touching the void Author:Joe Simpson Joe Simpson and his climbing partner had just reached the top of a 21,000 foot peak in the andes when disaster struck. Simpson pounged off the vertical face of an ice ledge, breaking his leg. In the hours that followed, darkness fell and a blizzard raged as his partner tried to lower his friend to safety. finally, he was forced to cut the rope, ... more »moments before he would have been pulled to his own death.
The next 3 days were an impossibly grueling ordeal for both men. yates, certain that simpson was dead, returned to base camp consumed with grief and guilt over abandoning him. Miraculously, simpson had survivved the fall, but crippled, starving, and severely frostbitten, was trapped in a deep crevasse. summoning reserves of physical and spiritual strength. simpson crawled over the cliffs and canyons of the andes, reaching base camp hours before yates had planned to leave.« less