The North Face Presents: ‘K2 Chasing Shadows’ Inside Benjamin Védrines’ Historic Ascent Of The World’s Most Dangerous Mountain

Time and time again, we’re shown that the limit has not yet been reached in human exploration. Each athlete that achieves new feats is often left hungry for more.

In K2 Chasing Shadows, The North Face lifts the veil on Benjamin Védrines’ extraordinary ascent of K2 – completed in just 10 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, without supplemental oxygen. More than a feat of speed and endurance, the film offers a rare and intimate portrait of the psychological edge of elite mountaineering, exploring what compels an athlete to return, time and again, to the limits of human possibility.

Set against the unforgiving beauty of Pakistan’s Karakoram range, K2 Chasing Shadows is both a landmark sporting achievement and a deeply human story of resilience, doubt, and purpose.

The dissonance between pushing the body to extremes, reaching heights few could imagine, and realising the deeper longing remains unsettled, sit at the heart of K2 Chasing Shadows. This is Benjamin Védrines’ account of his historic ascent of K2: a journey of humility, resilience, and purpose.

Shot against the raw beauty of Pakistan’s Karokoram mountain range, the film captures the relentless physical demands of facing the summit’s formidable climate, while simultaneously confronting loss, fear, and the perilous nature of dreams that require total focus and dedication.

Through unforeseen obstacles, forced retreats, and second chances, Védrines confronts both the most harrowing and most exhilarating sides of alpinism, all while questioning where true fulfilment lies, if anywhere at all.

‘I can’t live without the mountains. And I can’t live without this type of project. I need this, this is what has shaped me since I was a teenager. And the mountains have allowed me to continue living, because there was a time when I was asking myself the question. This world is a bit different. You don’t have the same relationship with life down here as you do up there.’ - Benjamin Védrines.

K2 Chasing Shadows masterfully captures Védrines’ record-breaking ascent of K2 in 10 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds, without supplemental oxygen; a journey told as much through his mind as through the mountain.

The film will be available to watch from 11th February on The North Face’s YouTube channel.