INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH

[Music] Death Valley California the hottest driest most forbidding landscape on earth a bizarre world of sunscorch sand and rock where temperatures exceed 130° and survival a headlong Dash to shade it was here in 1966 that a young Frenchman began a most unusual Odyssey attempting to become the first person to walk the length of Death Valley in the middle of summer [Music] [Laughter] brought to you by gas saving Penzoil mtiv Vis quality in every extra mile ask for it penoil everywhere I go people ask me Arie is that old tractor you drove in the penol commercial still running still running we use it here at Latrobe every day and with penoil protecting the engine there are a lot more miles left in it you know this old tractor and I are a lot alike we're both still using penoil and we're both still running gas saving penoil quality in every extra mile Death Valley is appropriately named in the past Century over two dozen people have lost their lives here that's the kind of place this is heat so intense that dry Timber bursts into flames and water left out in the midday Sun comes to a slow boil it was in this harsh environment in 1966 that a young Frenchman Jean Pierre marquant attempted to prove something he wanted to be the first man to walk the length of Death Valley a grueling 100m Trek in the scorching heat of Midsummer this is Jean Pierre's incredible story his Challenge and his attempt at Conquest day one I start out from s sand dunes in late afternoon I will try to cover as much ground as I can during the first night while I'm still fresh the sun is about to set yet it is still 118° after only a few hundred yards I am drenched I have never experienced anything like it already I begin to wonder can I possibly survive seven complete days in this [Music] heat and what will it be like tomorrow in the hot sun everyone asks why this Valley why this I had a job it was better than some and I think I could have learned to like it this enough time [Music] and I had a girlfriend who I thought I [Music] liked and if I just kept my job I could one day get married and that's what I was planning to do because that's what Janet wanted me to do but there was something in me that said no there must be more to like Liv and [Music] [Music] jce I dreamed of world's past of adventurous men in Far Away places and I S what a pity those worlds were [Music] lost there no longer was Adventure they were just [Music] books the Valley of Death the hottest place on [Music] Earth then the idea struck me why not I could prove to all French people that Adventure could still be found and I would go to America to prove it there was more to life than just a job and a one-bedroom [Music] apartment day two I have covered 12 miles during the first night ahead is rolite or what is left of it a gold mining town of the early 19 1800s I will stop for a moment hey Jimmy over here iuck the other [Music] night at one time the town had 10,000 people but when the goal ran out nobody wanted to stay there is one other place I must stop Jean Lemo a fellow Frenchman he died here 100 years ago he was leaving the valley trying to return to his native France he didn't get very far his bu ran away he died a horrible death rest in peace comrade what happened to Jean Lemo will not happen to me I have prepared myself too well I ran 25 miles each morning outside of my native knees up and down the steepest Hills I could find and as much as I wanted it I refus to drink water my body must be ready for the challenge ahead Chups 50 each day situps 500 push-ups [Music] 200 I planned my route more than 100 miles over the most rugged terrain anywhere in the world water of course would be my biggest problem even in excellent physical condition I would need three gallons each day I could never carry that much I would have to bury it at predetermined locations before I began my journey everything had to be planned to The Last Detail I would bring an umbrella along not for rain but for shade sunglasses would always be worn to protect my eyes and for special conditions a pair of mountaineering goggles I could go blind without them the light is so harsh gloves for the Hot Rocks they could reach 200° the only food I would bring baby food it will digest easily and one final item that I hoped I wouldn't need get tough protect your car with Maguire's lifetime poly sealant system tough protection from polymer technology and 50 years of professional car wax experience Maguire a blend of tough polymers expensive waxes and silicon get Maguire's deep shine in one easy step a shine so tough we dare to give you a guarantee for the life of your car Maguire in liquid or paste [Music] by the middle of the second day the temperature reaches 127° Jean Pierre begins to fatigue quickly the heat is far worse than I imagined it never ends an inferno and I cannot Escape my feet burn through the SES of my shoes I want water all the time but I know I can't drink the little water I am able to carry must be used sparingly [Music] shade is wherever I can find it in this case an abandoned M shaft I have no appetite but I try to eat anyway it is to no avail I am unable to keep anything [Music] down I have only traveled 30 miles and my left foot feels like it is on fire [Music] it is painful but it will not stop my journey the night offers no