Peak Danger: 1. Welcome to Base Camp

Summary

Extreme Season 2: Peak Danger
Episode 1: Welcome to Base Camp
Release Date: January 20, 2025
Host: Natalia Melman Petruzella

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1. Introduction to K2 and the 2008 Expedition

Timestamp: 00:42 - 04:13

The episode opens with Cecilia Skog standing atop K2 on August 1st, 2008, capturing the sheer magnificence and peril of the mountain. Natalia Melman Petruzella describes K2 as a "perfect pyramid" that "pierces through the clouds," emphasizing its daunting stature at 28,251 feet—the height of 19 Empire State Buildings stacked together. Despite the physical exhaustion Cecilia feels from hours of climbing, her awe of the breathtaking landscapes momentarily overshadows her fatigue.

Notable Quote:
Cecilia Skog: “The sky is this warm blue color. And all around me there are glaciers and mountains as long as I can see.”
Timestamp: 01:26

The serene moment is short-lived as Cecilia prepares to descend. Tragically, this expedition would end in disaster, with 11 out of approximately 30 climbers losing their lives due to a devastating avalanche over the next two days. Natalia introduces the episode as a deep dive into one of the deadliest incidents in mountaineering history, setting the stage for a gripping narrative of human endurance and the unforgiving forces of nature.

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2. Cecilia Skog and Rolf Bae: A Passionate Partnership

Timestamp: 06:21 - 12:39

Cecilia Skog's journey begins in Olsen, a picturesque town on Norway's west coast, surrounded by imposing mountains that fueled her adventurous spirit. Born prematurely on August 9, 1974, Cecilia defied early odds, growing into a resilient and passionate mountaineer. Her love for climbing was matched by her professional life as a nurse, often juggling double jobs to fund her expeditions to the Alps, Argentina, and beyond.

Cecilia's ascent into the mountaineering community highlights her determination and the challenges she faced as a woman in a male-dominated field. She recounts the early days of climbing with Rolf Bae, her husband and fellow climber, emphasizing the camaraderie and mutual support that defined their relationship.

Notable Quote:
Cecilia Skog: “The most important thing can't be to summit. The most important thing has to be to come back home alive.”
Timestamp: 11:57

Their first attempt on K2 in 2005 set the groundwork for their 2008 expedition. Despite unfavorable weather preventing a successful summit, Cecilia and Rolf remained undeterred, viewing the climb not just as a quest for the summit but as a profound journey of personal growth and strengthening their bond.

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3. Assembling the 2008 Expedition Team

Timestamp: 12:39 - 16:42

By 2008, Cecilia and Rolf were joined by fellow climbers Eystein and Lars, forming a tightly-knit team poised to conquer K2. Their preparation involved a grueling six-day trek to base camp via the Karakoram Highway, one of the world's highest paved roads. The journey was marked by stunning natural beauty, traversing ancient glaciers and rugged terrain.

Upon reaching base camp at 16,700 feet, the team was immersed in a vibrant but precarious community of international climbers. Cecilia and Rolf set up their two small red tents, blending into the mosaic of brightly colored expeditions that dotted the icy landscape.

Notable Quote:
Cecilia Skog: “We're looking to that direction where on our map K2 should lay. But there is no mountain. There is only clouds. But suddenly we can see the curtains being pulled back like in a theater.”
Timestamp: 15:20

This moment of revelation underscores the formidable presence of K2, often likened to a child’s drawing but belied by its lethal reputation. The base camp also features the Art Gilke Memorial, a somber reminder of past tragedies and the ever-present dangers of the mountain.

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4. Life and Challenges at Base Camp

Timestamp: 16:42 - 27:39

Life at base camp is portrayed as a blend of camaraderie and constant vigilance. The team engages in acclimatization—a critical process of gradually ascending and descending to allow their bodies to adjust to the thinning air. Cecilia shares her experiences of repeatedly reaching various camps, highlighting the physical and mental demands of high-altitude climbing.

Notable Quote:
Cecilia Skog: “We have to come back home alive. And number two had to be to come home as better friends than when we started.”
Timestamp: 11:57

The close quarters at base camp foster deep bonds among climbers. Cecilia’s crocheting project, where she makes hats for her teammates, serves as a testament to the nurturing relationships forming amidst the harsh environment. However, the looming threat of inclement weather as August approaches adds tension and urgency to their preparations.

