At 27,000 feet, in the dead of night and on one of the world’s most dangerous mountain paths, a group of climbers were faced with an agonising choice.
Norwegian mountaineering star Kristin Harila and her team came across a dying mountain porter during their record-breaking ascent of K2 in 2023.
They had to decide whether to abandon their mission and do everything they could to bring him to safety, or continue towards the summit, where they were just metres from setting a new world record.
They chose the latter, a decision that would trigger months of scandal, abuse and death threats against Harila and send shockwaves through the mountaineering world.
Now, a new documentary features harrowing never-before-seen footage, showing the moment Harila’s team discovered Pakistani porter Muhammad Hassan, as well as their attempts to save him before ultimately abandoning the mission.
Harila, now 40, became the fastest climber to scale the world’s 14 highest mountains, completing the feat on K2 in Pakistan on July 27, 2023, after just 92 days.
Speaking in the film Savage Mountain, Harila recalled discovering the porter hanging upside down on the mountain, adding: ‘We saw there was something wrong with the rope around his legs. He was naked on his stomach and his back.’
A climber is seen attempting to save a dying porter before dangerously slipping
The film shows the team struggling across the snowy mountainside in darkness as they attempt to reach the dying porter
She described the team’s desperate attempts to reach him, with the footage showing one climber trying to secure an ice screw before slipping.
‘People were worried about everything collapsing, so of course no one wanted to stay there,’ Harila said, ‘I told Lama, we need to do something.’
The film shows the team struggling across the snowy mountainside in darkness as they attempt to reach the dying porter.
Speaking on camera, Harila’s climbing partner Tenjen ‘Lama’ Sherpa recounted: ‘People were scared. I clipped around 10 people to get closer to the accident.
‘I picked him up and held his hand. We were on a big slope with very slippery blue ice. It was a very dangerous place.’
Harila said the team eventually managed to secure Hassan with a new rope, but said it would be impossible to get everyone to turn around and go back.
The documentary’s cameraman, Gabriel, said Hassan was already in an extremely serious condition when they reached him.
‘He was completely frozen. No oxygen, no gloves, no down suit. I tried to warm him, to move his fingers, tried to give him hot water. Tried to give him comfort,’ he explained.
At around 3.20am, a large avalanche came down from the side of a serac shortly after the Bottleneck, one of the most dangerous sections of K2.
Harila explained that two members of the team were already ahead in that area, so she and Lama split from Gabriel and continued upwards, while he remained with Hassan.
Gabriel later recalled realising that Hassan had little chance of survival because he was already too far gone.
Despite this, the cameraman continued trying to keep him alive, even giving him his own oxygen bottle, until someone told him he had to keep going and leave the porter behind.
Once daylight arrived, the climbers were unable to do anything more to save Hassan and continued their ascent up the mountain.
The film captures the moment Harila and her team arrive at the peak, joyfully celebrating the record they had set.
But their celebration and a viral video appearing to show the climbers stepping over a dying Hassan would later overshadow the achievement, triggering months of abuse and online hate directed at the climber.
Harila is seen celebrating at the peak of K2 after breaking a world record
A viral video appeared to show Harila and her team stepping over the dying mounttain porter
At the time, Harila said that she had been the victim of ‘hatred’ and death threats for celebrating her feat, and wrote on Instagram: ‘This was no one’s fault, you cannot comment when you do not understand the situation and sending death threats is never okay.’
In the film, she says: ‘This [viral video] was filmed in the middle of the day, when it was light. We were there when he fell in the dark. We tried for hours to save him.’
She says their biggest mistake was not coming forward with the full story immediately after they returned from the climb.
‘What really happened wasn’t controversial. But the story of rich Western climbers stepping over a dying porter to take the record was really controversial. And that’s what the media wants to have.’
Harila also shared some of the over 20,000 abusive messages she received in the aftermath of the climb.
‘F****ing w****, I hope you die in pain,’ one person wrote. Another said, ‘You f***ing murderer, may you burn in hell.’
One particularly awful message read: ‘I pray that next time it’s you, not someone you would declare as “second-class human”. Selfish c***.’
More hate flowed in, with one person telling the mountaineer to ‘kill yourself.’
‘Humans like you disgust me. I hope you are left with a life of misery.’
An inquiry was subsequently opened into Hassan’s death. It concluded that the expedition company had failed to carry out adequate checks and balances, with questions raised over the porter’s poor equipment and lack of preparation.
The company he worked for was required to suspend operations for two years.
Sirbaz Khan, the first Pakistani to summit all 14 of the world’s highest peaks, was involved in the investigation, and said in the film: ‘There were 100 people trying to summit that day. Why was Kristin singled out?’
Harila said the goal of the expedition had been to prove that women were just as capable as men and could set records, while hopefully making it easier for other female climbers to secure sponsorship.
‘I think the whole thing unfortunately went in the complete opposite direction,’ she said.
Harila lost most of her sponsors following the backlash and said she came to regret climbing the mountain altogether. ‘I should have never done this. It was a very stupid idea.’
Harila and Lama gesture upon their arrival at the airport in Kathmandu after the record-breaking climb
Despite the grief and controversy that followed the climb, Harila has continued to pursue her passion for mountaineering
And a few months later, while still dealing with the fallout from the controversy and the abuse she had received, Harila was dealt another devastating blow.
Her climbing partner, Tenjen ‘Lama’ Sherpa, was killed in an avalanche on Shishapangma on October 7, 2023.
American climbers Anna Gutu and Gina Marie Rzucidlo were also killed, along with guide Mingmar Sherpa.
Harila recalled grappling with feelings of guilt, wondering whether, had they not broken the record, Lama might not have been chosen to accompany the American climbers.
The Norwegian climber has since established a foundation in Lama’s memory, and despite the grief and controversy that followed the climb, has continued to pursue her passion for mountaineering.
In May of this year, Harila became the first woman to complete the Everest ‘triple crown,’ by summiting Nuptse, Lhotse, and Mount Everest in a single spring season.