Solas it is so hot I cannot sleep my mind wanders back to the ranger station John Pierre I've worked in this Valley for eight years you don't know what you're getting into you're not going to make it I will make it Kelly at a Los Angeles newspaper a young reporter gets an assignment thank you bag some guy's Crossing uh death Ville I want you to cover it why would anybody want to do that it beats me but I want it covered why me because no one else wants to [Music] go it is my third day I am tired but I am still on [Music] schedule ahead of me one of the biggest obstacles in my journey it rises one mile above my head Dante's Peak I must climb it with 50 lb on my [Music] back as John Pierre continues his climb the young reporter gets his first taste of Death Valley Heat [Music] magnific I feel [Music] exhilarated at a time like this it is difficult to think of the people who have lost their lives here in 1849 a group of pioneers were trapped below they had blundered into the valley by mistake looking for a shorter route to California when it was over 14 had lost their lives searching for a way out it is hard to imagine that a land so beautiful could be so harsh in a valley 500 square miles in size finding a solitary hiker can be difficult you're overheated where is everybody nobody here it's summer only crazy people here in the summer say he uh you wouldn't know anything about this Frenchman marquant he's trying to cross the valley oh someone trying to make it across huh it's been a while you don't know where I could find him find him you ain't going to find him find his bones maybe you don't think you'll make it huh they never do the hardest part comes last oh yeah what's that Salt Flats burn a man alive say let me get you some M for that car boy cheap $10 jer's trip down the mountain should have been uneventful and he was near the bottom when it happened [Music] how do you say quality in a motor oil P NN z i l Penzoil contains its own additive z7 and exceeds all car manufacturer warranty requirements Penzoil has always Advanced with the TI and multiv Vis penoil is part of the quality tradition it protects your engine while it saves you gasoline gas saving Penzoil quality in every extra mile ask for it [Music] what happened to him dehydration the tongue always swells up like that the body was that of a young Army reservist found dead in a remote area near Death Valley it would be determined later that he lasted less than one day in the blistering heat Jean Pierre of course knew nothing of the discovery of the dead reservice he was having enough problems of his own if unable to walk he would more than likely die a slow agonizing death my leg was not badly inured I could still [Music] walk mer [Music] is [Music] [Music] on the sixth day an exhausted Jean Pierre enters the Pinnacles strange salt formations century is old and is sharp as glass I am exhausted the mountain is behind me but I am a day behind schedule I have little water remaining and I must go another day to my next water station for the first time in my journey I realize that I may not make it I may [Music] die it's 88° in the city going up to a high of 95 good day to be at the beach and if you think that it's hot you wouldn't want to be in death Bley right now it's a sizzling 122° and you may not believe this but there's some crazy Frenchman Jean Pierre marquant who's there right now attempting to become the first person in history to cross the valley in the middle of summer now now John Pierre buddy I don't know why you're doing it but I'll admire you for it just the same on the seventh day Jean Pierre confronts his final obstacle the soft Flats a 12m stretch of white burning salt where ground temperatures can reach 200° [Music] by this time Jean Pierre is suffering from severe exhaustion and his body is rapidly approaching the point of dehydration his metal processes are numbed and it is only sheer determination that forces him on [Music] losing his umbrella Jean Pierre has now exposed the full Fury of the soft Flats [Music] that afternoon the ranger finds Jean Pierre's umbrella and with Jean Pierre nowhere in sight assumes the worse [Music] the motor oil in the bright yellow can with the red bell and the name Penzoil Penzoil gives you another reason to ask for it see it saves gasoline because penoil has added gas savings to their regular multi-weight oils so you get all the quality and protection pen oil is famous for plus extra miles gas saving penoil quality in every extra mile brought to you by gas saving Penzoil multiv Vis quality in every extra mile ask for it Penzoil not knowing whether Jean Pierre is dead or alive an odd group of Spectators gather at a Finish Line outside of stovepipe Wells the young reporter the ranger who told Jean Pier he couldn't make it a medic assigned by Death Valley authorities a lifetime resident of stovepipe wells and a couple from Needles California who didn't have anything better to do that day here he comes 8 days and 102 miles after he began his unusual Odyssey Jean Pierre marquant struggles the last few yards towards his destination [Music] [Applause] the feat of Jean Pierre marquant may not rank with the conquest of Mount Everest but this isn't what Jean Pierre had in mind his goal was simple enough to prove that Adventure still can be found if someone was just willing to accept the challenge [Music]