Broad Peak, Netflix’s new adventure drama film, goes into the life of Polish mountaineer Maciej Berbeka and the legacy he left as one of the country’s best climbers. The video also delves into his untimely demise in 2013 at the top of Broad Peak. Although Berbeka’s corpse was never located, he was proclaimed dead immediately after he and another climber failed to reach a camp. Broad Peak, directed by Leszek David and written by Lukasz Ludkowski with producers including Dawid Janicki, Krzysztof Rzaczynski, and Maciej Rzaczynsk, centers on Berbeka’s second expedition up the mountain 25 years later, after his first journey was left unfinished. Maja Ostazewska, Dawid Ogrodni, Piotr Glowacki, Lukasz Simlat, and Tomasz Sapryk are among the cast members.
The film will be released on Netflix on September 14, 2022, at 3 a.m. ET. According to the synopsis:
“Maciej Berbeka discovers his trek to the peak is unfinished after conquering Broad Peak mountain. He decides to continue what he began 25 years later.”
Before the film’s debut, here are five facts about Maciej Berbeka.
Five Important Facts About Maciej Berbeka
1) Maciej Berbeka was an important member of the Ice Warriors.
Maciej Berbeka, born in Poland in 1954, gained to notoriety as a climber at an early age. He was a member of the Polish search and rescue team as well as the International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations, and he was also a representative of the Ice Warriors. According to reports, these soldiers are:
“Polish mountaineers who dominated the winter mountaineering landscape, particularly in the 1980s, when they made the first seven winter first ascents of eight-thousanders.”
2) As a climber, Berbeka scaled vast heights during his life.
Maciej Berbeka ultimately reached the top of Manaslu in the Nepalese Himalayas in 1984, completing his quest for 14 worldwide 8,000ft summits without the need for supplementary oxygen. A year later, he climbed the peak of Cho Oyu in the Himalayas, 20 kilometers from Mount Everest. He also made it to the summits of Mount Everest and Annapurna. In addition, on March 6, 1988, he became the first person to climb the Rocky Summit, one of Karakoram’s five peaks on the Pakistan-China border, during the winter.
3) He went lost on his second attempt to reach the peak of Broad Peak.
Berbeka opted to climb Broad Peak again in 2013, 25 years after the first ascent, this time with Adam Bielecki, Tomasz Kowalski, and Artur Maek. He said that he decided to re-climb the top after realizing that he did not reach the actual summit on his initial attempt. The group reached the summit on March 6, but when Berbeka, 58, and Kowalski, 27, were unable to reach Camp 4 at 7,400 meters on their way back down, fears were raised about their safety. They went missing quickly.
4) The corpse of Maciej Berbeka was never discovered.
A rescue crew was despatched, but Berbeja and Kowalski were ruled dead after just two days, even though their remains were never discovered. Krzysztof Wielicki, the Polish Mountaineering Association’s winter ascent coordinator, released a public statement saying,
“Given the circumstances, conditions, my experience, history of Himalayan climbing, understanding of physiology and high-altitude medicine, and talks with physicians and expedition co-organizers in Poland, I am forced to proclaim Maciej Berbeka and Tomasz Kowalski dead.”
Wielicki continued:
“Taking into consideration the time since the last communication, the height at which it occurred, their health, current weather conditions, and all other criteria, I must state unequivocally that both climbers are dead…
The expedition has concluded.”
Tomasz Kowalski and Maciej Berbeka still missing on Broad Peak http://t.co/Raz4h1XF9U
— Alpine Club (@thealpineclub) March 6, 2013
5) A earlier documentary by Maciej Berbeka’s son Stanislaw looked at his personal life.
Stanislaw Berbeka, Berbeka’s son, made the documentary Dreamland about his father’s disappearance in 2018. The video also tells the story of Maciej’s family and his life as a magnificent climber and traveler who shared his father’s passion for the mountains. The video also discusses Maciej’s father, who died in an accident in the Alps as a result of his wounds and frostbite.
