"America's Toughest Jobs" - October 18, 2008 episode

The five remaining contestants are taken to Mt. McKinley, Alaska, where their next job will be as a mountain guide. Their boss looks so young, and he certainly doesn't look old enough to have 20 years of experience. He looks like a kid!

The first thing they learn is self-arrest, where if they're falling or someone else is falling, they have to be able to stop themselves with nothing but a pick axe. Next, they go on a hike to where their campsite will be, and along the way, they have to carry a pack with gear that weighs 100 pounds, and they're climbing uphill, and the air is getting thinner so they're getting less oxygen AND there's a snow storm. Sandy is having a particularly difficult time through all this.

When they get to where they'll be making camp, they still have to dig in the snow to set up their site, including trenches where the kitchen and sleeping tents will be put up as well as a latrine for their use. Once the tents are pitched, they cook a make-shift dinner and eat before finally going to bed.

The next morning, they have to learn how to rescue someone who has fallen into a crevasse. They have to stop themselves from falling, tie knots to transfer the line to a pulley system, and then pull the person up from over the edge. They will each be "saving" another member of their group.

Steven goes first, rescuing Ben, and he does an excellent job. Michaela is up next, rescuing Sandy, and she has a hard time planting herself initially, but she makes up for it in the rest of the task. Sandy rescues Rommel and does a pretty good job, and Ben rescues Steven, but he also has a hard time planting himself, so since Steven had fallen further, Ben has to pull him up a longer distance. Rommel is last to go, rescuing Michaela, and he does a good job as well.

The last task is the next day, when they have to make a high-altitude summit climb, to Control Tower, which is the peak. It's a very difficult time, and Sandy is still having a hard time being tired and losing her footing, and Rommel messes up their anchoring system at one point, putting them all in potential danger, but finally, five hours later, they make it to the top and are able to enjoy the view for a short time before having to make their way back down.

So they go through adding the salary to the winning pot, and a first-year guide makes something like $15,000. Are you kidding me? Cold, wind, potential death - all for $15,000? No frickin' way.

The best of the group is determined to be Michaela, and the bottom two are Sandy and Rommel, which was pretty evident based on everything that happened. The final challenge is to rescue a 100 pound dummy who has fallen into a crevasse, and the person with the fastest time goes on. In the end, Sandy's time is 4:41 and Rommel's time is 4:53, so Rommel is eliminated. Sandy was dead on during her portion of the challenge, and Rommel was doing a really good job as well, but near the end, he had a problem with his rope, which he had to adjust, and I think that's what cost him. I'm glad that Sandy made it through.

The final four are Michaela, Sandy, Ben and Steven, and next week is the season finale. Who will come out on top? I'm rooting for it to be either Sandy or Michaela because I like them best.