The arrival of Rolf from a climbing course injects renewed energy into the group. Their tent becomes a social hub, complete with brightly colored inflatable furniture, symbolizing warmth and unity in the midst of the cold, unforgiving mountain.

Notable Quote:
Cecilia Skog: “I have this gut feeling that I'm not in control of this climb.”
Timestamp: 28:23

As the team anticipates a rare window of perfect weather, a sense of foreboding begins to settle in. Dr. Eric Meyer voices his unease, sensing that the mountain's "ambiguous" message portends impending danger.

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5. The Onset of Disaster

Timestamp: 27:39 - 28:31

The climbers finally receive the awaited signal of favorable weather—a brief respite before the push for the summit. However, Frederick Strang captures a lingering sense of unease as he gazes upon K2: “I can't shake off a sense that something isn't right.” (27:39).

Tragically, their fears materialize as an avalanche strikes, unraveling the expedition in chaos. The episode culminates with the catastrophic events that resulted in the loss of 11 lives, underscoring the unpredictable and lethal nature of K2.

Notable Quote:
Eystein: “Hope everybody's gone okay.”
Timestamp: 28:17

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6. Reflection on the Art Gilke Memorial

Timestamp: 17:54 - 21:26

A significant portion of the episode delves into the history and emotional weight of the Art Gilke Memorial at K2. Built in the 1950s, the memorial honors climbers who lost their lives on the mountain. The harrowing story of Art Gilke's sacrifice—where he likely chose to sever his own rope to prevent pulling down his teammates—adds a profound layer of tragedy and heroism to the narrative.

Notable Quote:
Jennifer Jordan: “What I experienced was, why am I here? Am I in the right place? And then you start to reflect on, is it worth the risk?”
Timestamp: 21:26

The metallic clinking of weathered rocks adorned with countless names serves as a haunting reminder of the mountain's deadly allure.

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7. Technical Aspects of Climbing K2

Timestamp: 22:06 - 24:30

Natalia provides an insightful explanation of high-altitude mountaineering, detailing the physiological challenges climbers face as oxygen levels plummet and the body undergoes significant changes. Cecilia discusses the repetitive nature of setting up camps and acclimatizing, comparing the process to a modern-day Sisyphus.

Notable Quote:
Frederick Strang: “We’re going down to base Camp. There’s not much we can do. We want to get the heck out of here.”
Timestamp: 24:22

This segment underscores the relentless and methodical approach required to tackle K2, highlighting both the strategic planning and the inherent risks involved.

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8. Conclusion and Teaser for Next Episode

Timestamp: 28:31 - End

As the episode draws to a close, Natalia teases the impending disaster set to unfold in the next installment. The stage is set for an intense continuation of Cecilia and Rolf's harrowing expedition, promising listeners a deeper dive into the events that led to one of mountaineering's most tragic days.

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Key Takeaways:

• Human Endurance vs. Nature's Fury: The episode poignantly illustrates the thin line climbers walk between triumph and tragedy, emphasizing the immense physical and psychological toll of high-altitude climbing.

• Community and Camaraderie: Despite the isolating dangers of K2, the base camp serves as a melting pot of international climbers who form deep bonds, exemplifying the unifying power of shared challenges.

• Historical Context: The Art Gilke Memorial provides a historical backdrop, linking past tragedies to present perils and highlighting the enduring legacy of those lost to K2.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Cecilia Skog: “The sky is this warm blue color. And all around me there are glaciers and mountains as long as I can see.”
  Timestamp: 01:26

• Cecilia Skog: “The most important thing can't be to summit. The most important thing has to be to come back home alive.”
  Timestamp: 11:57

• Frederick Strang: “How's it look, Fred? Wow and shit and holy son of a bitch.”
  Timestamp: 16:05

• Jennifer Jordan: “It's a sobering walk. As you're reaching it, you're really getting a sense of human loss on that mountain.”
  Timestamp: 17:54

• Cecilia Skog: “I have this gut feeling that I'm not in control of this climb.”
  Timestamp: 28:23

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This episode masterfully blends personal narratives, historical anecdotes, and the raw realities of mountaineering to deliver a compelling story of ambition, love, and the relentless pursuit of conquering one of the world's most formidable peaks.

