The opening chapter of my upcoming book details what really happened on that fateful day.
This is the only piece of visual information that we have at the moment. A single frame of video which is corrupt that will need further analysis. The date is incorrect, logged as February 7th, 2019.
The soul of the son of Pakistan’s Snow Leopard can finally rest. The mystery continues to unravel...
I filmed as PK led and was belayed by Sajid. My concern was not getting to camp 4, my concern was getting us out of there down to camp 3 as the sun was beginning to lay low and I knew it was a long way down to safety at basecamp. We still had to get warm, make dinner, try to recover from two days with little sleep and battle with weather the following morning.
A few days ago my precious dog named Buddy was put down. He was nearly 17. Receiving the news felt like a knife through the heart. Meanwhile, this is where I was, working my way up K2, honouring my word, fulfilling the ‘mission’. At what cost?
We’re in a perfect position at the moment awaiting the next window because of the collective efforts and because of my friend PK Sherpa. We weren’t supposed to be the ones organizing and orchestrating this, but when no one stepped up to do anything, we took action at the 11th hour. And so here we are, waiting out the storm, with all the tools and tech we need to do our work up high.
In this image, Sajid Sadpara makes his way towards what becomes the end of the line for us on this particular day. PK led the pitch and fixed some rope only to determine we needed to turn back.
The powerful team of Sherpas from Nepal, our friends from Madison Mountaineering / Himalayan Guides, opened up and fixed the route to the base of camp 4 and blasted out a trail. Without their efforts, our work would have been impossible. We flew our drones beneath the bottleneck in impeccable conditions as high as 8300m looking for clues of what may have happened to our friends while doing recon for the teams coordinating the future effort above. To my boss friend Pasang Kaji Sherpa, I’m deeply grateful your technical leadership up high. And special thank you to Fazal Ali and Aziz Baig for supporting us behind the scenes.
Climbing to Japanese Camp 3 and discovering these bottles transported us back to that fateful night on February 4th. We were treading the edge of our abilities and when we hit the wall and all signs pointed to throwing in the towel we immediately accepted the reality of the situation. It was over. And now we found it and it will once again, hopefully, if all aligns, be the enabler of our little 5 person operation high above the clouds.
John’s spirit can be felt everywhere. He lives on in each of the people he deeply and positively impacted here in Pakistan. Today, our hearts are with Lina, John’s family, his friends and children and the people of Iceland who treasured this one of a kind beautiful soul.
We managed to film every stretch of rope, taking our time along the way enjoying every moment of the climb. The absence of the unknown gives you a tremendous advantage in mountaineering and the unknown for us in this case is the familiarity of the route. To have felt physically great and confident just a few months after our winter climb was an incredible feeling. Last time, I could barely record a single shot because of the race against time. This time I was able to shoot the entire route and even managed to fly my drone at camp 1.
There have been some pivotal moments where realizations have been made upon revisiting key locations, resulting in deeper questions being asked about the outcome and circumstances surrounding last winter on K2 and the culminating events with all who attempted the summit and journeyed as high as camp 3.
I sat outside my tent last February, staring up at the ‘Savage Mountain’, after the disappearance of our friends John Snorri and Ali Sadpara, my soul was on fire and I had a look in my eye of pure determination. I knew then that we would return. We had to. Honour is everything.
This is where it all began for PK, Sajid and I. Last winter, we set off with Sajid on an acclimatization hike just outside of basecamp. We got to know this young man and learned a bit about what it was like for him to be climbing K2 with his father in winter during the historic and ultimately fateful season.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t exhausted. The rigamarole of mounting both an expedition and documentary production, which includes the management of every detail from finances, logistics, formalities, marketing, social, politics, relationships, egos, invisible hands, content, jet lag and constant fires to put out, really takes its toll. But I’m here. We made it. All is in place. Everyone is healthy and in good spirits and all of the above is now noise in the background that will be placed aside the moment we arrive at K2 basecamp.
PK will be leading the technical efforts up high on K2. He’s the IFMGA/UIAGM/NNMGA guide. I typically work hand in hand with him on the production side, but this time, once we step foot on K2, his role changes and he gets to put all of his skills to practice, particularly once we reach camp 3, 4 and above. Thank you, Pasang Kaji Sherpa. This would not be possible without you.
We’re two days away from the base of the 2nd highest mountain on Earth. To say this trek is stunning would be an understatement. It’s wild and filled with local people whose smiles light up your heart.
Faces of Pakistan
It’s hard to believe that we’re back in Pakistan. And it’s even harder to believe that not only are we here, we managed to put the team back together as it was last winter. Fazal, Mosin, myself, Pasang Kaji, the cooking staff - we’re back together. It was important to me that those that experienced all of this first-hand on the ground in winter be there to support Sajid and his quest to find his father.
Some images from our trek.
The adventures continues....
The truth is: I just couldn’t do nothing. These are our friends. These were our teammates. We were making a film about their winter ascent. We were supposed to be with them the night they disappeared with JP Moer and we are likely alive because fate intervened. While climbing Everest this spring, I obsessively sought out support to finish our film and honour our friends, yet in the end, we failed to gain financial support, as did Sajid. Unwilling to quit, in the last two weeks, my team and I behind the scenes took the risk when no one else would.
