In 2008 11 people died on K2. 3 people lost toes and fingers.. They were doing a very, very late summit attempt and the ropes put down for them were dragged away by an avalanche as they made their way down. So now lots of climbers were stuck above that point. Many of them too inexperienced to climb without ropes. With others it was just too late and dark to make such an attempt. Also, the climbers were doing a rush to the summit so some had left behind their water bottles, cameras, satellite phones, radios. The weather during the day was amazing so they didn't see the need for bringing those big radios with them that day. There were many teams with many nationalities and no clear plan as some couldn't even speak English. For example, they were supposed to summit early, but even late in the day ropes were still being put down in wrong places and the Korean team in front was often stopping up leading to a huge bottleneck as they were all using those same ropes.
So this is a documentary about that day. But it's focused on a single Irish climber who died that day. So the focus is largely on his family and their story about him.
Another climber, an Italian, was with him before he died. They had spent the night in the dead zone. Basically, they were dying and barely making it down as the rope was gone and they were weak and cold. Getting down now was unlikely. Then they saw 3 climbers hanging from a rope. 2 Koreans and their Sherpa had fallen down and were now so smashed up that they were unable to move and barely alive. They started helping them getting a big more comfortable. Then the Irish climber lost his mind and started climbing up again. Which totally makes sense because most of the people who survived, or died, that day were doing crazy stuff in the dead zone after way too many hours being stuck up there. Many of the people who made it down were rescued and would have died without external help. A few could make it some of the way down by themselves, but largely they needed help to even understand where they were. The Irish climber's family refuses to believe he could possibly go crazy after spending a night in the death zone. Instead they claim that he was bringing down the 2 Koreans and their Sherpa. So this is the story presented in the doc. Of course it's 99% likely not true. Mostly the stuff told in the doc is accurate, but if you read about this specific story you'd understand that there is basically no way the family's story of an extremely heroic and nearly impossible effort is correct. Keep in mind the Italian guy who was the last to see him alive calls him a hero already. It's not some huge embarrassment to lose your mind in the death zone. And both of them were trying to help the Korean group. Then the Italian climber went down as the Irish climber went mad. I see no need to recreate this story into some Irish Superman story.
The Korean group was done for. They had taken a huge fall and were stuck on a rope without moving. This is in the death zone at K2. They were smashed up, bleeding, barely moving or speaking, and they had been lying there for many hours in the position they had fallen into. And 2 different people who lived had spotted them and helped them a bit without the 3 survivors making any attempt at even sitting up. So all 3 suddenly getting up and climbing down is just utter nonsense. This didn't happen. The documentary is not right. Sure, as the story is presented here it makes sense. You have an Italian who lost his mind and is lying. And then the family is doing super detective work and finding out the real truth from a Sherpa who got a single radio call from another Sherpa telling him the Korean group was getting down. Luckily the family found out the original story was a lie and that the real story is actually one where their family member was a superhero. But this only makes sense if you omit a ton of information about how long they had been lying there, their condition, and how they haven't been seen moving whatsoever so no one ever saw them move a single meter at any point during the 24 hours. I also don't see what could make them move? Unless you give them oxygen they are not suddenly all 3 getting up. Maybe one getting up could maybe be realistic, maybe. But all 3? How?
This alternative story is just weird. It's interesting that you can recreate a story like this. And interesting that there is never good evidence for anything in mountains and lots of different stories. But you already have a story where the Irish climber is a hero. And you have no proof whatsoever he was climbing down with the Koreans. No one even spotted him near them after he supposedly climbed up. Even the radio call didn't make this claim. I'm not sure why this alternative story needs to take center stage. I guess an Irish documentary needs to be about a heroic Irish climber not about just about a group of people who were unprepared and unlucky that day at K2. A group who had summited way too late and relied on nothing going wrong to get down alive. And the ones who made it down were helped. One Sherpa who climbed up to rescue the Koreans died. A Hollander who climbed up too got frostbitten fingers. So when you put your life at risk other people may get hurt too. We don't know what happened to the Irish climber after he climbed up. But one thing is for sure, those 2 Koreans and their Sherpa never started climbing down with him. That part is just unrealistic. We are not supposed to question a family who lost someone. But you have to be realistic here.
So this is a documentary about that day. But it's focused on a single Irish climber who died that day. So the focus is largely on his family and their story about him.
Another climber, an Italian, was with him before he died. They had spent the night in the dead zone. Basically, they were dying and barely making it down as the rope was gone and they were weak and cold. Getting down now was unlikely. Then they saw 3 climbers hanging from a rope. 2 Koreans and their Sherpa had fallen down and were now so smashed up that they were unable to move and barely alive. They started helping them getting a big more comfortable. Then the Irish climber lost his mind and started climbing up again. Which totally makes sense because most of the people who survived, or died, that day were doing crazy stuff in the dead zone after way too many hours being stuck up there. Many of the people who made it down were rescued and would have died without external help. A few could make it some of the way down by themselves, but largely they needed help to even understand where they were. The Irish climber's family refuses to believe he could possibly go crazy after spending a night in the death zone. Instead they claim that he was bringing down the 2 Koreans and their Sherpa. So this is the story presented in the doc. Of course it's 99% likely not true. Mostly the stuff told in the doc is accurate, but if you read about this specific story you'd understand that there is basically no way the family's story of an extremely heroic and nearly impossible effort is correct. Keep in mind the Italian guy who was the last to see him alive calls him a hero already. It's not some huge embarrassment to lose your mind in the death zone. And both of them were trying to help the Korean group. Then the Italian climber went down as the Irish climber went mad. I see no need to recreate this story into some Irish Superman story.
The Korean group was done for. They had taken a huge fall and were stuck on a rope without moving. This is in the death zone at K2. They were smashed up, bleeding, barely moving or speaking, and they had been lying there for many hours in the position they had fallen into. And 2 different people who lived had spotted them and helped them a bit without the 3 survivors making any attempt at even sitting up. So all 3 suddenly getting up and climbing down is just utter nonsense. This didn't happen. The documentary is not right. Sure, as the story is presented here it makes sense. You have an Italian who lost his mind and is lying. And then the family is doing super detective work and finding out the real truth from a Sherpa who got a single radio call from another Sherpa telling him the Korean group was getting down. Luckily the family found out the original story was a lie and that the real story is actually one where their family member was a superhero. But this only makes sense if you omit a ton of information about how long they had been lying there, their condition, and how they haven't been seen moving whatsoever so no one ever saw them move a single meter at any point during the 24 hours. I also don't see what could make them move? Unless you give them oxygen they are not suddenly all 3 getting up. Maybe one getting up could maybe be realistic, maybe. But all 3? How?
This alternative story is just weird. It's interesting that you can recreate a story like this. And interesting that there is never good evidence for anything in mountains and lots of different stories. But you already have a story where the Irish climber is a hero. And you have no proof whatsoever he was climbing down with the Koreans. No one even spotted him near them after he supposedly climbed up. Even the radio call didn't make this claim. I'm not sure why this alternative story needs to take center stage. I guess an Irish documentary needs to be about a heroic Irish climber not about just about a group of people who were unprepared and unlucky that day at K2. A group who had summited way too late and relied on nothing going wrong to get down alive. And the ones who made it down were helped. One Sherpa who climbed up to rescue the Koreans died. A Hollander who climbed up too got frostbitten fingers. So when you put your life at risk other people may get hurt too. We don't know what happened to the Irish climber after he climbed up. But one thing is for sure, those 2 Koreans and their Sherpa never started climbing down with him. That part is just unrealistic. We are not supposed to question a family who lost someone. But you have to be realistic here.