Chilly survivalist movie Infinite Storm has been proving a hit on Netflix UK, with the mountain rescue adventure starring Naomi Watts sitting comfortably in the streamer's Top 10 movies list for some time now.
Infinite Storm follows troubled mountain hiker Pam Bales as she embarks on a seemingly-normal hike of Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Near the peak she discovers an ill-prepared hiker whom she has to rescue when a nasty storm sets in.
If you've watched the movie on Netflix, you might be surprised to hear that Infinite Storm is actually based on a true story. In January 2019, The New Hampshire Union Leader published a story written by Ty Gagne called 'Footprints in the snow lead to an emotional rescue' and it was eventually adapted into the 2022 movie that you just watched.
Not everything that happened in Infinite Storm happened in real life though, so let's run through a fact vs fiction so you can find out more about the real events.
Did Pam nearly die before meeting John?
Early on in Infinite Storm, Pam faces danger before she's even met John. She falls through a hollow in the snow and has to claw her way out of a hole.
In real life, Pam did not face any such threat — her path to John was uneventful by the sounds of it. In fact, in order to stay safe, Pam abandoned her plans to summit Mount Washington and continued down a safer route, as she was an expert mountaineer.
Was John really wearing shorts and trainers?
In the movie, Pam is surprised to see sneaker trails before she finds John, and when she finds him, discovers that he's only wearing shorts — she remarks that he looks dressed for a day at the beach!
In real life, John really was just as ill-prepared for the cold. He was wearing tennis shoes and shorts, a thin jacket and gloves that didn't even have fingers. He also wore a windbreaker that was frozen over with ice.
Luckily, Pam had spare clothes so she could dress him up to protect him from the cold.
Was the return journey so eventful?
In Infinite Storm, John spends much of the return journey falling down hills, crashing into ponds, and generally having a tough time of it.
In real life, it was a little different, though still tough. Visibility was bad and Pam didn't know what the weather was like, so they made a slow path back to the trail head. Pam sung to John a mash-up of Elvis songs, and it took them six hours in total to get back to the trail, compared to four on the outward journey.
Had Pam really lost her daughters?
The sad backstory of Pam in Infinite Storm is that Pam had lost her daughters in a gas leak some time prior. Her visits to the mountain were an attempt to escape and find therapy in nature, though she was haunted by flashbacks to these children.
In real life, Ty Gagne's story makes no mention of such a backstory for Pam.
What really happened to John?
As in the movie, John quickly scarpered as soon as he and Pam returned to the trailhead. However in real life he did stay long enough to thank Pam for rescuing him, and also for her to dry out his frozen clothes on the heater of her vehicle, so a little longer than in the movie.
The mystery ended a week later when the president of the Pemigewasset Valley Search and Rescue Team (of which Pam was a volunteer) received a letter from this John.
While he wished to remain anonymous, he admitted that he'd climbed Mount Washington to take his own life. However the selflessness of Pam had convinced him that he still mattered, and according to the letter, he decided to get help after the incident. So it was a happy ending after all!
If you'll remember from the movie, a news report had received a letter similar to this, though somehow the news had broken the very next morning.
While Infinite Storm gives him the sad backstory of having lost a loved one on the mountain a year previously, there's no reason to believe that's true in real life, as his letter didn't mention it. It does shift his characterization a little bit: in real life his suicide plan was pre-meditated when he went up the mountain, but in the movie, he only decided to end his life when he was already up the mountain.
Did Pam really re-unite with John?
In Infinite Storm, after news breaks of Pam's rescuing John, she tries to find clues to his identity but to no avail.
That changes when a stranger offers to hunt down John for her. Somehow he succeeds, prompting John and Pam to meet at a diner together, and discuss their sad backstories.
In real life, at least according to the original story, Pam and John never saw each other again. John's desire for anonymity was maintained as Pam became a legend of Mount Washington, and this emotional reunion was created for the story.
