Peak Danger is Season 2 of Extreme, the BBC podcast about those who chase the impossible... who strive for superhuman status and refuse to accept that life has any limits. Every season tells an unforgettable, action-packed story about people who've pushed their minds and bodies to the very edge - but at what cost?
A mountain of trouble...
In August 2008, around 30 climbers took on K2. Over 2 disastrous days, 11 of those people would lose their lives. This is the story of what really happened.
Sitting on the border between China and Pakistan, K2 is a perfect pyramid that pierces through the clouds. It looks like a kid's drawing of a mountain...but this terrifying peak is anything but child's play.
Newlyweds Cecilie Skog and her husband Rolf Bae loved climbing mountains almost as much as they loved one another. In the summer of 2008, they embarked on a honeymoon like no other, when they decided to climb K2. What happened next would change their lives and the lives of everyone around them...forever.
A devastating avalanche scatters high altitude climbers across K2's steep slopes. Life and death rescue missions quickly get underway. Who can be saved... before time runs out?
Historian and podcaster Natalia Mehlman Petrzela returns with a sky-high story of human vs nature, and of survival against all the odds.
What does it really take to push yourself to the brink of human possibility? How does it feel to stand with the whole world at your feet? And is it ever worth risking death... in order to feel alive?
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 put her life back together and forge a new future.
Her fellow climbers deal with the trauma and fallout of what’s happened. Some of them will never return to the mountains again.
But will Cecilie?
Featuring climbers Cecilie Skog, Lars Nessa, Wilco van Rooijen, Pasang Lama, Fredrik Sträng, Eric Meyer, Chhiring Dorje Sherpa 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
3 Mar 2025TRANSCRIPT
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 rest of the group is up against the clock as they mount a bold rescue mission. But as they battle for the survival of their fellow climbers, recent tragic history is about to repeat itself.
The results will be catastrophic.
Featuring climbers Wilco van Rooijen, Pasang Lama, Lars Nessa, Eric Meyer and Kim Jae-Soo. Also featuring June Yoon as the voice of Kim Jae-Soo as well as the journalist and author Amanda Padoan.
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
24 Feb 2025TRANSCRIPT
Peak Danger: 6. Descent into Madness
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
Inside a recent episode
Peak Danger: 8. Only The Mountain Knows
Published 10 Mar 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Cecilia has forever changed by what happened on K2. I used to love ice climbing before, but when I hear the ice break, when I climb, I am back there on K2. So that's too difficult. I felt that this doesn't belong to me anymore. Now, as a mother, Cecilia's life is a lot different. Sometimes I can miss being in the tent in Antarctica or just on my way somewhere, but just very briefly, because I want to stay close to my kids. I don't want to go away. And now my life is about just small trips. I've always been fascinated by this wild, unique world and the people who inhabit it. But in learning about this story, I've also been struck by the fact that a mountain like K2 holds so many truths at once. […]
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