1. On the day of the flight, young Norman Ollestad notices especially thick clouds and overhears a radio warning about the weather. What was the pilot's reaction to the warning? Why didn't Ollestad speak up and voice his concerns? 2. Ollestad describes a time when he was staying in a Mexican fishing village with his father. When they went Surfing, the waves were massive, yet he was able to successfully reach the center of a fierce wave, saying it felt like he had reached the center of the universe. "You’re in the middle of this energy force that can crush you, yet somehow you've tamed it and you're sitting inside of it. You've sort of broken it," he recalls. Explain how this moment might have helped him survive on the mountain.

3. On the day of the plane crash, the temperature on the mountain was just 10 degrees. Have you ever been in weather that cold or even colder? If so, do your best to describe how it felt.

4. Early in the episode, the narrator says that the "important things we learn from our parents don't really come into focus until much later in life." How was this true for Ollestad and his father?

5. Think about your own parents/guardians. What piece of advice do they say to you most often? What lasting lesson have you actually learned just from watching them?

6. Norman Ollestad, Sr., was 43 when he died. Given what you know about him from his son's description, would you say he lived a successful life? What leads you to this conclusion?