Transcript

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.

[Cecilia Skog]

BBC Sounds Music Radio podcasts.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

You're about to listen to Extreme Peak Danger with me, Natalia Melman Petruzella. New episodes will be released on Mondays, so mark it in your calendar and find them wherever you get your podcasts. But if you're in the uk, you can listen to the full series now first on BBC Sounds. Enjoy. It's August 1st, 2008, and Cecilia Skog is on top of the world.

[Cecilia Skog]

Really. I'm up here. I pinch my arm. It's really a dream come true.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Cecilia is standing on the summit of K2, one of the world's tallest mountains. This towering pyramid of ice and rock sits on the border of China and Pakistan. It stretches up 28,251ft, the height of 19 Empire State Buildings stacked on top one another. Cecilia's been climbing for hours. The muscles in her arms and legs are so exhausted she can practically hear them screaming. But in this perfect moment, all of that pain melts away.

[Cecilia Skog]

The sky is this warm blue color. And all around me there are glaciers and mountains as long as I can see.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Looking below, peering through wispy clouds, Cecilia can see the charcoal colored peaks of the sprawling Karakoram mountain range. Cecilia can even see the curvature of the earth itself. It's all so beautiful, so breathtaking. It's like she stepped out of reality and into a painting.

[Cecilia Skog]

The stars slightly showing up on the sky. It's amazing.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

But as bewitching as those stars are just barely beginning to twinkle, it's time to move on.

[Cecilia Skog]

Sun's going down and it's going to be dark in not so long. You want to be back down before it's dark. Cause that's when you're tired and that's when you're more exposed. To make mistakes, we have to get back down past.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Cecilia steals one last look before turning around to begin her descent.

[Cecilia Skog]

One foot at a time. And then the ice axe. One foot, then the ice axe. In a rhythm. It's a long way back down.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

As the sky above morphs from blue to black. Cecilia is making slow but steady progress. Boot and then axe. One after another.

[Cecilia Skog]

But suddenly I feel this earthquake in my whole body.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Cecilia loses her footing and drops. But in less than a second, she's caught, yanked back by the rope she's connected to. Cecilia scrambles to steady herself, searching for some traction against the rocky, icy facade of the mountain. Something huge has shot past her.

[Cecilia Skog]

Big blocks of ice falling.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Refrigerator sized chunks of ice are tumbling down into the Darkness below. As the shaking comes to a stop, Cecilia peers into the night. She can't make out anything, but one thing's for certain.

[Cecilia Skog]

It's been big. Avalanche.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Cecilia Skog is one of around 30 climbers scaling K2 on August 1, 2008. By the end of the next day, 11 of those climbers will have lost their lives.

[Eystein]

It was a terrifying moment for those caught up in it. On one of the world's deadliest mountains, 11 climbers appeared to have died on the world's second highest mountain, K2.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

It's thought they were caught in an avalanche during their descent. People everywhere were trying to grasp just what went wrong and why anyone would attempt something so dangerous in the first place. I'm Natalia Melman Petruzella. I'm a historian of culture, politics and the body. Every season of this podcast, you'll hear an unbelievable true story about people who've pushed the boundaries of what our bodies and minds can do and of human potential itself. This time, we'll ascend together into the world of high altitude mountaineering with the story of one of the deadliest disasters in the history of mountain climbing. From the BBC, this is extreme. You're listening to season two, Peak Danger, Episode one. Welcome to Basecamp. I love a good workout. Running, yoga, weightlifting. I'll even do some hiking if I'm feeling crazy. But high altitude climbing, I'll be honest, that's something I've never been brave enough to try or even had the desire to. I have to admit though, it is a world that fascinates me. I guess I'm just instinctively drawn to stories of people who constantly push themselves to the very limits of what's possible. People who live life teetering on the edge. And I think it's fair to say that nobody personifies life on the edge quite like high altitude climbers. So naturally, I have a lot of questions, like, how do you even discover a talent for this kind of sport? Well, it helps to have some mountains in your backyard.

