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 did not return for 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.

Series details Season Episodes No. of contestants Originally aired Result Season premiere Season finale Remaining contestants at Summit Initial Prize Remaining Prize Decision? 10 14 3 $490k Unequally split 11 15 $536k

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 27Qld 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: – Completed The Summit and received a share of the prize – Eliminated and lost the money – Withdrew from the competition and lost the money – Eliminated at a checkpoint and money was stolen – Eliminated at a checkpoint, money was stolen, but stole from the cash pot – Trekker had immunity – Given Power to Eliminate (PE) a Trekker

Name Days in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Isaac Completed$250k Brooke PE Completed$150k Lulu PE Completed$90k PE Jans Alex Eliminated colspan=14 Indy colspan=14 Josh colspan=14 Sam Immunity colspan=14 Phillip colspan=14 Annikki Eliminated colspan=14 Jacqui colspan=14 Gemma Eliminated colspan=14 Catherine colspan=14 Stephen colspan=14 Prize $1m $928.5k $857k $785.5k $704k $632k $560.5k $490k

Episodes

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: – Completed The Summit and received a share of the prize – Eliminated and lost the money – Withdrew from the competition and lost the money – Eliminated at a checkpoint and money was stolen – Eliminated by The Chaser and money was stolen – The Chaser entered the competition

Name Days in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Charlotte Completed$336k Mat Completed$100k Simmone Completed$100k Trisha Eliminated-$53.5k colspan=12 Taylor Eliminated colspan=12 Tiffani Eliminated-$53.5k colspan=12 Sam In Eliminated colspan=12 Ava Eliminated-$53.5k colspan=12 Phil Eliminated colspan=12 Olympia Eliminated colspan=12 Lochie Eliminated colspan=12 Sharkesy colspan=11 Ros Eliminated colspan=12 Theo colspan=13 David colspan=14 Group Lost $270k Gained $250k Lost $4k colspan=3 Lost $50K Lost $100KGained $80K colspan=4 Lost $50k colspan=2 Prize $1m/750k $925.5k $869k $815.5k $765.5 $746.5 $693k $639.5k $589.5k $536k

Episodes

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. This version features a top prize of £200,000. The series was cancelled after one season due to low viewership.

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.

See also

Similar shows Australian Survivor The Bridge

References

External links