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The Man Who Fell to Earth: The Infinite Descent of Joe Simpson — Transcript

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0:00Mountaineering is often misunderstood.
0:02People think it is about adrenaline.
0:05They think it is about the view. But for
0:07the true alchemist, it is about
0:09something else entirely. It is about
0:12control. It is about taking a chaotic
0:15indifferent universe. A world of falling
0:19rock, shifting ice and gravity and
0:22imposing your will upon it. When you are
0:24climbing, life simplifies. There are no
0:27bills to pay. There are no relationships
0:30to manage. There is only the next hold,
0:34the next breath, the next step. It is a
0:37binary existence. You are either alive
0:41or you are dead. There is a seduction in
0:44that simplicity. It is an addiction. In
0:471985, two young British climbers
0:50traveled to the Peruvian Andes to find
0:53the ultimate fix. Joe Simpson, 25 years
0:57old, intense, driven. A man who looked
1:01at a mountain and saw a puzzle that had
1:03to be solved. Simon Yates, 21 years old,
1:08quiet, stoic, a man who climbed with a
1:11calm, rhythmical efficiency. They were
1:14friends, but more importantly, they were
1:16partners. In climbing, a partner is more
1:20than a friend. A partner is the person
1:23who holds your life in their hands. You
1:26are connected by a 150 ft nylon rope.
1:30That rope is a physical bond, but it is
1:32also a psychological contract. It says,
1:36"If you fall, I will catch you. If you
1:38break, I will carry you." They went to
1:41Peru to climb a mountain that had never
1:44been climbed before. Not fully. Sula
1:47Grande 20,814
1:51ft. Specifically, the west face, a
1:55vertical wall of limestone and ice that
1:57had defeated every expedition that tried
2:00it. They didn't go with a team of
2:02sherpas. They didn't go with radios.
2:05They didn't go with a rescue plan. They
2:08went alpine style. Just two men carrying
2:12everything they needed on their backs,
2:15moving fast, sleeping in snow holes. If
2:18something went wrong, there was no
2:20backup, no helicopter, no cavalry. They
2:25were stepping off the edge of the map.
2:27The Andes are not like the Alps. The
2:30Alps are civilized. There are huts.
2:33There are ski lifts. You are never far
2:35from an espresso. The Andes are wild.
2:39They are vast, jagged, and terrifyingly
2:42remote. Sua Grande sits in the
2:45Cordeliera Huaiwash Range. It is a place
2:48of stunning violence. The mountains look
2:51like sharks teeth biting the sky.
2:55Joe and Simon arrived in Lima in May
2:581985.
3:00They took a bus to a dusty mining town.
3:03Then they hired a donkey driver and tked
3:05for days into the interior. As they
3:08walked, the mountains revealed
3:09themselves. Yerupa Ja, Carnichero, and
3:13then Sula Grande. It looked like a
3:16fortress. The west face was a shield of
3:19ice rising 4,000 ft straight up from the
3:22glacier. It was intimidating. Joe looked
3:26at it and felt a knot of fear in his
3:28stomach. This is the pre-climb dread.
3:32Every climber feels it. It is the voice
3:35in your head saying, "Go home. Go back
3:38to the pub. You're going to die here."
3:41But Joe suppressed the voice. He looked
3:44at Simon. Simon was smoking a cigarette
3:47looking at the wall. "Looks all right,"
3:50Simon said. "That was Simon.
3:53Understatement was his weapon. They
3:56weren't entirely alone. They had a base
3:58camp manager, a young traveler they had
4:01met named Richard. Richard wasn't a
4:04climber. He was a guy looking for
4:06adventure. He agreed to watch their
4:08tents while they were up on the
4:10mountain. Richard is a crucial character
4:13in this story. He represents us, the
4:16normal people. He looked at the mountain
4:19and saw death. He looked at Joe and
4:22Simon and saw madness. He didn't
4:25understand the jargon. He didn't
4:27understand the drive. He just promised
4:29to wait. I'll be here when you get back,
4:32Richard said. Just make sure you get
4:36back. They set up base camp in a meadow
4:39beside a glacial lake. It was idyllic,
4:42but the mountain loomed over them. They
4:45spent a few days acclimatizing.
4:47They climbed a smaller peak nearby. It
4:50went badly. They got caught in a storm.
4:53They got frostnip. They came back to
4:56camp exhausted and scared. It was a
4:58warning shot.
