Cold - Inside a Climbers Head

"What am I doing here? We have to get down" Climber Cory Richards films himself and 2 colleagues attempting to bag a first winter ascent of the 8000m+ Gasherbrum II. Cold is a representation of what goes on in a climber's head - thoughts about their family, their life and their doubts and fears.

Simone Moro stepped to the top of Pakistan's 26,360-foot Gasherbrum II, held his hands aloft, then finally collapsed, placing the point of his ice ax into the summit and resting his forehead on the adze. He shook there, sobbing like he'd just won Wimbledon, with the whole of the Karakoram Range sweeping around him in a swirl of incoming clouds. It was 11:38 A.M. on February 2 — the dead of winter.

Over the years, 16 teams had attempted winter ascents of Pakistan's 8,000-meter mountains K2, Broad Peak, and Nanga Parbat. All of them resulted in failure. No team had ever attempted Gasherbrum II in winter.

Pen-Y-Fan - Full Winter Conditions

The freezing temperatures since the fall of snow on Sunday night had preserved and maintained the winter whiteout across the Beacons and Heads of the Valley region.

With clear blue skies it was certainly the right time to test the winter conditions with a trek to the top of Pen-Y-Fan. However, the temperature was minus 2 degrees at the start!



Conditions underfoot changed as you gained height - with packed ice on the first third of the climb, soft snow on the second third and then deeper fresh layers of snow on the final third.



The climb probably took twice as long in the circumstances compared to any normal weather conditions.

It was tricky underfoot and as you neared the saddle at Bwlch Duwynt the head wind was probably 50 mph.



The rock face at Corn Du was covered in snow and a real winter scramble.



Surprisingly conditions were much calmer on the top of both Corn Du and Pen-Y-Fan, with the snow covered Cribyn and Fan-Y-Big resplendent in the morning sunshine.





There were only a handful of fellow walkers at the summit although an increasing number were passed on the descent.