GILGIT: The documentary film The Last First: Winter K2, which chronicles the tragic fate of legendary climbers Mohammad Ali Sadpara and John Snorri during their 2021 winter summit attempt of K2, gained international recognition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in the United States.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev, the documentary takes an unflinching look at one of the deadliest seasons on the world’s second-highest peak and tells a harrowing story about the race to claim mountaineering’s “last great prize”.
The narrative focuses on the expedition where Snorri and the father-son team of Ali and Sajid Sadpara set out to be the first to summit K2 during winter when the mountain’s conditions are the cruellest.
The race to summit resulted in many deaths during that season and exposed deep fault lines in alpinism today.
Sadpara, Snorri’s failed attempt during 2021 winter chronicled in The Last First: Winter K2
These include the pressures from commercialisation, the toxic effects of social media, and long-brewing tensions between those who have been marginalised and those who have historically basked in the sport’s glory.
Sajid, who survived the incident and later participated in the search operation for his father’s body, attended the premiere in Park City.
He shared his journey with the audience, detailing the strategy employed on K2 and the moment his father and Snorri went missing during their descent from the top of the peak.
Festival organisers said The Last First is a documentary about the immense dangers involved in climbing K2 in winter.
Bar-Lev, known for The Tillman Story and Long Strange Trip, tells a moving story that unpacks the changing culture of extreme mountain climbing.
“By January 2005, all the world’s tallest mountains — the 14 peaks that stretch above 8,000 meters — had been summited in wintertime, the most dangerous time of year for climbing. All except for one, that is — K2, in the Himalayas of Pakistan,” Bar-Lev said in an interview with Deadline.
“Becoming the first person to summit K2 in winter, thus, loomed as the last great unachieved feat in mountaineering — ‘the last first,’ as it were,” Bar-Lev added.
The two legendary climbers set out on that mission. To their surprise, the climbers would soon be joined on the mountain by others aiming to eclipse them, including influencer climbers, film crews, and commercial expedition clients.
Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2026