5:00Maybe we aren't ready, Joe thought. But
5:03they had traveled halfway around the
5:05world. They couldn't turn back now. The
5:08ambition was too strong. The sunk cost
5:11fallacy kicked in. We'll be fine, Joe
5:14said. We just need to move faster.
5:18June 1985.
5:21They packed their bags. This is the
5:23ritual of the alchemist. Everything you
5:26take, you have to carry. So you cut the
5:29labels off your clothes to save weight.
5:31You take one spoon between two people.
5:34You take exactly enough fuel. Food,
5:37chocolate, dried soup, tea, gear, ice
5:41axes, krampons, ice screws, the rope.
5:45Total weight, about 45 lb each. They
5:49walked across the glacier in the dark.
5:51They reached the bottom of the west face
5:53at dawn. It towered above them, a wall
5:57of white and gray. They roped up. Simon
6:00took the lead. He kicked his krampons
6:03into the ice. Thunk. He swung his axe.
6:07Quack. He pulled himself up. The climb
6:10had begun. For the first two days,
6:13things went well. They moved in a
6:15rhythm. Simon would climb 150 ft, put in
6:19an ice screw, and blay Joe up. Then Joe
6:23would take the gear and climb the next
6:25150 ft. It is a slow, methodical dance.
6:29The world shrank to a circle of focus
6:32just a few feet wide. The ice, the axe
6:36placement, the breathing, kick, swing,
6:39step, breathe. The climbing was hard.
6:42The ice wasn't solid. It was flutings,
6:46ribs of ice formed by the wind. They
6:48were hollow and brittle. Sometimes the
6:51axes would rip out. Sometimes the snow
6:54was like sugar, powdery and useless. You
6:57couldn't get a grip. You had to swim up
6:59the mountain. They were climbing at
7:0119,000 ft. The air was thin. Every
7:05movement felt like running a marathon.
7:07Your lungs burn. Your legs scream, but
7:11the adrenaline keeps you moving. Night
7:13one. You can't sleep on a vertical wall.
7:17You have to dig a ledge. They spent two
7:19hours hacking a small cave into a snow
7:22mushroom. They crawled inside their
7:24sleeping bags. They melted snow for tea.
7:28They sat there hanging off the side of
7:30the world, watching the sun set over the
7:33Amazon basin. It was beautiful. It was
7:36the sublime, that mix of beauty and
7:40terror. Joe felt a surge of joy. "We're
7:43doing it," he said. "We're actually
7:46doing it." Simon nodded.
7:48Long way to go yet, mate. Night two. The
7:52weather held, but the climbing got
7:55harder. They hit a section of vertical
7:57rock covered in loose powder snow. Joe
8:00took the lead. He was terrified. His
8:03krampon scratched on the rock. Sparks
8:06flew. If he fell here, the protection
8:09might rip out. They would both die. He
8:12climbed with a desperation born of fear.
8:15He clawed his way up. He reached a blay
8:18stance. He screamed with relief. "Safe,"
8:22Simon climbed up to him. He looked at
8:24Joe's eyes. They were wide. "Good lead,"
8:28Simon said. That was the highest praise
8:31possible. Day three, the summit ridge.
8:35They broke through the cornice.
8:37Suddenly, the vertical wall ended. They
8:40were on the top or near the top. The
8:43summit of Sula Grande is a razored edge
8:46ridge of snow. They walked the final few
8:49feet. They stood on the highest point,
8:5220,814
8:54ft. It was noon. The sky was a piercing
8:58blue. They could see for hundreds of
9:01miles. They could see the Pacific Ocean.
9:04They could see the curvature of the
9:06Earth. They hugged. They took photos. It
9:10was the moment of absolute triumph. They
9:12had done the impossible. They had
9:14climbed the west face. They were gods.
9:18But every climber knows the old adage,
9:20reaching the summit is only halfway.
9:23Getting up is optional. Getting down is
9:26mandatory. And getting down is where
9:29most accidents happen. You're tired. You
9:32are dehydrated. Your guard is down. And
9:34Sua Grande had a trap waiting for them.
