The Summit (TV series)

The Summit is an Australian reality television series which first premiered on 14 May 2023. The premise being that a group of contestants have to reach the top of a mountain, undertaking various tasks along the way. Each contestant has a backpack with a portion of the grand prize of A$1,000,000.
The series is produced by Nine Network and Endemol Shine Australia. Auditions for a second season opened in August 2023, with filming to take place over three weeks between November and December 2023. Season two premiered on Sunday, 12 May 2024. In October 2024, the series was not renewed and won't return in 2025.

Format

Contestants must all inevitably work together to complete several tasks, within only fourteen days. They are initially strangers to each other. Where a contestant stops competing, the prize pot significantly reduces; similarly all the prize pot will disappear if the syndicate does not reach the summit in the allocated time.
The host of the series is Australian actor Jai Courtney.

Mountain's Keeper

The Mountain's Keeper will make appearances throughout the series; she keeps track of the trekkers' movements, is fully aware of the procedures necessary to reach the summit, and will be keeping an eye on the group at all times. The Keeper will occasionally instruct the gang to get rid of someone in order to advance.

Checkpoints

The team may stay in a sizeable campground and get a variety of amenities, including food, when the trekkers reach a checkpoint. The team must, however, vote one of its own team members off the mountain at the majority of checkpoints, with the evictee's money still in the game.

Endgame

Should the remaining team members make it to the summit, then the prize fund will be divided among the successful team members by the eliminated players. This was alluded to on the show with the saying “Be careful with who you meet on the way up, because you don't know who you'll see on the way down” as said by Jai on the start of their journey.

Location

The series was filmed in the Southern Alps, South Island, New Zealand starting near Glenorchy at the northern tip of Lake Wakatipu. During the second episode a clear view of Mount Alfred can be seen during the climb up to the ridge overlooking the Rees River.
The destination summit is Mount Head with several episodes were shot on Rees Valley and The Branches high-country stations in the province of Otago, north of Glenorchy. Lake scenes were shot at Lochnagar, headwaters of the Shotover River. Both locations are on private or leasehold land. The series places emphasis on the sociological aspects of competition and reward, as the group works together to complete the arduous task of climbing the mountain, while also having to work against each other out of self-preservation.

Season 1 (2023)

Contestants

Name	Age	State	Occupation	Status	Reason for exit
Isaac Compton	36	NSW	Musician	Day 14	Completed
Brooke Kilowsky	38	SA	Parent	Day 14	Completed
Lulu Hawton	38	WA	Boxer	Day 14	Completed
Jans Andre	28	Qld	Entrepreneur	Day 14	Lulu chose to eliminate
Alex Silvagni	35	WA	Former AFL player	Day 13	Eliminated at checkpoint
Indy Thompson	23	Tas	Marine scientist	Day 13	Lulu chose to eliminate
Josh Waldhorn	52	Vic	Graphic designer	Day 11	Majority group voted to eliminate
Sam Molineaux	28	NSW	Personal trainer	Day 8	Eliminated at checkpoint
Phillip Kuoch	29	Vic	Doughnut bakery owner	Day 8	Eliminated in challenge by sacrifice
Annikki Chand	27	Qld	Dance teacher	Day 7	Eliminated at checkpoint
Jacqui Cooper	50	Vic	Olympic aerial skier	Day 6	Brooke chose to eliminate
Gemma Mullins	29	Vic	Health coach	Day 5	Eliminated at checkpoint
Catherine "Kitty" Connor	60	NT	Outback registered nurse	Day 3	Withdrew voluntarily
Stephen Butler	34	Qld	Sock designer	Day 2	Majority group voted to eliminate

Elimination

; Colour key:

Season 2 (2024)

Contestants

Name	Age	State	Occupation	Status	Reason for exit
Charlotte Shelton	35	NSW	Nurse/Midwife	Day 15	Completed
Mat Rogers	48	Qld	Former NRL player	Day 15	Completed
Simmone Jade Mackinnon	51	NSW	Business owner/Actress	Day 15	Completed
Trisha Lindgren	43	SA	Personal trainer	Day 14	Mat chose to eliminate
Taylor Reid	28	Vic	Stevedore	Day 13	Eliminated at checkpoint
Tiffani Wood	46	NSW	Singer	Day 12	Majority group voted to eliminate
Sam Molineaux	29	NSW	Personal trainer/Season 1 Climber	Day 11	Eliminated at checkpoint
Ava Kazemi	29	LA/WA	Aerospace engineer	Day 11	Majority group voted to eliminate
Phil Britten	43	WA	Martial artist/Motivations speaker	Day 10	Sam's choice to replace
Olympia Valance	31	Vic	Actress	Day 7	Eliminated at checkpoint
Lochie Dornauf	31	Tas	Farmer/councillor	Day 6	Eliminated at checkpoint
Glen "Sharkesy" Parkes	30	Qld	Unprofessional poker player	Day 5	Withdrew due to believing the game is rigged
Roslyn "Ros" Buerckner	41	Qld	Horse trainer/farmer	Day 4	Eliminated at checkpoint
Theo Zaharopoulos	49	Vic	Stay-at-home dad	Day 3	Withdrew for medical reasons
David Cotgreave	59	WA	Technical director	Day 2	Majority group voted to eliminate

Elimination

; Colour key:

International versions

American version

An American version aired on CBS from September to December 2024 with New Zealand actor Manu Bennett as host. However, it was cancelled on April 22, 2025, after one season.

Other versions

In July 2024, it was reported that a British version had been commissioned by ITV. In November, Ben Shephard was confirmed as host of the series with filming taking place in New Zealand's South Island; it was initially expected to be aired in 2025, but was delayed until early 2026.
A Finnish version, The Summit Suomi, started airing on MTV3 in January 2025. It features 14 contestants climbing Stetinden in Norway for the maximum prize of €150,000. A Norwegian version, Vokteren, was commissioned by TV 2 that featured 14 contestants climbing Stetinden. A Swedish version, Berget, was commissioned by TV4; however, production was cancelled after a contestant died. A German edition was greenlit by Prime Video to be filmed in New Zealand, however will feature German celebrities.