A journey to raise cancer awareness across the Amazon in South America started with about two dozen people – but only one finished.
It’s a story about limited documentaries Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes, which premieres Sunday, May 12, on the Discovery Channel and Max and follows Special Forces veteran Mickey Grosman as he leads a group of men through the rainforest on an adventure that some involved said went wrong.
The first episode follows the beginning of the journey as the others quickly realize that Grosman is not the leader they expected.
As attendee Kevin Jackson says at the premiere, “He’s a strong guy, don’t get me wrong. But he’ll be a strong guy without a team if he keeps pushing everyone else the way he’s pushing. I don’t think there’s a happy person here but Mickey.”
Mickey Grosman and crew hike in “Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes.”
Warner Bros Discovery
Grosman, a cancer survivor, promoted the trip as a way to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. A former member of the Israel Defense Forces, Grosman decided to form a team to make the 8,000-mile expedition.
“Nothing like this has ever been documented before, where someone … walks from one side of the Amazon and reaches the other end in one piece [without] like losing a leg or a life,” said one of the documentary’s authors Expedition.
The premiere shows how the team begins their adventure in Ecuador by choosing local guides native to the area. Grossman said they were following him.
“I don’t play games here; I will continue without you,” he said.
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Robert Finlay, another participant featured in the first episode, is an ex-military man who had a passion for survival expeditions.
In the series, he said that he “redecorated [his] life” to join the journey.
“A leader is simply a guy who helps carry out the mission with his team,” Finlay told the cameras as the group hit a rough start, with people left behind and what he called unnecessary river crossings that put some of the explorers at risk. .
“The team is here. We should empower people, period,” he said.
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Finlay wasn’t afraid to speak up – but during the first episode, Grosman was met with a hostile response.
“I carry out my expedition in my own way,” the leader kept saying.
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Jackson, who used to be a part of survival camps, found that Grosman “acts in a way that makes you kind of trust him,” he said. But that feeling has changed.
Later in the trip, when asked if he still believed in Grossman, Jackson replied, “No,” before adding, “His style is, ‘It’s either my way or the highway.’ ”
Jackson also joined the group a few weeks after the trip, so he said he fell behind because he had less time to acclimate.
Noting that the others would often have moved on without him, Finlay said it was a failure on Grosman’s part.
“[His] the leadership was sorely lacking,” Finlay said.
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Although the hike was billed as a journey of exploration and bonding, Jackson described it as “soldier style” and ended up feeling disheartened by what he called Grosman’s lack of support.
“It’s more like a breakdown and less like an adventure,” he said.
When Grosman began to criticize the way the guides prioritized safety and rest, he fired them. Then the team began to see Grossman’s anger – and what they felt was his mistreatment.
“He was mad at me for catching him in a mistake,” Finlay said.
“You keep quiet as a fish, but behind my back you start manipulating my employees,” Grosman told Finlay, who called Grosman a “tyrant.”
Grosman then kicked him out of the expedition.
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Groups traverse rapids in “Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes.”
Warner Bros Discovery
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Towards the end of the episode, Alexander Hernandez took Finlay’s place. He quickly realized what he was getting himself into.
“I didn’t think Mickey was going the route because it was better; I thought Mickey was going some way because it was harder,” Hernandez said.
At the end of the episode, the group was lost in the mountains for more than seven hours after Grosman and a local he recruited led them through a treacherous “shortcut”.
“It’s not life or death yet,” Jackson admitted, “but it’s pretty close.”
Expedition from Hell: The Lost Tapes premiering May 12 at 10:00 PM ET on Discovery Channel and Max.
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Source: HIS Education