9:37They couldn't go down the way they came
9:39up. The west face was too steep to down
9:42climb safely. The plan was to traverse
9:45the north ridge and descend the easier
9:48slopes on the other side. They looked at
9:50the ridge. It looked terrifying. A knife
9:53edge of ice. On the left, a 4,000 ft
9:57drop back down the west face. On the
10:00right, a vertical drop down the east
10:02face. And the ridge was covered in
10:05cornises. Overhanging waves of snow that
10:08look solid but are actually just air. If
10:12you step on a cornice, it breaks and you
10:14fall. They started to traverse. It was
10:17slow. Agonizingly slow. They had to
10:20probe the snow with their axes every
10:22step. Solid. No. Solid. Yes. Step. The
10:28sun began to set. They were still on the
10:30ridge. The temperature plummeted. The
10:33wind picked up. They needed to get off
10:36the ridge, but they couldn't. It was too
10:39sharp. There was nowhere to dig a hole.
10:42They spent a miserable night straddling
10:44the ridge like a horse, shivering,
10:46unable to sleep. Day four. They were
10:49exhausted. They had run out of gas. They
10:53continued the traverse. Then it
10:55happened. Just a small thing. Joe was
10:59leading. He was climbing down a steep
11:02section of ice. He swung his ax. It hit
11:05a patch of hard ice. It glanced off. He
11:09lost his balance. He slipped. He fell
11:12about 20 ft. The rope came tight. Simon
11:16held him. It was a standard fall.
11:19Nothing serious. Joe slammed into the
11:21slope. He felt a snap in his right leg.
11:24A sound like a gunshot inside his body.
11:28also a sound inside his head. He slid to
11:31a stop. He looked at his leg. His lower
11:35leg was driven up through his knee
11:36joint. The tibia had split the femur.
11:40His knee was destroyed. He hung there on
11:42the rope. He felt the pain wash over
11:45him. A nausea. But worse than the pain
11:49was the realization. He looked at the
11:51leg. He looked at the mountain. He
11:54looked up at Simon who was holding the
11:56rope 20 ft above. Joe Simpson knew the
12:00rules of alpanism.
12:02If you break a leg at 19,000 ft on a
12:04technical ridge, you're dead. There is
12:07no rescue. You cannot be carried. You
12:10are a dead man. And Simon. Simon knew
12:14it, too. Joe looked up. I'm broken. He
12:18whispered to the wind. The wind on the
12:21north ridge was picking up. Joe Simpson
12:23hung on the rope. He looked at his leg.
12:26The lower tibia was pushed up into the
12:29knee joint. The knee was now a bag of
12:31shattered bone and cartilage. The pain
12:34was absolute. It was a white noise that
12:37drowned out the wind. But the cold logic
12:40of the situation was louder than the
12:42pain. In 1985, at 19,000 ft, a broken
12:48leg is a death sentence. There is no
12:51rescue team. There is no radio. Two men
12:54cannot get down a technical ridge if one
12:57cannot walk. It is the brutal math of
13:00high altitude mountaineering. If you
13:02cannot move, you die. And if your
13:05partner tries to save you, he likely
13:08dies, too. Simon climbed down to him.
13:11Simon looked at the leg. He didn't say
13:14anything. He didn't have to. He saw the
13:16angle. Joe looked at Simon. He saw a
13:20flicker in Simon's eyes. It wasn't pity.
13:23It was a calculation. Joe waited for
13:26Simon to say the words. To say, "I have
13:29to leave you." Or worse, to try to offer
13:32false hope. Instead, Simon just looked
13:35at him. "It's broken, isn't it?" Simon
13:38said. "Yes," Joe said. "I think I've
13:41smashed it." A silence hung between
13:43them, heavier than the air. In that
13:46silence, the contract of the rope was
13:48being tested. Simon had a choice. He
13:52could leave Joe. He could untie the rope
13:54and solo down the mountain. He would
13:57survive. He would be back in base camp
13:59in 2 days. Nobody would blame him. The
14:03climbing community would understand. He
14:05had no choice. Or he could try to get
14:09Joe down. And in doing so, he would
14:12almost certainly kill them both. Simon
14:14made the choice. He didn't make a
14:17speech. He didn't hug Joe. He just
14:19started digging a stance in the snow. He
14:22was going to lower him. It was insane.
14:25They were 3,000 ft up. The West Face was
14:28a vertical maze of ice cliffs and
14:31creasses. To lower an injured man down
14:343,000 ft, pitch by pitch in a storm. It
14:38had never been done. But they started.
14:42The system was simple and terrifying.