[Cecilia Skog]

I grew up in Olsen, a little town on the west coast of Norway. And surrounding this little town is mountains everywhere. It's really beautiful there.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

When Cecilia Skog was born on August 9, 1974, she weighed just over three pounds. She spent the first few months of her life in an incubator. But she was a survivor. And by the time her teenage years rolled around, Cecilia was ready for some adventure. And where better to start than one of the tallest mountains she could find? Jornshorne?

[Cecilia Skog]

It was steep. I was crawling on the floor, holding My hands, like, really tight onto the rock because I didn't have the courage to stand up tall because I was so afraid to fall off. When I was there on the top for the first time, looking around, it was just amazing. Time just stood still. I could hear the mountains saying, you have to promise to come back, visit us.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Cecilia kept her promise as real life ticked along. Even when she began training as a nurse, she didn't lose her passion for climbing. If anything, it grew.

[Cecilia Skog]

These mountains, they should have given it with, like, a warning sign. This is really addictive.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

She'd pull night shifts at the hospital, work a second job in the summer months, saving everything she could until she had enough for her next trip to.

[Cecilia Skog]

France, to the Alps, to Argentina. Piece by piece, mountain by mountain, they got higher and higher.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Cecilia even became a guide in the mountains. I'm curious to know a little bit about how you carved out your own space in that community as a woman.

[Cecilia Skog]

Well, there were mostly men around, and sometimes it was difficult because some of the men I guided were, like, twice my age. I'm not the tallest person, and how could they trust me as a guide, but. But after weeks of climbing together, you become just a person. I think the social norms and the expectations kind of disappears when you get onto the mountains.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Eventually, Cecilia finds a new love, a fellow climber named Rolf bae. They make a gorgeous couple. They each have a mop of golden blonde hair. Rolf's is straight down past his chin. Well, Cecilia has a beautiful crown of wild curls. The two of them would head to the mountains together every chance they got. And in 2005, they made their first trip to K2.

[Cecilia Skog]

The jaw is the histories, the culture is. It's crawled underneath your skin. I felt that attraction to that mountain.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

K2 was named by a British surveyor called Thomas Montgomery. In 1856, he spent months researching the Karakoram Range, which runs through Pakistan and its neighboring countries. Many of the world's tallest mountains are right there. K2 was, perhaps unsurprisingly, the second mountain that Montgomery surveyed. The name was supposed to be temporary, but when Montgomery tried to find the local name, he couldn't. So K2 stuck. Over the years, thousands have attempted to climb this mysterious and imposing mountain. Some have been successful. Many others have not. In the 2000s, it had one of the highest fatality rates of all the world's mountains. One in four climbers would not make it back alive. If you're going to take on K2, you gotta be at the top of your game. That's why it's known in climbing circles as the Mountaineers mountain.

[Cecilia Skog]

It wasn't that many people as on other mountains that attract a lot of commercial expeditions.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Cecilia and Rolf spent the whole summer of 05 attempting to summit K2. They're the first Norwegians to do so. There's a narrow window running from May to late July when the weather is good enough to climb the mountain. By the time August rolls around, there's more moisture in the air, which means more snowfall and more chance of avalanch. Cecilia and Rolf spent night after night huddled together, sharing a sleeping bag in their tiny tent. And day after day trying to make it to the top. Before the summer window was over, we.

[Cecilia Skog]

Really got to know every centimeter of that mountain.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Every snowfield, every ice wall and cliff edge becomes seared into Cecelia and Rolf's memories over and over again.

[Cecilia Skog]

We turn around so many times because of the avalanche danger and hostile environment.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Even in the safer summer months, K2 is known for its sudden and changeable atmospheres. Hurricane force winds and blizzards will roll in at a moment's notice. That year, bad weather stopped the young couple from making it to the summit before August came. In fact, it was so bad in 2005 that nobody made it to the summer the summit at all. But that was okay with Cecilia and Rolf. For them, it wasn't as much about the destination as it was about the journey.

[Cecilia Skog]

The most important thing can't be to summit. The most important thing has to be to come back home alive. And number two had to be to come home as better friends than when we started.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

When it was time to go home. Cecilia knew it wasn't the end of the story for her. Rolf and Kay too.

