Gratwanderung: Ein Extrembergsteiger im Kampf um Menschlichkeit und Verantwortung

"The mountains may be the destination, but the true journey takes place within ourselves."

Lukas Wörle has a dream: to climb an 8,000-meter peak without artificial oxygen or a high-altitude porter and then paraglide down into the valley from the summit. You can’t get any freer than that!

In the summer of 2023, he set out for Broad Peak, the neighboring mountain of the infamous K2, to achieve this ambitious goal. But just short of the summit, at over 8,000 meters, he comes across an injured Pakistani high-altitude porter who has been abandoned by his expedition. Exposed to the elements, the porter fights a hopeless battle for survival. Without hesitation, Lukas abandoned his goal and tried to bring the injured man back to camp. This is an almost impossible task to accomplish alone, as it puts his own life in danger.

The extreme physical and mental challenges he faces lead him to question the excesses of commercial mountaineering once again. What happens to mountaineering when reaching the summit becomes more important than a human life and goes unpunished?

This is a dramatic account by an extreme mountaineer who questions modern high-altitude tourism and calls for greater responsibility toward local communities and nature.