14:45They tied their two 150 foot ropes
14:48together to make a 300 ft cord. Simon
14:52would dig a bucket seat in the snow. He
14:55would brace his feet. He would put the
14:57rope through a blay plate, a friction
15:00device. He would lower Joe 300 ft. Then
15:05Joe would have to anchor himself to the
15:07ice with his good leg and his axes. He
15:10would have to take his weight off the
15:12rope. Simon would climb down 300 ft to
15:15Joe. They would repeat this 30 times.
15:19The lowering began. For Joe, it was
15:22torture. He was sliding down the ice on
15:25his back. Every time his broken leg hit
15:27a ripple in the ice, the bones ground
15:30together. He screamed. He screamed until
15:33his throat was raw. Stop. Stop. But
15:36Simon couldn't hear him. The wind was
15:39howling. Simon just fed the rope out
15:42foot by foot. Joe learned to endure. He
15:45realized that screaming didn't help. He
15:48focused on protecting the leg. He held
15:51it in the air. His arms burned. His good
15:54legs shook. They did it once, twice,
15:58five times. They dropped 1,500 ft. It
16:03was working. Against all odds, they were
16:06getting down. A tiny spark of hope
16:08ignited in Joe's chest. We're going to
16:11make it, he thought. We're actually
16:13going to make it. But the mountain
16:16wasn't finished with them. Night fell
16:19and with the night came the storm. The
16:21temperature dropped to minus 20. The
16:24wind turned into a blizzard. Visibility
16:27dropped to zero. Simon couldn't see Joe.
16:30Joe couldn't see Simon. They were
16:33connected only by the taut nylon line.
16:36There was a technical problem with their
16:38system, the knot. Because they had tied
16:41two ropes together, there was a knot in
16:43the middle. Every 150 ft, the knot would
16:46reach Simon's blay plate. It wouldn't
16:49pass through. So, Simon had to stop
16:52lowering. Joe, hanging 150 ft below in
16:56the dark, had to realize why they had
16:59stopped. Joe had to find a piece of ice.
17:02He had to stand up on his one good leg.
17:04He had to hammer in an anchor. He had to
17:07clip in. Then he had to shout to the
17:09wind to create slack. Simon would then
17:12uncip the rope, move the knot past the
17:15device, recip, and resume lowering. It
17:19was a maneuver that required
17:20coordination and communication. In the
17:23blizzard, they had neither. Joe was
17:26terrified. Every time the rope stopped,
17:29he had to stand on a 60° ice slope in a
17:32storm on one leg, knowing that if he
17:35slipped while unclipped, he would fall
17:38to the bottom of the mountain. They did
17:40this for hours. They were exhausted.
17:43They were dehydrated. They were
17:45frostbitten. Simon was essentially
17:48acting as a human winch. His hands were
17:51freezing. His mind was starting to
17:53drift. He was just feeding rope. Pay
17:57out. Pay out. Pay out. He didn't know
18:01where Joe was going. He couldn't see the
18:03terrain below. He assumed it was a
18:06continuous slope. It wasn't. Below them,
18:10the glacier had pulled away from the
18:11rock face. There was a massive overhang,
18:15a cliff that jutted out over a void. And
18:18below that void, a creasse, a giant
18:22crack in the glacier. Simon lowered Joe.
18:26Joe felt the slope steepen. It went from
18:2960° to vertical. Then suddenly his feet
18:33lost contact with the ice. He was
18:36hanging in free air. He spun slowly in
18:38the dark. He reached out with his axes.
18:41He felt nothing, just air. He looked
18:45down. Blackness. He looked up. He could
18:49see the rope disappearing into the
18:50swirling snow. Stop. Joe screamed. But
18:54the rope kept moving. Simon,
18:58150 ft above, felt the rope go light. He
19:01thought Joe had reached a ledge. He paid
19:04out more rope. Joe dropped another 10
19:06ft. Then the knot hit Simon's device.
19:10The rope stopped. This is the moment
19:13where the tragedy becomes a horror
19:15story. Joe was hanging in space 20 ft
19:19away from the cliff face. He couldn't
19:21reach the ice to take his weight off the
19:23rope because he couldn't unweight the
19:25rope. Simon couldn't pass the knot.
19:28Because Simon couldn't pass the knot, he
19:30couldn't lower Joe any further and he
19:33couldn't pull him up. Joe was dead
19:35weight.