[Cecilia Skog]

I know we didn't say goodbye. We said, see you later.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

And they would. Three years later, in 2008, Rolf and Cecilia are recently married. They're more in love with the mountains and each other than ever. They want to finish what they started. One last hurrah before they settle down.

[Cecilia Skog]

Rolf said so many times that we were going to have two girls with curly hair and they were going to run barefoot in the grass. So we wanted that. Just wanted to go back to K2 one more time.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

For their next shot at K2, Cecilia and Rolf are joined by their friend and fellow climber Eystein, plus a new friend named Lars.

[Lars]

I started climbing with my cousin Lars because we're named Lars. All the cousins in this family, we had our background from the typical Norwegian outdoors with hiking, hunting, picking berries and fishing.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

They knew Lars had a good reputation within Norway's tight knit climbing community and that he seemed to be up for a new challenge.

[Lars]

I was eager to go on adventures.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Cecilia, Rolf, Oistein and Lars all meet up ahead of time to see if they'd be a good fit for one another. They get to know each other over freshly baked bread and brown cheese. Apparently it's a delicacy. Okay, I'll take your word for it, Norway. Anyway, the meetup goes great.

[Cecilia Skog]

We know immediately that this is going to be a little nice group of four people.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

When the summer of 08 rolls around, the plans are all set and it's time to go. Rolf is back in Norway for a climbing course and will join his teammates in a few weeks. In the meantime, Cecilia, Lars and Eystein start making their way to K2's base camp at about 16,700ft above sea level. It's a long journey and while some can take a shortcut by plane, most drive along the Karakoram highway, which cuts through northern Pakistan. It's one of the highest paved roads in the world, and while it can be kind of a bumpy ride, the views more than make up for it.

[Lars]

You have the roaming Indus river in the bottom of the valley. Beautiful small villages, just spectacular nature.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

After the picturesque drive, it's time to get walking. It's a six day hike to base camp. The first few days you're on crunchy gravel paths. But then as the gravel turns to huge swaths of ice and rock, you're walking on ancient glaciers in the shadow of the soaring peaks around you. If you can stick it out till the end of this exhausting hike, you'll get your reward. The first glimpse of K2. Or at least you should.

[Cecilia Skog]

We're looking to that direction where on our map K2 should lay. But there is no mountain. There is only clouds. But suddenly we can see the curtains being pulled back like in a theater. And we can see this diamond.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

If you ask climbers to describe what K2 looks like, they'll often tell you to imagine a child's drawing of a mountain. A classic pyramid stretching up to a perfect point that pierces through the clouds. It's been said that K2 looks like it's almost touching the heavens themselves. But in the moment, not everyone speaks quite so poetically.

[Frederick Strang]

How's it look, Fred? Wow and shit and holy son of a bitch.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Fred is Frederick Strang. Originally from Sweden, he's part of an American team. In 2008, he's making a documentary about his expedition. So he's brought his camera along to Capture every moment.

[Dr. Eric Meyer]

K2 popped up like this intimidating black, huge rock.

[Frederick Strang]

That's a high mountain. Hey, jeez.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Once you've gotten over the sight of K2 in the flesh, it's a final short trek into base camp.

[Cecilia Skog]

We settled down and we put up our two little red tents.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

The Norwegian team's humble homestead disappears into the bustling tent city all around them. K2's base camp is jam packed with climbers from all over the world. Each expedition team has their own little patch. Their brightly colored tents, large and small, pitched on a bed of ice and stone.

[Cecilia Skog]

There were mixed lots of people around us. It's a community on the foot of the mountain.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

But for Cecilia, her community is missing one very vital person. Her husband, Rolf. He's still not back from his climbing course.

[Cecilia Skog]

We've only been married for a year, so we're kind of newly wedded on our honeymoon. But he's not there yet.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

This isn't just camping with a gorgeous view. The environment is beautiful, sure, but it's also hostile, dangerous. And nothing is more of a reminder of that fact than the memorial perched on the mountainside. About an hour's trek away from base camp. One day, a teammate of Frederick Strang, Dr. Eric Meyer, makes the journey.

