I had dreams of white, deadly mountains, and narrow, gaping chasms.

Great (true) story-telling! I love the excerpts from the other players, where you get to see the story from both sides.

Miraculous is definitely the correct word for this story.This is a very well-written, page turner of a book.

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I did not read this, my husband read it, and loved it.

Engrossing!

"This is not primarily an adventure story about climbing. It is an account of one man, not just facing the abyss but being in the abyss and having his very being stripped to a raw struggle, not to survive but to want to survive.

Simpson and a climbing partner in an excess of youthful bravado planned a new route up a monster Andean peak in Peru. The area was remote and civilization was somewhere else. After an arduous ascent, Simpson fell and broke his leg while descending. The reader gradually realizes what a chilling horror has befallen the pair. They have no possibility of rescue; the mountain was almost unclimbable for two superb athletes with two good legs. How can they possibly get down when one of them is unable to walk?

Partner, Simon Yates, ropes Simpson to himself and tries to guide Simpson down who is forced to crawl, slide, and inch himself forward. Then Simpson goes over the edge of a cornice and is dangling with only the rope holding him over the void. Yates heroically digs in, but gradually he himself is being inexorably drawn to the chasm. He finally, with shuddering reluctance, cuts the rope, and Simpson falls many feet into a crevasse.

The rest of the book is Simpson's six-day excruciating journey down the mountain: his thoughts, hallucinations and agony. Simpson is a powerful writer without a trace of self-pity. He doesn't try to impress us with his stoicism - far from it, at times he is almost mad with fright. There is nothing lurid here; the book is exhausting, but thought provoking. You won't forget it easily, and you cannot help but wonder what it is like beyond the edge and into the maelstrom."
- SweetMolly (Richmond, VA)

This is an incredible book about a true story of two men who almost complete their task climbing a mountain. Toward the end there is an accident and the rest of the story is so good you dont want to but the book down!

A great story of determination and courage.

Harrowing story of survival, when left for dead.

I had trouble putting this book down, I was on the edge of my seat!

Interesting story of adventure and survival.

Amazing and often horrifying true-life account of two mountain climbers who get into trouble at 21,000 feet in the Andes. Will one leave the other behind?

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