my feet, his comment was, it was like a frozen hamburger on a metal table because my feet were frozen solid.

Narrator (46:13)

Gravely, the doctors warn him that he'll likely lose all his toes. He'll be lucky to walk again. But as Rulon is dragged from hospital to hospital, taken in and out of surgeries, he focuses on the positives of his situation.

Rulon Gardner (46:32)

I start laughing and like, what are you laughing about? I'm like, because I made it, you know, I. I made it. I'm here. And through the night. The process was, is. I don't care how bad it gets. As long as I have my brain and my body, I can lose body parts, I can lose my feet, I can lose my hands, and I can still function.

Narrator (46:56)

Slowly, Rouland's injuries start to heal. He undergoes skin grafts on both feet, though the right foot, which remained in the sock all night, is substantially worse and requires a toe to be amputated. While in hospital, Roulon is also able to piece together the story of exactly what happened. It turns out that his friend Trent left the mountain shortly after Dani. So while Rulon was frantically searching for him, Trent was actually on his way back home. When Rulon didn't show up for dinner, Trent and Danny contacted Mountain rescue, who dispatched a search party that night. But after that, one disaster led to another. The search party's radios died. The edge rouland dropped off was too steep for them to descend. And when the plane located him the next morning, a helicopter was prevented from reaching him for hours because of a no fly zone implemented due to the Winter Olympics taking place in nearby Salt Lake City. It was a series of unfortunate events, and everything pointed against his survival. But Rulon is a fighter, proving all the doctors wrong. He's back on his feet within months, and not just walking. By September 2002, seven months after the incident, Rulon is wrestling full time again and secures his place on the national team. Two years later, he travels to Athens for the Olympic Games, where he wins a bronze medal. It's an incredible journey, one which medics, coaches and training partners believed was impossible. But for Rulon, it's bittersweet.

Rulon Gardner (48:50)

What kind of sucked and kind of was stupid and just irresponsible is the media runs up and they're like, you're a failure. You're a loser. You didn't win two gold medals and you're going to wrestle for a bronze. Aren't you devastated? I'm like, yeah, I'm devastated, but not a failure. I didn't wrestle to win medals. I wrestled to prove something to myself. Every day, everything in my life, I've had to prove something to me, and I wanted to prove something to myself. That's why I've been through so much adversity. That's why I've been through so many challenges. That's why I, I have the mentality. I do what made me survive. You don't know until you're in that situation. And for me more than anything, my mom, to know that she would have lost me from a bad decision that I made, it doubly broke my heart to know that I caused my mom pain, you know, and that was always the one thing I never wanted to do. I never wanted my mom to ever say, rulon, you made a bad decision. Knowing that they would find me and knowing that I would be frozen and my mom would have to see that was the one reason I survived. She was just the person that made me realize what was important and what is significant and the value of life itself.

Narrator (50:18)

Next time on REAL Survival Stories, we meet Dick Barton, a man whose job is to recover artifacts from the world's most iconic shipwreck. In August 1994, Dick leads a dive down to an uncharted section of the sunken Titanic. The mission is going off without a hitch until their sub is knocked off course by a freak ocean current. Trapped within the wreckage with dwindling oxygen supplies and zero contact with the surface, Dick and his colleagues must find a solution to their problem fast, or they, too will suffer a tragic fate 82 years after Titanic met hers. That's next time on REAL Survival Stories. Listen now without waiting a week by subscribing to Noiser Plus.