[Jennifer Jordan]

It's a sobering walk. As you're reaching it, you're really getting a sense of human loss on that mountain.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

When you arrive, you see a huge pile of brown weathered rocks all stacked on top of one another. It's adorned with crisscrossing flags and pictures of fallen climbers. It was first built back in the 1950s. In 53, a group of Americans headed up by a man named Charles Houston were trying to become the first team to successfully summit K2. Previous US expeditions had gotten tantalizingly close and Charles team thought they could finally bring it home. I'm Charles Houston and that's our mountain. But in the middle of their push for the summit, their teammate Art Gilke gets sick. Really sick. He needs to get off the mountain and fast. So his teammates leap into action.

[Charles Houston]

They immediately abandon their summit bid.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

This is Jennifer Jordan. She's a journalist who spent months living at K2 Space Camp.

[Charles Houston]

They rope to each other, Art in a stretcher, inching, inching the stretcher down this sheer 65, 70 degree slope.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Remember, it's 1953. There's no satellite phones. Nobody knows what's happening. The team is truly on their own. Then one man slipped like Domino's. Each man after another starts to fall. Being dragged down K2's steep slopes by the combination of gravity and multiple dead weights, the entire expedition team is tumbling towards catastrophe. Until one of the climbers, Pete Schoening, manages to dig his ice axe behind a rock. He holds on with everything he's got in a feat of truly unbelievable strength. His muscles straining against the weight, Pete manages to cling on and saves the life of every climber below him. After catching their breath, the team decides to pitch their tents right there where they've landed. But Art can't fit inside, not in his stretcher. So they secure him to the side of the mountain and then they all.

[Charles Houston]

Just basically passed out.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

The next morning, the team makes their way out of their tents, but Art Gilke is just gone. Some people think he was swept away by an avalanche. But when Jennifer spoke to the expedition leader, Charles, he thought differently.

[Charles Houston]

Charlie admitted that they all imagined that Art cut his own rope because he knew saving him was going to kill them.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Over the past seven decades, the Art Gilkey Memorial has become a place to honor not just Art, but everyone who's lost their life on K2.

[Charles Houston]

What people do is they take the old tin dinner plates and they pound out the name and the date and they fashion that to the rocks.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Each year, plate after plate has been added. The memorial is covered from top to bottom. When the wind blows, the metal clanks against the rocks like an ominous wind chime. In 2008, after trekking the 60 minutes out of base camp, Dr. Eric Meyer is now standing before this haunting tower of rocks.

[Jennifer Jordan]

What I experienced was, why am I here? Am I in the right place? And then you start to reflect on, is it worth the risk?

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Las NUEVAS Y Capacities for Bronco Sport.

[Eystein]

Y Fort Maverick Dos Mil Veentico Excluding.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Pues the thing about climbing K2, or any of the other world's tallest mountains for that matter, is you can't really tackle the whole thing at once. The higher up you go, the lower the oxygen pressure gets and the more you're pushing your body to its limits. You need to slowly acclimatize.

[Jennifer Jordan]

If you were to take you or I and plunk us down on the summit, our time of consciousness would probably be about 90 seconds. And if we were left there, we'd probably perish within about 15 minutes or less.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Climbing this high up changes the chemistry of your blood. It makes it more acid, that increases the rate and depth of your breathing, which in turn creates more red blood cells that are required to move the extra oxygen around your body to acclimatize you Essentially, just climb the mountain bit by bit, over and over again. For a non climber like me, it sounds just like the myth of Sisyphus, cursed to push a rock up a mountain for all eternity. But the technical term is expedition climbing. Each time you climb, you get a little bit higher than the last. You set up a tent, maybe place some guide ropes before returning to one of the lower camps to sleep, and you let yourself recover for a few days. There are four main camps between base camp and the summit of K2.

[Cecilia Skog]

I think we reached camp one like seven times. Camp two, maybe five. The lack of oxygen will stop you from moving as efficient as you would like to. Sometimes you have to stop and just breathe, and then you'll find a new pace.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

But just like Cecilia's first K2 attempt in 2005, before the climbers can reach the top, sudden spates of bad weather keep forcing them back down to lower, safer ground.

