Jim Curran

Chris Bonington and Jim Curran trace the history of K2 expeditions from 1903 to the disastrous loss of life in the summer of 1986, when 13 climbers died on K2, climbing tragedies that aggressively carved the epithet the 'savage mountain' into the public consciousness. Jim Curran was hired by the British 'Fuller’s K2' team to document their attempt on the unclimbed NW Ridge, so he was at the mountain, all summer. Inevitably, his documentary ended up drifting into a gripping narrative from the front line of the disastrous and tragic summer that killed 13 climbers on K2.

On some peaks in 2003, the statistics are impressive. For the K2 dubbed "wild mountain" or "ruthless mountain", only 240 reached the summit and more than 60 perished in the ascent. An unimaginable rate of one death in four to survive. And these statistics are even worse At the start of the 2004 climbing season, only five talented and determined women had reached the 8,616-meter summit of K2, but only two made it out alive. , they too perished while climbing other peaks of 8000 meters, these five women all disappeared in the mountains.

In 1986, Kurt Diemberger and his companion Julie Tullis came back to the K2, after two failed expeditions, in order to finally stand on the summit of the mountain of all mountains. Their dream comes true. They reach the summit of K2. However, on the way down, Julie and four other mountaineers die. They were caught by a horrible storm which forced them to stay at an altitude of 8.000m for several days, all because they had lost one important day during their ascent. Kurt Diemberger and Willi Bauer were the only ones who were able to survive this inferno on the second highest mountain on earth - merely with serious frostbites.

Catherine Destivelle has deservedly become the most famous female climber in the world. She rose to prominence with historic climbs, such as the free ascent of the Nameless Tower in Pakistan, and solo winter ascents of the classic north faces of the Matterhorn and the Eiger, climbs that have never been repeated by any woman. She also made history in sport climbing by winning the world championship title. In 1997, this time in Scotland, on the iconic Old Man of Hoy route, opened by Bonington, Patey & Baillie, Martin Belderson crowned Destivelle Queen of the Rock. She was four months pregnant when she made this 137-meter ascent, which was not difficult but on tricky rock.

This film explores the development and use of images and music which personify Ireland as a woman in Irish culture and nationalism. The film highlights how these cultural and stereotypical images of Ireland as a woman influence the idealised model of woman demanded by Irish society. It uses historical film, photographs, political drawings, cartoons and music to explore the largely unrecorded role of women in Irish history and presents realistic images of Irish women at work today.