Surviving Despite an Injury

"In seconds my whole outlook changed. The weary frightened hours of night were forgotten...I could do something positive. I could crawl and climb and keep on doing so until I had escaped from this grave."

When Joe Simpson and Simon Yates started their journey to scale the Siula Grande, a 21,000-foot (6,401-meter) mountain in the Peruvian Andes both were extremely excited about the adventure. No doubt, their excitement grew as the two young men made it up the Siula Grande without incidence. That excitement changed to dread when snowstorms moved in, disorienting the climbers; their descent would prove devastatingly more difficult. To navigate the huge crevasses that faced them, they decided to continue their journey roped together. Suddenly, the unthinkable happened. Simpson fell, violently shoving the bones of his lower leg up into his kneecap. It was evident that they couldn't continue climbing.

With 300 feet (91.4 meters) of rope, Yates and Simpson devised a plan. Yates would lower Simpson 300 feet (91.4 meters) and wait for a tug on the rope. This signal would indicate that Simpson had anchored himself and it was safe for Yates to climb down. Unfortunately, night fell and a snowstorm hit so suddenly that when Yates lowered Simpson over a precipice, he accidentally left him hanging in mid-air. There was no way to know what, if anything was beneath Simpson. The conditions of the blizzard made it impossible for the two to communicate. Yates held on to the rope for over an hour. But, after realizing that unless he cut the rope, they both would die, Yates was forced to make a difficult decision. He had to cut the rope.

Photo courtesy Mark Horrell Siula Grande