Friends Hike 3 Hours to Scenic Viewpoint, See Something They Didn't Expect

A video of two comedians being met by a disappointing view after a long mountain trek in "awful" weather has gone viral on TikTok, and one of the hikers told Newsweek how they managed to laugh it off.

The moment was captured in a video by Irish funnyman Killian Sundermann (@killersundy) who said he and his friend and fellow comic Michael Nardone were in the Irish county of Kerry, hiking up Currauntoohill, the highest mountain in Ireland. The clip has had 1.3 million views since it was shared on June 30.

A message overlaid on the video says "When you've hiked three hours for the view." The footage shows Sundermann and Nardone standing in the rain against a foggy backdrop, observing the "beautiful view."

Sundermann told Newsweek: "The weather was awful from the very start, we hiked through drenched fog for hours with the hope that we'd get a beautiful view. It was supposed to clear up, it didn't obviously. We then trudged back down the mountain and went to the pub."

More than 61 million people in the U.S. are reported to have engaged in hiking activities at least once last year. This was the highest number recorded in the country since 2010, marking a growth of around 89 percent from the figure reported that year, according to data compiled by Statista, the global data firm.

Outdoor activity saw a rise following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, with new and returning outdoor participants having increased by 26 percent, according to a 2022 report from the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA).

In 2021, 164.2 million or 54 percent of Americans aged six and over participated in outdoor recreation at least once, "the highest number of participants on record," the OIA report found.

'A Laugh or Cry Situation'

Standing with his friend on the mountaintop and taking in the view from 3,407 feet up, Sundermann says in the viral clip "It's beautiful," while Nardone replies "It's something else."

Sundermann notes "I mean, you could tell what it would look like if you could see it," and his friend adds "If it was clear."

The poster says "but it was worth the hike," before Nardone asks "should we head back down?" as the clip ends.

TikTok users were amused by the scene in the viral video and could relate to the hikers' feelings.

Crittta said "This is a laugh or cry situation I'm glad you went with laugh."

TERTIUS_28 said "I know that feeling" and @srhmikaela added "I can relate."

Irish Poster Prints wrote "Screaming" and indi_shergill noted "This would break me."

"At least this will be a core memory with your friend," said @withnatass.

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