A new Winter K2 documentary, The Last First: Winter K2, has arrived on Apple TV, revisiting the winter of 2021 when climbers from several countries converged on the Karakoram giant in pursuit of the one great prize left on the mountain: its first winter ascent. Directed by Amir Bar-Lev, the film was released on 2 October 2026.
K2, the world’s second-highest peak, sits on the border between Pakistan and China and is widely regarded as a harder and more dangerous climb than Everest. For years it had been the only 8,000-metre mountain without a winter summit. The documentary tells the story of the winter 2021 season, when that long-standing barrier became the focus of an unusual rush of expeditions.
What the Winter K2 documentary covers
According to reviews, the film weaves together three main threads. The first follows a small team of experienced climbers attempting the mountain in a traditional style. The second follows a Nepali team that wanted to bring national pride to its mountaineers, and the third looks at a group of paying amateurs who were far less prepared for the conditions. Together, they show how many different motivations were packed into the same cold, thin-aired stretch of rock and ice.
Among the people who appear in the film are Icelandic climber John Snorri Sigurjónsson, Pakistani father-and-son climbers Muhammad Ali Sadpara and Sajid Sadpara, and Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, who is backed by a well-known energy-drink brand. Other expeditions and amateur climbers also feature in the story.
Why the 2021 season was different
The film places the events in the context of the pandemic. Travel restrictions had grounded many people at home, and Pakistan’s borders had reopened for climbing, creating what the film describes as a rush to the summit. Winter on K2 means extreme cold, fierce winds and very short windows of good weather, and the margin for error is almost non-existent. On 16 January 2021, a Nepali team of ten climbers reached the summit and made the first winter ascent. Weeks later, the mountain claimed lives, including those of Ali Sadpara and John Snorri, who were attempting the climb in the same season.
A film about more than a mountain
Director Bar-Lev uses the story to ask wider questions. One is the pull of modern fame, and the desire to be an influencer, and how commercial operators attract inexperienced clients to dangerous peaks. Another is the uncomfortable fact that some deaths on the mountain were filmed and watched as they happened. Critics have noted that the film combines striking mountain footage with a sense of tragedy, and some say it spends more time on loss than on the thrill of the climb.
That emotional weight is likely to resonate in Pakistan, where the Sadpara family is regarded as a national mountaineering name. Muhammad Ali Sadpara, from the Skardu region of Gilgit-Baltistan, was celebrated for his skill at altitude, and his son Sajid was with him on the 2021 attempt. The film’s attention to the role of Pakistani climbers and high-altitude support teams, who often work far from the spotlight, makes it relevant for local audiences as well as international viewers.
Where to watch it
The documentary is streaming on Apple TV. It had earlier been shown at film festivals, including Sundance, before its wider release. Viewers interested in mountaineering, the ethics of commercial expeditions or the human cost of chasing records are likely to find it worth watching, though its tone is serious and at times distressing.
Whether or not the film changes how people think about high-altitude climbing, it brings renewed attention to a dramatic chapter in the history of K2 and to the climbers, Pakistani, Nepali and international, who took part in it. For Pakistan, which hosts some of the world’s most challenging peaks, it is also a reminder of the responsibilities that come with the mountains.
Details about the film are based on a review by The A.V. Club.
