“He has to go and live on the edge,” explains Lina Móey about her husband, the Icelandic mountaineer John Snorri Sigurjonsson, in “The Last First: Winter K2.
asserted
Móey → have → First
And she means it literally: He has to go live on the edge of a mountain.
asserted
He → mean → mountain
In this case, it’s the most forbidding mountain on the planet: K2, on the border between Pakistan and China.
asserted
it → ’ → Pakistan
Sigurjonsson, one of the main figures profiled in Amir Bar-Lev’s engrossing and sobering documentary, was already a celebrated climber when he returned to K2, the world’s second-highest peak after Mount Everest.
asserted
he → profile → Everest
He had scaled it in summertime.
asserted
He → scale → summertime
Now, four years later, Sigurjonsson aimed to scale it in winter.
asserted
Sigurjonsson → aim → winter
That’s a feat no climber had ever achieved on what one expert calls a “savage mountain.”
asserted
expert → ’ → what
But that winter in 2021, as Pakistan eased pandemic-era border restrictions, dozens of climbers — veterans and novices alike — saw a chance to achieve that “last first” in extreme climbing.
asserted
dozens → ease → climbing
Ultimately, 10 would make the summit.
asserted
10 → make → summit
But Bar-Lev’s film is far from the usual inspiring look at how determination and grit resulted in a triumph of spirit and body.
asserted
determination → result → spirit
It’s a movie that instead looks at the cynical opportunism that has led to a dangerous — and in this case, utterly catastrophic — commercialization of extreme climbing.
asserted
that → ’ → climbing
That there were deaths on the 2021 climb is well-documented.
asserted
were → be → climb
But Bar-Lev, who has pieced together some extraordinarily intimate footage (he himself did not shoot on site), chooses to assume the viewer doesn’t know, keeping the final tragedy a mystery until the end.
asserted
viewer → piece → end
His message comes through immediately, though, in a pre-credits sequence.
asserted
message → come → sequence
We hear the crackling of a radio, and the voice of American climber Colin O’Brady, far up the mountain.
asserted
We → hear → mountain
“I want to be on the record, I’m very worried about people’s safety,” O’Brady says.
asserted
O’Brady → want → safety
We then go back two months, with Sigurjonsson saying an emotional goodbye to Moey and their six children as he departs Iceland on his dream mission.
asserted
he → go → mission
“Finally this day has come,” he writes on Facebook.
asserted
he → come → Facebook
Once at K2 base camp, he bonds with his team: noted Pakistani climber Ali Sadpara and his son, Sajid.
asserted
he → bond → team
The trio starts the slow process of acclimating to the mountain air and preparing for the ordeal ahead.
asserted
trio → start → ordeal
Then the Nepali team arrives.
asserted
team → arrive → ?
Their star, Nimsdai Purja, is on his own mission: making history for his nation.
asserted
star → make → nation
Historically, climbers from Nepal have been crucial in helping Westerners reach climbing greatness, with no glory for themselves.
asserted
Westerners → help → themselves
So, though Purja gives Ali a big hug upon arrival and all seems collegial, there are sharp egos at stake, and nationalist pride.
asserted
all → give → stake
“Nimsdai,” one climber says, “was there to win it.”
asserted
climber → say → it
And he did — though his team seemingly betrayed the others to do it, setting off alone one morning despite an agreement with Sigurjonsson and the Sadparas to summit together.
asserted
team → do → Sigurjonsson
We see the trio’s reaction in their tent: shock and disappointment.
asserted
We → see → tent
“It was over,” says Moey.
asserted
Moey → say → ?
Not long after, an experienced climber dies in a fall.
asserted
climber → die → fall
Now, there’s talk of everyone going home.
asserted
everyone → ’ → ?
But things get complicated.
asserted
things → get → ?
Pakistani officials arrive for a visit and make it clear the country is counting on their two countrymen to show they can match the Nepalis.
asserted
they → arrive → Nepalis
On top of that, filmmaker Elia Saikaly has arrived, planning a movie on Ali Sadpara and his heroic attempt.
asserted
Saikaly → arrive → Sadpara
Says Moey: “There was so much pressure on them.”
asserted
Moey → say → them
Meanwhile, the true villain of the tale — the travel company Seven Summit Treks — has brought a group of fee-paying clients, many woefully inexperienced.
asserted
many → bring → clients
And ill-equipped: When they reach Camp Three, from where climbers make the final push to the summit, they lack tents and food to survive the night.
asserted
they → equip → night
So they plead their way into the tents of more experienced climbers, making it impossible for them to get any rest or prepare properly.
asserted
them → plead → rest
The next day, only three climbers make a final push to the summit.
asserted
climbers → make → summit
Some of it — such as people learning close friends or partners have died — was apparently too intimate to make the final cut.
asserted
friends → learn → cut
But such personal moments are key to keeping the film moving.
asserted
moments → keep → film
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