19:36180 lb plus gear. They were deadlocked.
19:40Joe hung there. He tried to do a crunch.
19:43He tried to pull himself up the rope
19:45using prusk knots, friction hitches, but
19:49his hands were frozen. His gloves were
19:51thick with ice. He fumbled with the
19:54cords. He dropped one. He tried again.
19:58He couldn't do it. His broken leg
20:00dangled uselessly. He realized the
20:03situation. I'm going to die on this
20:06rope, he thought. Up above, Simon was in
20:09his own private hell. He was sitting in
20:12a hole in the snow. The weight of Joe
20:14was pulling him down. The snow bucket
20:17was collapsing. The sugar snow was
20:19crumbling under the pressure. Simon was
20:22bracing his feet against a rock,
20:24straining every muscle to keep from
20:26being pulled off the mountain. If the
20:29stance failed, they would both fall
20:312,000 ft to the glacier. He waited. He
20:34shouted, "Joe, take the weight off." The
20:38wind swallowed his voice. He waited 5
20:41minutes, 10 minutes, an hour. His hands
20:44were freezing. The cold was creeping
20:47into his core. He started to
20:49hallucinate. Why wasn't Joe moving?
20:52Maybe he was dead. Maybe he had hit his
20:54head. Maybe he was already on the
20:57glacier and had died. Simon held on. He
21:00held on for over an hour. He was losing
21:03the battle. He could feel himself
21:05slipping. Inch by inch. He had to make a
21:09choice. Die with Joe or kill Joe to save
21:13himself. Simon looked at his backpack.
21:16In the lid pocket, he had a Swiss Army
21:19knife. It was a small red knife, a tool
21:23for cutting cheese or opening wine. Now
21:26it was the instrument of fate. He
21:28reached for it. His hands were shaking.
21:31He opened the blade. He looked at the
21:33rope. The rope was tight as a steel bar.
21:37It was vibrating in the wind. He looked
21:40down into the dark. He loved Joe. They
21:43were partners. But the instinct for
21:45survival is older than love. It is
21:48reptilian. I'm going to fall, Simon
21:51thought. I'm going to die. He touched
21:54the blade to the rope. He hesitated.
21:57Then he pressed. The nylon fibers
22:00snapped. Ping. Ping.
22:04Then with a violent crack, the rope
22:06severed. The tension released instantly.
22:10Simon was thrown backward into the snow.
22:12He lay there gasping. He was safe, but
22:16he was alone. The rope lay on the snow
22:18like a dead snake. The cut end whipped
22:21in the wind. Below him, Joe fell. He
22:25didn't know it was coming. One second,
22:27he was hanging. The next, gravity took
22:30him. He fell through the dark. He fell
22:33past the overhang. He fell toward the
22:36glacier. He expected to hit the ice and
22:39die. Instead, he hit a snow slope. He
22:42tumbled. He smashed his leg again. The
22:45pain was blinding. Then the ground
22:48disappeared again. He fell into a hole,
22:51a creasse. He smashed into an ice bridge
22:54inside the creasse. He stopped. Silence.
22:58Absolute ringing silence. The wind was
23:02gone. He was inside the glacier. Simon
23:06lay in his snow hole all night. He was
23:09catatonic. He had killed his friend. He
23:12replayed the moment over and over. The
23:15knife, the cut. He convinced himself Joe
23:18was dead. He had to be. Nobody survives
23:22a fall like that. Morning came. The
23:26storm cleared. The sun came out. Simon
23:29packed his gear. He looked down the
23:31face. He saw the creasse below. A
23:34massive gaping mouth in the ice. He's in
23:37there, Simon thought. He's gone. Simon
23:41started to down climb. He moved slowly.
23:44He didn't care if he lived or died
23:46anymore. He was a ghost. He climbed past
23:49the creasse. He yelled into it just
23:52once. Joe. Silence. He nodded. It was
23:57done. He continued down the glacier,
23:59walking toward Richard, toward the
24:01world, carrying the heaviest burden a
24:04climber can carry. Inside the creasse,
24:07Joe Simpson woke up. He was lying on a
24:10ledge of ice. Above him, 40 ft up, he
24:14could see a skylight, the hole he had
24:16fallen through. Below him, the creasse
24:19continued down into the black abyss. He
24:23was trapped in an ice coffin. He checked
24:25his body. He was alive. His leg was
24:28agonizing, but he wasn't bleeding out.
