Photo Credit: Discovery Channel
Colonia native Tim Medvetz's second attempt to scale Mount Everest is documented on the Discovery Channel beginning this week.

"It was the worst day of my life," says medvetz of that day, which was famously documented in the network's 2006 series, "Everest: Beyond the Limit." "Everything that you've been training for, preparing for - physically, mentally, spiritually - to see it so close, right there,all your dreams, and to have to walk away from it... It was horrible."

His choice - either accept defeat or risk joining the dozens of other climbers who died on the way back - was difficult.

"I definitely had a case of summit fever," Medvetz says. "All you think about is getting that last pick into the summit. And you don't think about how the summit is only half-way. You haven't truly climbed Everest until you've gotten back down. Ninety percent of the bodies you're passing along the way - all of the frozen people - made the summit. They just didn't make it back down."

He credits his expedition leader, Russell Brice, with talking him down Everest, and says his inability to reach the top made him even more determined to return this year.

"By turning around, you really find out who you are and what you're made out of," he says. He also said he learned that he can count on something else: "The mountain ain't going nowhere."

Everest still may have been there when he returned in the spring, but previous experience didn't necessarily make his second attempt any easier. About eight hours from the peak, Medvetz says he got tangled in some old rope that was wrapped around a rock, tripped, and broke his right hand trying to steady himself.

"It was either go off to the left or break my fall on the rock (with his hand) to the right," he says. Considering the alternative was a straight drop off the mountain, Medvetz knows he was lucky. "That was a good decision."

Medvetz's determination to scale the tallest mountain in the world is even more impressive given his significant physical limitations. In 2001, the Los Angeles resident was so seriously injured in a motorcycle accident that doctors said he would never walk again. Although he ultimately recovered, the screws, mesh cages and metal plates that hold a good portion of his body together slowed him down considerably during the intense climb.

The fact that his latest attempt left his body with 10 more screws and two more metal plates doesn't seem to faze him - or the network - much.

"Discovery Channel was more excited about my new X-ray of my hand" after it was repaired, says Medvetz with a laugh.

Discovery Channel will also debut a new four-part series, "After the Climb," following "Everest 2: Beyond the Limit" beginning at 11 p.m. Nov. 27. The program features discussions with both amateur and seasoned climbers, including Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund Hillary.