Hi, friends. The summits of the world’s most majestic mountains have always attracted people who have. Been striving to visit every remote point on the planet for hundreds of years. Over the years, the world has learned. A lot about the legendary climbers, but. History is often silent about what risk. They take to achieve their goal.
Today I will tell you about a. Man who climbed high and suffered a terrible injury, but didn’t give up hope of surviving in the mountains. He spent several days heroically getting out of the ice trap which made him famous throughout the world. Joe Simpson was born in 1916 in.
The capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, where his father was stationed with the British army. When the family finally settled on the. Island, the little boy, who had already seen a lot in his short life. Already knew exactly what he wanted to. Do and what his favorite hobby would be. The young man became interested in mountaineering. After reading The White Spider, about the first ascent of the north face of the Eager by German rock climbers in 1938.
By his own personal admission, on the. One hand, the stories told in this book could have thrown any normal person into a shiver. But on the other hand, he understood that the climbers were smart people, which. Meant that there was something about mountaineering. That made them willing to risk so much. By the time he graduated from the University of Edinburgh, joe had already done numerous ascents in the Alps. Having complete confidence in his own abilities.
Simpson wanted to celebrate the onset of. His adulthood by climbing the unapproachable summit of the Peruvian Andes called Sula Grande. Of course, conquering the previously unclimbed peak. Alone was deadly dangerous, so Joe was well aware that he needed a partner. Who was just as ready to get. His name written in history and was. Thus willing to overcome a series of unimaginable trials. It was his longtime friend Simon Yates.
Who signed up for this adventure. Two enthusiastic mountaineers were about to ascend the west face of Sula Grande with the height of 6300 meters. Even though their path was considered extremely dangerous and almost impossible, joe and Simon carefully planned their route, after which, in. 1985, they hit the road. And let me just say, they couldn’t. Have even imagined what they would soon. Have to go through.
Joe and Simon were going to climb the mountain in the so called Alpine. Style, which implies carrying all their food. Shelter and equipment, as well as the. Complete absence of intermediate camps. It all meant one thing if anything. Were to happen, there would be no help coming. Admiring the beauty of the local nature, the two friends quickly got through the. First kilometers of the planned path. However, the higher they climbed, the more difficult it got.
The thing is that at high altitudes. The heart begins to suffer from the lack of oxygen and the body requires. At least five liters of fresh water. Which isn’t as easy to get as. It might seem because it requires melting. Snow for about an hour. Needless to say, the further the two. Enthusiasts advanced, the longer each step took, especially since the snow kept sticking to their clothes and freezing, making an ice armor on their bodies.
Thus, it took them 6 hours to. Climb the last 50 meters. However, having finally reached the top, neither the fatigue nor the frozen limbs could. Overshadow the joy Joe and Simon felt, because at that moment they felt as. If they were on top of the world and it all could have been great. But according to the many years of. Experience of famous climbers, it is during the descent that 80% of problems happen. And unfortunately, this story of the two friends was no exception.
As they were half an hour into. Their descent, the mountain got covered with a thick cloud, so the climbers couldn’t see their track and got lost. Moreover, the temperature dropped to zero degrees and they had to stay where they were. They planned to get going before dusk, but since they couldn’t do this, they. Both ran out of gas, which meant. They needed to descend as soon as.
Possible, because they could no longer melt the snow to get water. However, even despite their problem, the next morning seemed great. And believing that the worst part of. The descent was already over, the two climbers roped together and began descending the steep wall. At first everything went smoothly, but at. Some point Joe felt that the ice axe in his right hand didn’t enter deep enough into the ice. He attempted to drive it in deeper.
But instead the ice axe in his left hand also slipped, and literally a moment later, Joe was already falling down. The landing couldn’t have been called successful. Because after falling about 10 meters, joe heard a crunching sound and then felt terrible pain in his leg. It was broken, but the worst part. Was that given where it was in. His injury meant certain death. Simon was Joe’s only hope, descending after his friend Simon gave him the strongest.
