Mountaineering Movies - Top 10 Favourites

There are only 14 mountains in the world which rise above 8,000 meters. Crossing that height transports you into the death zone, a place where there is not enough oxygen in the air for humans to survive. You become weak and have little brain power. Summiting these mountains is an accomplishment only thousands can say they have done, but summiting the deadliest mountain in the world is a matter of hundreds. A mountain so treacherous there are years go by where no human dares to reach its peak. Its unforgiving face has claimed the lives of many who have tried to conquer it. Every step is a battle against the elements. Yet still, its peak is a place of raw beauty. Nicknamed the savage mountain, this is why climbing K2 is a death sentence. In the 1950s, mountaineer George Bell described K2 as a savage mountain that tries to kill you, and he wasn't wrong. Until recently, there was a fatality rate of roughly 20%, but every four successful summits there was on average one death. 2022 saw K2 unfortunately claim three more lives. Also, until recently, it was true to say that more humans have been into space than stood on K2's peak. I'll explain what I mean by until recently later in this video. But why is K2 so dangerous? To truly grasp the sheer barbarity of this mountain, it's best to split it into four sections. Location, altitude, weather, and technical difficulty. So let's begin with the location. K2 is remote, really remote. The way it got its name is the best way to express how truly remote it is. It was first surveyed by the British in 1856, as they were trying to work out the border between Kashmir and China. The surveyor would write down the altitude of a mountain and name it K1, then would name the next K2, K3, etc. Afterwards, they would ask the local people, which is where they got names such as Gashubrum and Kanjutsar. But K2 was so isolated that no local had a name for it, so K2 stuck. Its remoteness makes it hard to get to before you even begin to ascend it. It takes roughly a week to even reach base camp. In this week, you have to travel over a highly technical glacier and a rocky trail, which could easily lead to injuries before you've even begun to climb the mountain. You're also staying in tents every night. Compare this to Mount Everest, where there's a much easier walking trail to reach base camp, with warm tea houses to stay in along the way. K2's remoteness and altitude makes getting a search and rescue helicopter a lot harder. Combine this with the fact that only the Pakistan Army is allowed to fly in this airspace due to the close proximity to the war zone of India, means that any injuries have a much greater chance of turning fatal. Located in the Karakoram mountain range, K2 is the second highest peak in the world. It reaches an altitude of 28,251 feet or 8,611 meters. Being above 8,000 meters means it's part of an exclusive club with just 14 members. What makes these mountains so deadly is the fact that you cross into the death zone for final ascent, a place where your body uses oxygen faster than it can be replenished. An extended stay in the death zone without supplementary oxygen will ultimately lead to death. Your body attempts to acclimatise by producing more red blood cells, your heart beats faster and non-essential bodily functions are suppressed, and one also breathes more deeply. Acclimatisation isn't a short process though, it can take weeks. This is why people experience altitude sickness, including high-altitude pulmonary oedema, known as HAPE, or cerebral oedema, known as HACE. The reduced brain power and lack of strength has led to many fatalities in the death zone. Despite weather forecasting technologies advancing astronomically since K2's first summit in 1954, there is an understanding amongst its climbers that it's still not predictable. It's situated further north than Everest, making for increased likelihood of incredibly foul weather due to the jet stream. The jet stream is a fast-moving river of air in Earth's atmosphere, which can bring rapid changes in weather. In the winter, gusts at K2 can reach hurricane force levels, which would throw climbers off the mountain as if they were just a feather in the wind. On top of this, there is a heightened risk of avalanches, the severity of which is evident in the 2008 K2 disaster. Some specifics of the events that took place on the 1st and 2nd of August in 2008, which led to 11 deaths and 3 serious injuries, are still unknown. But what we do know is that an ice avalanche happened during an area of the climb called the bottleneck. The avalanche destroyed many of the climbers' ropes, which unfortunately led to their deaths. So you're already fighting a losing battle when you start to climb K2 due to its location, altitude and weather. But the actual climb itself makes that challenge almost insurmountable. What I'm about to describe is the most travelled route on K2, known as the Ebruzy Spur. Over 75% of climbers take this route. The west and south faces present even harder challenges, and the east face has never actually been climbed. Knowing that this is the easy route, and I say easy in very sarcastic speech marks, really puts in perspective how dangerous this mountain is. Once you reach base camp, you're at an altitude of about 5,000 metres, and all the way up to camp 3, at 7,350 metres, is a 60 to 70 degree slope, so it's demanding on the body from the off. A section known as House Chimney is the first difficulty. It's a 100 foot long crack in a rock wall shaped like a chimney, which is difficult to climb in crampons. After this, you basically reach camp 2 at 6,760 metres. On the ascent to camp 3, you face one of the most difficult parts of the climb, known as the Black Pyramid. A huge mass of steep rock coming off the main spur. To put in perspective how big this part is, the Great Pyramid of Giza is 146 metres tall. The Black Pyramid section of K2 is nearly 400 metres in length. When you get close to camp 3, there's a 25 foot vertical wall of ice that you've got to climb. But finally, you make it to camp 3. Just 1,350 metres to go, if only it was that easy. Camp 3 is on a slope of about 30 degrees, making it very difficult to get a good night's rest. Your first bit of relief comes when you make it to camp 4, as it's a bit of a flat plain. However, it is at 8,000 metres, so you have entered the death zone. Oxygen management is now even more crucial. Camp 4 can be described as the eye of the storm, as you are resting but you know that you have the toughest part of the climb to go. It's known as the bottleneck. Whilst you're traversing the narrow gully with a steep gradient, this is your view. An overhanging serac, or block of glacial ice, weighing millions of tonnes, which has been known to give way, such as in the 2008 disaster that we mentioned earlier. This Instagram picture attempts to put into scale just how enormous it is. And this is a video of a serac giving way on a different mountain, showing the unpredictability and impact it could have. When the serac on K2 gives way, it's not just a bit of ice. It's a bus hurtling towards you with increasing speed. Now just imagine that fear and anxiety as you are tired, weak and at 8,000 metres up, knowing that your life isn't really in your own hands. But then you've done it. You've reached the peak. Congratulations. All your blood, sweat and tears have paid off. Well, the thing is, it actually gets harder from here. You now have to go down. Imagine the whole journey as an energy tank, but every exertion you make, you lose a little bit of charge. But you're so desperate to complete your mission and reach the peak, you push your body to its absolute limits. Reserving 50% of your energy for the way down might not even cross your mind. That's why it's estimated that over 80% of deaths happen on descent. You're weaker, more tired and have less brain power and probably have a little bit less motivation. It's an accident waiting to happen. And as I mentioned earlier, people would describe this as the easiest route for K2, which truly shows how dangerous this mountain is. There is good news, however, for those wishing to climb K2. Apart from the estimated $30,000 expedition cost per person, the routes are becoming more accessible. K2 is slowly getting the Mount Everest treatment, meaning increased popularity leads to more Sherpas and safer routing. These are the stats for successful summits per year since 1993, with 2022 destroying the previous record of 62 with over 190 summits. In fact, on July the 22nd, 2022, more than 145 climbers summited within a 24-hour period. This is why earlier I said until recently, all these successful summits have led to a fall in the fatality rate. Whilst reaching the peak of K2 becomes more obtainable, the challenge remains ruthless. One must always keep respect for the savage mountain that has claimed the lives of many who have stood before with the goal of conquering its formidable terrain. When Mother Nature is on its side, K2 will always rule supreme.