A life or death confrontation on an icy ledge 27,000 feet up on the world’s second highest mountain known as…

   K2

 

                                               By Patrick Meyers

The setting is an icy ledge high up on K2, the world’s second highest mountain.  Two climbers, Taylor (John Hale) and Harold (Jim Colgan), are stranded at 27,000 feet, and Harold has suffered a broken leg in their precipitous descent.  They have also lost one of their ropes, and the remaining one is neither long nor strong enough to lower Harold in a sling to the next ledge.  As Taylor climbs back up the mountain in an attempt to recover the other rope the two men keep up a running conversation that begins in a lighthearted vein but gradually shades into an absorbing discussion of the meaning and value of life.

Taylor, an arch-conservative, womanizing district attorney, sees personal gratification as the focus of existence, while Harold, a physicist, has found an almost mystic satisfaction in his selfless love for his wife and young son.  

When Taylor’s attempts to recover the second rope fail, and the desperation of their situation can no longer be denied, it is, finally, the bond between the two men which is put to the test as Harold, in a scene of shattering emotional impact, calmly but firmly orders Taylor to save himself – to salvage the one life which can be saved, and to live for both of them.    

“What we feel is indeed that tingling sensation of traveling beyond the rim of experience – of holding on to life at its highest peak.” – The New York Times

 

“The entire action really takes place in the hearts, mind and pasts of two climbers … it is quite extraordinary – probably like nothing you have seen before.” – The New York Post