Pain reliever he had. However, even despite their vast experience, they. Both were well aware of the fact. That there was no way they could. Descend 5 km together. Thus, the two climbers found themselves in a snow trap somewhere in the mountains at an altitude of 5000 meters, completely alone and without any chance of getting help. However, even despite the horror of their. Situation, they were able to pull themselves.
Together, and overcoming their shock, they still decided to try and go down together. Because they simply had no other options. So, tying his friend with a 50. Meters rope, simon carefully lowered Joe down the mountain. However, having successfully completed several rounds of. Such descent, they were faced with the fact that the length of the rope. Wasn’T enough to reach the ground. Due to the strong wind. Simon couldn’t hear his friend shouting to.
Inform him that he was hanging over the ice crevice. At that point, Joe realized that it. Was probably the end and that he. Would never get to leave the cold mountain. Meanwhile, at the other end of the. Rope, simon was holding on to his best friend, refusing to give up hope. However, he had no idea what was. Happening to his friend at the time. They were stuck in this uncertainty for.
About an hour and a half. Simon’s hands were numb from the cold and the heavy load. He simply couldn’t hold on any longer. He’d been slowly dragged to the cliff, and just a few centimeters from the edge, he screamed in pain, trying to. Hear Joe’s voice, but all he heard. In response was the wind. Simon knew he was running out of time. Another 5, he’d be falling down. Therefore, the man had no choice but to get a knife and cut the rope that tied him to his friend. His hands were trembling and his eyes.
Were filled with tears. But even despite the horror of what had happened, simpson miraculously survived again. After falling 15 meters, he fell right into the crevice and landing on a gentle slope, he slid down 50 meters. Yes, he was incredibly fortunate, but the position he found himself in could hardly be called promising. By the time of the fall, Joe. Had been hanging on the ropes for.
An hour and a half and was already unconscious. It was the fall that helped him come to his senses. Turning on the flashlight, the climber quickly. Realized that because of his broken leg. He would not be able to climb up. And looking around, he was convinced that.
The situation was hopeless. Being in complete darkness in the cave, Joe sobbed and howled, screaming in despair and crying out to the world. He was very weak, had no water or food, and was in an ice trap with a broken leg. At a depth of over 50 meters, he lost consciousness again and only woke up in the morning. Once again realizing how hopeless his situation was, the unfortunate man began to scream for Simon. Joe couldn’t have known that a few hours before he woke up, his friend tried to find him. But having failed, he concluded that Joe must have died.
Having weighed all the pros and cons. Simpson tied himself with the remaining root and began to descend. He resigned to the fact that there was nothing below. At least his death would be quick. However, Joe was lucky, because he soon. Landed at the bottom of the cave. He crawled carefully on the ice toward the sunlight, hoping to finally get out of the ice trap. It was only thanks to some miracle and a higher power that there actually. Was a way out of the gorge. This inspired hope, but he still had to walk for many kilometers through impassable areas.
Having turned into a crawling child, joe. Tried setting himself various small goals. For example, he set himself the task. Of getting to a snowdrift in 20 minutes. So Joe kept crawling the whole day, and he managed to get through the. Glacier and got out onto the rocky cliffs. This meant that part of the way was behind him. Considering all that he had gone through. Death did not frighten him anymore. Although he felt as if someone was.
Leading him, and this someone clearly didn’t want him to die, joe came to. The realization that he now had to. Come up with a new way of moving forward. Using the materials he had at hand, he created something similar to a medical splint for his injured leg. However, jumping on only one leg left and keeping balance was simply unrealistic.
And every time he fell, Joe thought his leg was breaking again and he simply couldn’t find the strength to keep going. Be that as it may, thanks to. His resilience and determination, simpson kept moving. Forward, still setting himself the goal of. Getting to the nearest people. So he kept going at this pace the next day. And the pain wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was the thirst. And feeling powerless, frustrated, Joe continued to leap forward the next day, and even. Though he still didn’t see any traces.