24:31He looked at the rope tied to his
24:33harness. He pulled it. The end came
24:36down. He looked at the end. It wasn't
24:39frayed. It was clean. Cut. He stared at
24:43the cut rope. He realized what had
24:45happened. Simon had cut him loose. A
24:49wave of rage washed over him. He killed
24:51me. But then the rage turned to
24:54understanding. I would have done the
24:57same, Joe thought. He shouted, "Simon!"
25:00His voice echoed off the blue ice walls.
25:03Nobody answered. He was buried alive in
25:06the Andes. Joe Simpson sat on the ice
25:09bridge inside the creasse. He held the
25:12cut end of the rope. For a long time, he
25:15just looked at it. The yellow strands
25:18were fused at the end where the heat of
25:20the knife had melted the nylon. It was
25:23the ultimate symbol of abandonment. He
25:26felt a surge of hatred for Simon. You
25:29bastard. You cut me. But then the cold
25:33reality set in. If Simon had held on,
25:36they would both be dead. Simon had saved
25:39himself. And in doing so, he had
25:42inadvertently given Joe a chance. If
25:45Simon hadn't cut the rope, Joe would
25:47have frozen to death hanging on the
25:49wall. By cutting it, Simon dropped him
25:52into this sheltered hole. But was it a
25:55chance? Joe looked up. The hole he fell
25:59through. The skylight was 40 ft above
26:02him. The walls were overhanging ice. He
26:05tried to climb up. He planted his axe.
26:09He put weight on his good leg. He
26:11dragged his broken leg. Agony. Pure
26:15white hot agony. An impossible geometry.
26:19He couldn't climb an overhang with one
26:21leg. He slumped back onto the bridge.
26:24"I'm going to die here," he said aloud.
26:28The ice echoed his voice back to him. He
26:31looked down. On the other side of the
26:33bridge, the creass continued into the
26:36dark. He couldn't see the bottom. He had
26:39a choice. Stay on the bridge and freeze
26:43or lower himself into the darkness. It
26:46was a choice between certain death and
26:48probable death. He chose the unknown. He
26:52set up an anchor in the ice. He threaded
26:55the cut rope through his device. He
26:58leaned back. He hopped off the bridge
27:00and repelled into the black. He slid
27:03down the rope. The air grew colder. The
27:07light from above faded to a dim blue
27:09glow. He passed ice gargoyless, frozen
27:12waterfalls, shapes that looked like
27:15faces. It was a cathedral of silence. He
27:19prayed the rope was long enough. If it
27:21ended in midair, he would fall the rest
27:24of the way. He went down 50 ft. 60. Then
27:28his good foot touched something. Snow. A
27:32floor. He collapsed onto the snow. He
27:35looked around. He was on a steep slope
27:38inside the glacier. He shown his
27:40headlamp. To his left, the darkness went
27:43on forever. To his right, a slope
27:46leading up, a ramp, a narrow, steep ramp
27:50of snow that seemed to lead toward the
27:52surface. It was a exit, a back door. He
27:57started to laugh, a manic, hysterical
28:00laugh. "I'm not dead," he screamed. "I'm
28:04not dead." He had found a way out, but
28:07he still had to climb it. The ramp was
28:10steep, about 45°.
28:13Then it got steeper. The snow was soft,
28:16sugar. Joe had to climb it with two axes
28:19and one leg. He developed a technique.
28:22Plant the left axe. Plant the right axe.
28:26Hop the good left leg up, then drag the
28:29broken right leg. Every time he dragged
28:32the leg, the shattered bones ground
28:34together like a pestle in mortar. The
28:36knee joint was full of fluid and blood.
28:40He screamed with every step. Plant,
28:43plant, hop, scream, plant, plant, hop,
28:48scream. He climbed for hours. He was
28:52dehydrated. He hadn't eaten or drunk
28:55water in 2 days. He was driven by a
28:58single thought. I have to get to the
29:00sun. He reached the top of the ramp. He
29:03punched his hand through the snow.
29:05Bright, blinding sunlight poured in. He
29:08widened the hole. He pulled himself
29:10through. He flopped out onto the surface
29:12of the glacier. He lay in the snow,
29:15gasping. He was out. He was free. He
29:18looked around. The world was vast,
29:21white, and dazzlingly bright. He looked
29:24for Simon. "Simon!" he yelled. silence.
