Tamara Lunger

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.

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.

For Tamara Lunger, freedom means pushing herself beyond her limits, daring the impossible, and deeply knowing her true self. The South Tyrolean mountaineer was the youngest woman to climb Lhotse (8,516 meters) and the second Italian to reach the summit of K2. However, failure is not unfamiliar to her, a subject that could have changed her life. Markus Frings and Nora Ganthaler recount the ups and downs of this extraordinary woman's life, accompanying her and her mentor Simone Moro on winter expeditions to Nanga Parbat and the 8,596-meter peak of Kangchenjunga.