The opening chapter of my upcoming book details what really happened on that fateful day.
This is the only piece of visual information that we have at the moment. A single frame of video which is corrupt that will need further analysis. The date is incorrect, logged as February 7th, 2019.
The soul of the son of Pakistan’s Snow Leopard can finally rest. The mystery continues to unravel...
I filmed as PK led and was belayed by Sajid. My concern was not getting to camp 4, my concern was getting us out of there down to camp 3 as the sun was beginning to lay low and I knew it was a long way down to safety at basecamp. We still had to get warm, make dinner, try to recover from two days with little sleep and battle with weather the following morning.
A few days ago my precious dog named Buddy was put down. He was nearly 17. Receiving the news felt like a knife through the heart. Meanwhile, this is where I was, working my way up K2, honouring my word, fulfilling the ‘mission’. At what cost?
We’re in a perfect position at the moment awaiting the next window because of the collective efforts and because of my friend PK Sherpa. We weren’t supposed to be the ones organizing and orchestrating this, but when no one stepped up to do anything, we took action at the 11th hour. And so here we are, waiting out the storm, with all the tools and tech we need to do our work up high.
In this image, Sajid Sadpara makes his way towards what becomes the end of the line for us on this particular day. PK led the pitch and fixed some rope only to determine we needed to turn back.
The powerful team of Sherpas from Nepal, our friends from Madison Mountaineering / Himalayan Guides, opened up and fixed the route to the base of camp 4 and blasted out a trail. Without their efforts, our work would have been impossible. We flew our drones beneath the bottleneck in impeccable conditions as high as 8300m looking for clues of what may have happened to our friends while doing recon for the teams coordinating the future effort above. To my boss friend Pasang Kaji Sherpa, I’m deeply grateful your technical leadership up high. And special thank you to Fazal Ali and Aziz Baig for supporting us behind the scenes.
Climbing to Japanese Camp 3 and discovering these bottles transported us back to that fateful night on February 4th. We were treading the edge of our abilities and when we hit the wall and all signs pointed to throwing in the towel we immediately accepted the reality of the situation. It was over. And now we found it and it will once again, hopefully, if all aligns, be the enabler of our little 5 person operation high above the clouds.
John’s spirit can be felt everywhere. He lives on in each of the people he deeply and positively impacted here in Pakistan. Today, our hearts are with Lina, John’s family, his friends and children and the people of Iceland who treasured this one of a kind beautiful soul.
We managed to film every stretch of rope, taking our time along the way enjoying every moment of the climb. The absence of the unknown gives you a tremendous advantage in mountaineering and the unknown for us in this case is the familiarity of the route. To have felt physically great and confident just a few months after our winter climb was an incredible feeling. Last time, I could barely record a single shot because of the race against time. This time I was able to shoot the entire route and even managed to fly my drone at camp 1.
There have been some pivotal moments where realizations have been made upon revisiting key locations, resulting in deeper questions being asked about the outcome and circumstances surrounding last winter on K2 and the culminating events with all who attempted the summit and journeyed as high as camp 3.
I sat outside my tent last February, staring up at the ‘Savage Mountain’, after the disappearance of our friends John Snorri and Ali Sadpara, my soul was on fire and I had a look in my eye of pure determination. I knew then that we would return. We had to. Honour is everything.
This is where it all began for PK, Sajid and I. Last winter, we set off with Sajid on an acclimatization hike just outside of basecamp. We got to know this young man and learned a bit about what it was like for him to be climbing K2 with his father in winter during the historic and ultimately fateful season.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t exhausted. The rigamarole of mounting both an expedition and documentary production, which includes the management of every detail from finances, logistics, formalities, marketing, social, politics, relationships, egos, invisible hands, content, jet lag and constant fires to put out, really takes its toll. But I’m here. We made it. All is in place. Everyone is healthy and in good spirits and all of the above is now noise in the background that will be placed aside the moment we arrive at K2 basecamp.
PK will be leading the technical efforts up high on K2. He’s the IFMGA/UIAGM/NNMGA guide. I typically work hand in hand with him on the production side, but this time, once we step foot on K2, his role changes and he gets to put all of his skills to practice, particularly once we reach camp 3, 4 and above. Thank you, Pasang Kaji Sherpa. This would not be possible without you.
We’re two days away from the base of the 2nd highest mountain on Earth. To say this trek is stunning would be an understatement. It’s wild and filled with local people whose smiles light up your heart.
Faces of Pakistan
It’s hard to believe that we’re back in Pakistan. And it’s even harder to believe that not only are we here, we managed to put the team back together as it was last winter. Fazal, Mosin, myself, Pasang Kaji, the cooking staff - we’re back together. It was important to me that those that experienced all of this first-hand on the ground in winter be there to support Sajid and his quest to find his father.
Some images from our trek.
The adventures continues....
The truth is: I just couldn’t do nothing. These are our friends. These were our teammates. We were making a film about their winter ascent. We were supposed to be with them the night they disappeared with JP Moer and we are likely alive because fate intervened. While climbing Everest this spring, I obsessively sought out support to finish our film and honour our friends, yet in the end, we failed to gain financial support, as did Sajid. Unwilling to quit, in the last two weeks, my team and I behind the scenes took the risk when no one else would.
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