Link Sar: The Last Great Unclimbed Mountain

[Music] uh [Music] alpine climbing is the practice of finding a balance between survival and the summit the safest option would be to stay home but for my partners and me the attraction of the big mountains is strong and we are drawn to their flanks to experience their majesty and misery up [Music] close after three months of attempting the unclimbed peak linxar it was our final try and the storm's snow was pouring over me [Music] the decision to bail was an easy one [Music] i was there with chris wright my dear friend and climbing partner we had been on many high peaks together but this one had defeated us two days later we staggered back into base camp and were greeted by our other partner steve swenson my climbing mentor and one of the world's most experienced karakorum alpinists he had wisely stayed behind on our final attempt we'd achieved the primary goal of the expedition to survive but i knew deep down that i would return to face the still unknown challenges hidden high above me in the midst of the storm [Music] [Music] my name is graham zimmerman i've spent the last 20 years of my life pursuing mountains that push my body and mind to their limits this has inexorably drawn me to the biggest and steepest mountains in the world the karakoram range occasionally one peak in particular stands out from the others a lodestar that lures my imagination on countless dream voyages its faces appear like remnants of some distant forgotten realm a shadowy landscape that vanishes when i wake in 2015 i had my initial glimpse of linxar while climbing with steve it had been attempted numerous times before but the steep climbing and objective hazards had kept anyone from reaching its summit its racks loomed above a deep valley and i could imagine the spectacle of destruction whenever they crashed still i thought i could trace a route through the steep ribs and dark buttresses steve had seen the same line and in his opinion it was one of the last great unclimbed peaks hidden amongst one of the hardest to reach corners of the range and he should know he had tried it before [Music] once again i started training we decided to invite a fourth to the team mark ritchie a legend among american alpinists and one of steve's long-time partners his addition seemed to create a balance between the power of youth and the wisdom of age [Music] after two years of training and preparation we were stepping away from our homes and families for another three-month expedition farther up the valley link star was still hidden from view in a dark whirl of clouds how does the field be back feels awesome feels like we weren't really gone for very long like we just left left here yesterday and now we're gonna go back hell yeah finish unfinished business things are remarkably snowy things look a lot different according to local residents the karakorum had experienced one of the snowiest winters on record in base camp we quickly grew accustomed to the din of huge avalanches we needed to wait but there was plenty of work to do setting up advanced base camp [Music] a simple stumble was all it took to put my expedition into jeopardy i kind of screwed up today i sprained spring i think i sprained my ankle pretty badly i was grounded while my partners made progress uh graham has up his ankle how does that make you guys feel sad concerned i'm in one of the most amazing mountain venues on the planet surrounded by inclined peaks and i have a sprained ankle this is unbelievable it's you know it's just a reminder that everything has consequences up here i was impatient but eventually i made it to our advanced base camp and started to catch up on acclimatization my ankle is getting better i am terribly excited about this glimmers of blue ice and gold gray rock emerged below the layers of white to acclimatize we started climbing on our route on lanxar [Music] we spent almost a month really just getting to the point where we could establish our advanced base camp and we're starting to push higher on the mountain but as we came back big avalanche from the call way above us came down and reminded us that there's still a lot of snow up there and we need to be patient yeah it's just a good data point to kind of like you know crank up the levels of suspicion about the mountain scared me made me feel like we got to be very careful [Music] all right we're going for it i have my headlamp on in the daytime we're making our way up to camp one we're actually making progress on the mountain we found our former passage through icy rock corners and steep snow mushrooms at times the familiar route vanished under the drifts then i'd recognize a particular seam or edge and i'd find myself moving into customed ways as memories re-emerged from two years before i noticed how much the thin air had already started to slow us our bodies moved sluggishly as if underwater beyond our previous high point winding crests of snow and ice twisted around steep outcrops of rock and vanished into the unknown we turned back towards our advanced base camp and the summit felt desperately far away [Music] well [Music] if there was any question [Applause] the weather is definitely bad right now i knew that attaining the summit didn't matter that the risks i undertook were meaningless but that seemingly inaccessible point also meant everything to me and to those with me [Music] on july 30th a message notified us that good weather was on its way and my ankle was ready for action [Music] it was time to make a bid for the summit as we started to climb we moved faster our bodies were more habituated to the thin air hell yeah here we are camp two a serac barrier reared over our heads i tried to picture how he'd surmount its concave ice in the 6 000 meter air the next day however mark and chris discovered a path forward huge yeah baby [Music] i relaxed into the steady cadence of ice tool placements and cramp on kicks into the soft ice [Music] soon i could feel moisture gathering in the air clouds started to close in around us we hunkered in individually tense relying on our collective confidence the forecast called for a clearing instead the storm tightened its grasp all right guys it's getting better oh yeah this is good finally the sun came up and the clouds cleared the morning light sparkled amid a dusting of snow that floated across the air nice steve once more we headed up the ice above our snow cave was some of the best i've experienced in the mountains with just a single swing my axe is stuck because that was fun then the firm surface gave way to seemingly fathomless drips i looked down at my partners the mountain face plunged for nearly 3 000 meters into the depths of the valley [Music] all right camp four this mountain's been really serious and hard but man it's paying off we're getting up here and we're psyched how you feeling mark feeling good it's all happening now so close it's right there this is good we're making our way up this mountain [Music] i was in the lead with the summit in sight when suddenly all my greatest fears were realized an avalanche swept me off my feet and i tumbled more than 30 meters into the void i hung from the ropes unable to hear my partners i am okay can i juggle okay you guys are helping me figure this out i am surrounded by sloppy rock and see the ice and i uh i'm not injured i think i just took like uh probably 100 foot fall my ropes are here i'm getting set up to jug back up two hours later i was back with my team unbelievable i had just taken a huge fall at 6 900 meters on a giant unclimbed peak cold i'm scared i'm shocky but i told these guys to get permission i said listen i'm not injured at the top let's do it [Music] we continued up [Music] [Music] high on the mountain the differences between our ages had blurred there are our separate experiences had merged into one well of knowledge the summit was now just 20 meters above us chris handed the lead to mark for the final overhanging snow pitch after all that we're on the final pitch to the summit i arrived last and we simply screamed at the mountains around us all right guys we're on top this feels good can't believe it [Applause] oh yeah all right now we're gonna get the out of here safely [Music] the descent took us three days [Music] after nine days on the mountain we made it safely back to our advanced base camp [Music] the expanse of love that i felt for my partners and the experience should have been enough to sustain a full existence but amid the blur of exhaustion another mountain stood out from the vast panoramas and i knew yet again that i would return [Music] [Music] you

Channel: EpicTV

Views: 1,516,870

Keywords: climbing, mountains, terrifying, adrenaline, snow, avalanche, adventure

Id: ViSXePkt7t8

Length: 17min 10sec (1030 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 07 2021