[Jennifer Jordan]

We had a lot of frequent snowstorms, wind events, weather's bad.

[Frederick Strang]

We're going down to base Camp. There's not much we can do. We want to get the heck out of here.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

It's early July. Cecilia has just made her way back down the mountain to Base Camp. She stops in to visit Eric Meyer's team for a cup of tea.

[Cecilia Skog]

Suddenly I hear someone, like, whispering, and I can hear Rolf's name being whispered. I was like, what? And then I understand that he has arrived Base camp, and I give away my cup of tea and run towards our camp. His wild hair. That's the first thing I see stepping out of the tent is his wild white hair. And it's just so wonderful to see him again. Now we're a whole team, like we're meant to be.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Rolf's arrival seems to energize a lot of the other climbers, too.

[Jennifer Jordan]

Arguably one of the best climbers on K2 and just a wonderful person, the true leader on the mountain.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Rolf's honeymoon suite, I mean tent with Cecilia, becomes the place to hang out while everyone is waiting for the bad weather to clear up.

[Jennifer Jordan]

They have all this really cool, brightly colored inflatable furniture, which we just thought was just the cat's meow, really. Euro and rad.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Dr. Eric and others would cram into Cecilia and Rolf's colorful, cozy tent day after day. And as those days stretch into weeks, still no summit day in sight. Cecilia spends her time, when she's not acclimatizing, working on a special project, crocheting hats.

[Cecilia Skog]

I had one big barrel full of yarn, and I made people decide what color they wanted. But after a while, I discovered that they didn't pick very nice colors that didn't match. I think most men are colorblind. Can you say that?

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

I can neither confirm nor deny.

[Cecilia Skog]

So I stopped doing that. I just figured out what suited them best myself.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

The mountaineers are getting in some serious bonding time. But there's an unease simmering beneath the surface at Base Camp. August is fast approaching, and the climbers are starting to run out of time. Soon the real bad weather will be here.

[Cecilia Skog]

One day is not enough. We want to have at least like two or three days where we can start for the summit push.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Finally, after weeks of waiting, the message that everyone is waiting for comes through. There's a window. A few days of perfect weather, clear blue skies and no wind. It's now or never. But even as the storms begin to pass, as filmmaker Frederick gazes up at K2, he can't shake off a sense that something isn't right.

[Dr. Eric Meyer]

Mountains do have a character. They are very much alive. But K2 was very cold and raw. I could not interpret the message that K2 gave. It was very ambiguous, and that made me nervous. I almost had a premonition of something would go wrong.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

On the next episode of Extreme Peak Danger, the push for the summit begins.

[Jennifer Jordan]

We had an avalanche that ran down to various camp.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Jesus Christ.

[Eystein]

Hope everybody's gone okay.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

He's a very sick man.

[Jennifer Jordan]

I treated him with antibiotics, but he was not getting better.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

He was expecting to die in Camp 2.

[Cecilia Skog]

I have this gut feeling that I'm not in control of this climb.

[Natalia Melman Petruzella]

Extreme Peak Danger is produced by Lee Meyer and Amalia Sortland. The editor is Josephine Wheeler. Sound design and mix by Nicholas Alexander. Original music by Adam Foran. Our theme music for Extreme Peak Danger is by Silverhawk AKA Cyril Poirier and Adam Foran. Our production managers are Cherie Houston and Joe Savage. Story development by Amalia Sortland. Our commissioning editor at the BBC is Dan Clark. Max O'Brien and Craig Strachan are executive producer producers. And I'm Natalia Melman Petruzzella, your host and executive producer. Extreme is produced by novel. For the BBC.

[Nicola Coughlan]

I'm Nicola Coughlan. And for BBC Radio 4, this is History's youngest heroes. Rebellion, risk and the radical power of youth.

[Eystein]

She thought, right, I'll just do it. She thought about others rather than herself.

[Nicola Coughlan]

Twelve stories of extraordinary young people from across history.

[Eystein]

There's a real sense of urgency in them. That resistance has to be mounted. It has to be mounted now.

[Nicola Coughlan]

Subscribe to History's youngest Heroes on BBC sounds.