Toronto Star
· collected 2026-10-05 · by Jocelyn Noveck The Associated Press
analysis
“He has to go and live on the edge,” explains Lina Móey about her husband, the Icelandic mountaineer John Snorri Sigurjonsson, in “The Last First: Winter K2.
asserted
Móey → have → First
And she means it literally: He has to go live on the edge of a mountain.
asserted
He → mean → mountain
In this case, it’s the most forbidding mountain on the planet: K2, on the border between Pakistan and China.
asserted
it → ’ → Pakistan
Sigurjonsson, one of the main figures profiled in Amir Bar-Lev’s engrossing and sobering documentary, was already a celebrated climber when he returned to K2, the world’s second-highest peak after Mount Everest.
asserted
he → profile → Everest
He had scaled it in summertime.
asserted
He → scale → summertime
Now, four years later, Sigurjonsson aimed to scale it in winter.
asserted
Sigurjonsson → aim → winter
That’s a feat no climber had ever achieved on what one expert calls a “savage mountain.”
asserted
expert → ’ → what
But that winter in 2021, as Pakistan eased pandemic-era border restrictions, dozens of climbers — veterans and novices alike — saw a chance to achieve that “last first” in extreme climbing.
asserted
dozens → ease → climbing
Ultimately, 10 would make the summit.
asserted
10 → make → summit
But Bar-Lev’s film is far from the usual inspiring look at how determination and grit resulted in a triumph of spirit and body.
asserted
determination → result → spirit
It’s a movie that instead looks at the cynical opportunism that has led to a dangerous — and in this case, utterly catastrophic — commercialization of extreme climbing.
asserted
that → ’ → climbing
That there were deaths on the 2021 climb is well-documented.
asserted
were → be → climb
But Bar-Lev, who has pieced together some extraordinarily intimate footage (he himself did not shoot on site), chooses to assume the viewer doesn’t know, keeping the final tragedy a mystery until the end.
asserted
viewer → piece → end
His message comes through immediately, though, in a pre-credits sequence.
asserted
message → come → sequence
We hear the crackling of a radio, and the voice of American climber Colin O’Brady, far up the mountain.
asserted
We → hear → mountain
“I want to be on the record, I’m very worried about people’s safety,” O’Brady says.
asserted
O’Brady → want → safety
We then go back two months, with Sigurjonsson saying an emotional goodbye to Moey and their six children as he departs Iceland on his dream mission.
asserted
he → go → mission
“Finally this day has come,” he writes on Facebook.
asserted
he → come → Facebook
Once at K2 base camp, he bonds with his team: noted Pakistani climber Ali Sadpara and his son, Sajid.
asserted
he → bond → team
The trio starts the slow process of acclimating to the mountain air and preparing for the ordeal ahead.
asserted
trio → start → ordeal
Then the Nepali team arrives.
asserted
team → arrive → ?
Their star, Nimsdai Purja, is on his own mission: making history for his nation.
asserted
star → make → nation
Historically, climbers from Nepal have been crucial in helping Westerners reach climbing greatness, with no glory for themselves.
asserted
Westerners → help → themselves
So, though Purja gives Ali a big hug upon arrival and all seems collegial, there are sharp egos at stake, and nationalist pride.
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all → give → stake
“Nimsdai,” one climber says, “was there to win it.”
asserted
climber → say → it
And he did — though his team seemingly betrayed the others to do it, setting off alone one morning despite an agreement with Sigurjonsson and the Sadparas to summit together.
asserted
team → do → Sigurjonsson
We see the trio’s reaction in their tent: shock and disappointment.
asserted
We → see → tent
“It was over,” says Moey.
asserted
Moey → say → ?
Not long after, an experienced climber dies in a fall.
asserted
climber → die → fall
Now, there’s talk of everyone going home.
asserted
everyone → ’ → ?
But things get complicated.
asserted
things → get → ?
Pakistani officials arrive for a visit and make it clear the country is counting on their two countrymen to show they can match the Nepalis.
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they → arrive → Nepalis
On top of that, filmmaker Elia Saikaly has arrived, planning a movie on Ali Sadpara and his heroic attempt.
asserted
Saikaly → arrive → Sadpara
Says Moey: “There was so much pressure on them.”
asserted
Moey → say → them
Meanwhile, the true villain of the tale — the travel company Seven Summit Treks — has brought a group of fee-paying clients, many woefully inexperienced.
asserted
many → bring → clients
And ill-equipped: When they reach Camp Three, from where climbers make the final push to the summit, they lack tents and food to survive the night.
asserted
they → equip → night
So they plead their way into the tents of more experienced climbers, making it impossible for them to get any rest or prepare properly.
asserted
them → plead → rest
The next day, only three climbers make a final push to the summit.
asserted
climbers → make → summit
Some of it — such as people learning close friends or partners have died — was apparently too intimate to make the final cut.
asserted
friends → learn → cut
But such personal moments are key to keeping the film moving.
asserted
moments → keep → film
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
