logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
29m 7s

Peak Danger: 6. Descent into Madness

BBC
About this episode

What was first a tragedy now morphs into a full blown catastrophe. In the aftermath of the avalanche, stranded climbers are battling their way back to Camp.

What they don’t know is that they’re searching for a path down K2 that no longer exists.

Some will risk it all to climb down in total darkness, while others wait out the night on K2’s slopes.

Rescue missions are being planned. Who can hold on long enough for help to reach them?

Featuring climbers Wilco van Rooijen, Pasang Lama, Chhiring Dorje Sherpa, Eric Meyer and Kim Jae-Soo. Also featuring June Yoon as the voice of Kim Jae-Soo.

Special thanks to Fredrik Sträng for providing archival footage.

Host and Executive Producer: Natalia Mehlman Petrzela Producers: Leigh Meyer & Amalie Sortland Editor: Josephine Wheeler Production Manager: Joe Savage Sound Design and Mix by Nicholas Alexander, with additional engineering from Daniel Kempson. Original Music by Adam Foran, Theme music by Adam Foran and Silverhawk Executive Producers: Max O’Brien & Craig Strachan Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Novel production for the BBC

Up next
Mar 2025
Peak Danger: 7. No Man Left Behind
As dawn breaks on a new day, it’s August 2nd 2008. There are nine climbers who are all either trapped, injured…or unaccounted for. Dutch climber Wlico van Rooijen finds himself lost and alone on the mountain. He’s spent one night out in the Death Zone. Can he survive another? The ... Show More
28m 51s
Jul 2024
Muscle Men: 1. All That Glitters
Meet William Dillon. A young amateur bodybuilder from small-town Illinois, who dreams of getting ripped. It’s the early 1980s and across the USA a fitness revolution is underway. Exercise has become a national pastime and Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking the jacked-up physique mai ... Show More
29m 50s
Mar 2025
Peak Danger: 8. Only The Mountain Knows
In the aftermath of the tragedy that claimed 11 lives, the surviving climbers leave K2 behind. As they do, they’re walking into a worldwide media frenzy.Everyone wants to know what happened? What went wrong? And most of all - was it worth it? A heartbroken Cecilie Skog tries to p ... Show More
29m 40s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2023
Mind Over Muscles with Dan "Nitro" Clark
This conversation packs a powerful 90's punch as the former American Gladiator recalls the reality competition full of muscles and mullets! Find out how an accidental knockout led to the job of his dreams...and all the obstacles he endured on and off the show.Plus, the piece of a ... Show More
56m 1s
Sep 2018
BALCO: Steroids and Snake Oil | 1
A college dropout with no background in science turns himself into an expert on performance enhancing drugs. Soon he attracts some of the world’s best athletes—along with the attention of a determined federal agent.Want to listen to the remaining episodes of BALCO? Episodes 2-6 a ... Show More
36m 4s
May 2023
Victorian Bodybuilding
Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Vanessa Heggie and comedian Darren Harriot to learn about the bodybuilding boom of the 19th and 20th centuries.The latter part of the 19th century saw the beginning of a fitness craze where the seeds of the modern-day gym and fitness culture were sown. ... Show More
55m 26s
Sep 2023
Victorian Bodybuilding (Radio Edit)
Greg Jenner is joined by Dr Vanessa Heggie and comedian Darren Harriott to learn about the bodybuilding boom of the 19th and 20th centuries.The latter part of the 19th century saw the beginning of a fitness craze where the seeds of the modern-day gym and fitness culture were sown ... Show More
28m 51s
Feb 2021
TOXIC MASCULINITY PT. 1 with Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova
<p>What's up, gym buds? Get ready for these big buff men to challenge your idea of what it truly means to be a man.&nbsp;</p> 
11m 11s
Jan 2024
The Sad Reality of Gym Bro Culture
David Gornoski is joined by Nicholas Stumphauzer, director of Died Suddenly and founder of matchmaking service Retvrn, for a conversation on the anthropology of matchmaking, mimesis within gym culture, whether biceps have meaning, what constitutes real masculinity, and more. Visi ... Show More
48m 58s