Muhammad Ali Sadpara

A historic race to become the first to summit K2 in winter unravels into tragedy, exposing how ambition, ego, and the pursuit of glory can be as dangerous as the mountain itself.

Chris Bonington and Jim Curran trace the history of K2 expeditions from 1903 to the disastrous loss of life in the summer of 1986, when 13 climbers died on K2, climbing tragedies that aggressively carved the epithet the 'savage mountain' into the public consciousness. Jim Curran was hired by the British 'Fuller’s K2' team to document their attempt on the unclimbed NW Ridge, so he was at the mountain, all summer. Inevitably, his documentary ended up drifting into a gripping narrative from the front line of the disastrous and tragic summer that killed 13 climbers on K2.

The first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat was achieved in 2016 by Pakistani Muhammad Ali Sadpara and Spaniard Alex Txikón, accompanied by Simone Moro and Tamara Lunger. Alex Txikón made headlines again by attempting K2 in the winter of 2019, then Everest in the winter of 2020 (each time unsuccessfully); but also by participating in the search operations led by Tom Ballard and Daniele Nardi on Nanga Parbat in March 2019, even claiming to have spotted two figures on the face. Confined during the Himalayan season, the Basque climber took the opportunity to work on a film recounting his own adventure on Nanga Parbat four years earlier.

"Verso L'Ignoto" (Towards the Unknown) is an Italian documentary that follows mountaineer Daniele Nardi and his team in their attempt to achieve the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat, an 8,000-meter peak in Pakistan, nicknamed the "killer mountain" due to its exceptional danger. For three years, the camera follows the preparation and several successive expeditions, showing the extreme cold, avalanches, fatigue, and the setbacks that constantly force the climbers to choose between continuing their quest for the summit or preserving their lives. More than just a story of sporting achievement, the documentary highlights doubt, defeat, and human fragility, showing that the "unknown" is not only the mountain, but also the element of risk, desire, and need for self-transcendence that each of us carries within.

The film is based on the expedition of mountaineer Muhammad Ali Sadpara to K2 in Pakistan, which cost him his life in 2021 at the age of 45. The film opens with him passing the bottleneck with his companions, successfully climbing it, and then returning when he is caught in an avalanche or storm and ultimately loses his life. As his life fades from memory, the film shifts to flashbacks as he recalls the events of his life.

In October 2001, five Basque mountaineers, Beñat Arrue (22), Iñaki Aiertza (27), Aritz Artieda (23), Javi Arkauz (22), and César Nieto (23)—lost their lives while climbing Mount Pumori (7,161 m) in Nepal. After the fatal avalanche, the five other members of the expedition alerted rescue services and organized an unsuccessful rescue attempt. A year later, Arantxa Gurrutxaga and Peio Arrue, Beñat Arrue's parents, returned to Nepal to pay their respects at the site of the tragedy and try to find the young Nepalese girl who appeared with their son in the last photograph of him before the accident. A growing bond developed between Suku Maya, the mountain girl, and Beñat Arrue's family, who would support and accompany him over the years. Catharsis, from tragedy to love, the death of the five young mountaineers allows Suku to have a new chance in life.