The mountains gave him everything he longed for. In the end, they took even more.

Teodors Ķirsis was a legend of Latvian mountaineering. During the Soviet era, he conquered all the highest peaks in the Union and was awarded the title of Snow Leopard. After the restoration of independence, he carried the Latvian flag to the Himalayas. In May 1995, Ķirsis and Imants Zauls became the first Latvians to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In December 2003, however, he did not return from Aoraki, New Zealand’s highest mountain. Three of his companions perished with him, including his daughter Evija.

Ķirsis left behind decades’ worth of diaries, videos filmed during his expeditions, and unanswered questions. In the documentary “The Road Never Ends”, his surviving daughter, joins the director to retrace her father’s journey – from the former Soviet summits to the Himalayas and finally to New Zealand. Across a legendary career spanning 50 expeditions, what did the mountains offer him, and what did he sacrifice in return? For audiences acquainted with Soviet-era mountaineering or the spirit of freedom in the 1990s, this film offers plenty to recognise.

Mikk Granström