Mountaineer Nigel Vardy and Film Director David Hanna traveled from Britain to Talkeetna for the world premiere of their documentary Frostbitten. The film dives into Vardy’s brush with danger climbing Denali, being rescued by locals, then returning twenty-five years later to thank the people who saved his life.
“It’s a story about life. It’s a story about being given a second chance, about recovering from a dramatic accident that really changed my life, through major surgery, amputations through frostbite,” Vardy said, “but to close the circle round by coming to say thank you to some of the people I owe my life to, and to see the mountain again, to reflect on those last twenty-five years of life, and to celebrate that life continually.”
Vardy climbed Denali over twenty-five years ago before extreme weather conditions trapped him and his group on the mountain.
He explained, “We were benighted up there, just over 19,000 feet in a horrific storm, and we’re very lucky to survive.”
Thanks to the rescue efforts of locals, Vardy survived, but he sustained lifelong injuries from extreme frostbite.
“That was a reset on life,” Vardy stated, “I was 30 years old, and I’d gone from being a perfectly fit, able young man to a hospital case who couldn’t even feed himself in twenty-four hours.”
According to Vardy, the film had to premiere in Talkeetna in front of the crowd and community that saved him.
“They are the reason I am alive, and that’s something to be thankful for,” he added.
Even after his ordeal on Denali, Vardy can’t get enough of the mountains.
“I just love the cold,” he said, “And I know it’s tried to kill me and all the injuries that have come with it, and I absolutely love it. Just to feel your breath in the morning and, you know, the cold going into your lungs to me is just beautiful.”
He now volunteers with a mountain rescue group in Britain, training and maintaining equipment in case of an emergency.
The film premiered at Talkeetna’s Ice Festival in late January. Now, Frostbitten makes its way through film festivals worldwide, everywhere from Australia to Poland.