29:29He looked at the snow. He saw
29:31footprints. Simon's footprints. They led
29:34away from the cliff. They led down the
29:36glacier. They were old, filled with spin
29:40drift. Joe realized the truth. Simon was
29:43gone. Simon thought he was dead. Joe
29:46Simpson was alone in the Andes with a
29:49broken leg, no food, no water, and 5
29:53miles of glacier to cross. He looked at
29:56the footprints. They were his lifeline.
29:59If he followed them, they would lead him
30:01through the maze of creasses to the
30:03marines. But he couldn't walk. He tried
30:07to stand on his good leg and hop using
30:09his axes as crutches. He took one hop.
30:13His bad leg swung like a pendulum. The
30:16momentum snapped the bones together. He
30:19collapsed, vomiting from the pain. He
30:22couldn't hop. He had to crawl. He lay on
30:25his stomach. He extended his axes. He
30:29dragged his body forward. He trailed his
30:32broken leg behind him like a dead
30:34weight. He set a pattern. He looked at
30:37his watch. I will crawl for 20 minutes.
30:40He told himself. Then I can rest. He
30:43became a machine. He disconnected his
30:46mind from his body. His body was a thing
30:49that felt pain. His mind was a pilot
30:52driving the thing. He crawled across the
30:54glacier. It took him all day to cover a
30:57mile. The sun burned his face. His lips
31:01cracked and bled. He ate snow, but it
31:04just made him colder and thirstier.
31:06Night fell. He was still on the glacier.
31:09He dug a shallow hole. He curled up. He
31:13was freezing. But strangely, he wasn't
31:16afraid anymore. He started to hear a
31:18voice. Not his voice. A voice. It was
31:22calm. It was rational. It was British.
31:26"You have to keep moving, Joe," the
31:28voice said. "You can't sleep here." And
31:31then there was another voice, a
31:33hysterical voice. "I want to die. It
31:36hurts. Let me stop." And a third sound.
31:39Bony M. The disco song Brown Girl in the
31:43Ring. It started playing in his head on
31:46a loop. Brown Girl in the Ring. Traa.
31:51He hated that song, but he couldn't turn
31:53it off. His mind was fracturing. The
31:56stress was breaking his consciousness
31:58into pieces. Day five. He reached the
32:02end of the glacier. The ice ended. The
32:05rock began. The marines. Huge piles of
32:09boulders, scree, and gravel left by the
32:12retreating ice. For a man with a broken
32:15leg, this was worse than the ice. On the
32:18ice, he could slide. On the rocks, he
32:21had to hop. He had to navigate through a
32:24chaos of sharp stones. Every time he
32:27slipped, he smashed his knee against a
32:29rock. He fell. He screamed. He cried. He
32:33broke his watch. Now he had no time.
32:37Just the sun moving across the sky. He
32:40looked at the rocks. They looked like
32:42faces. They looked like people watching
32:44him. He started talking to them. Hello.
32:48Can you help me? He realized he was
32:51hallucinating. I'm going mad, he
32:54thought. I'm dying and I'm going mad.
32:57Meanwhile, down at base camp, Simon
33:00Yates had arrived. He walked into camp
33:03looking like a zombie. Richard, the camp
33:06manager, ran out to meet him. Simon,
33:10you're back. Richard looked behind
33:12Simon. Where's Joe? Simon stopped. He
33:16looked at Richard. His face was a mask
33:19of trauma. Joe's dead, Simon said.
33:23Richard froze. What? He fell, Simon
33:27said. I I cut the rope. He told Richard
33:31the story. He didn't hide anything. He
33:35told him about the storm, the lowering,
33:37the knot, the knife. Richard listened in
33:40horror. He didn't judge Simon. He saw
33:42the state he was in. Simon was
33:45destroyed. He was consumed by guilt. He
33:48went to his tent. He curled up in his
33:51sleeping bag. He couldn't sleep. He kept
33:54seeing Joe falling into the dark. He
33:57smelled the burning nylon of the rope.
34:00For the next 2 days, Simon stayed in
34:02camp. He was healing physically, but
34:05mentally he was in a dark place. He and
34:08Richard decided to leave. There was no
34:10point staying. Joe was dead. They
34:14started to pack up the tents. They
34:16planned to leave the next morning. If
34:18they left, Joe would crawl back to an
34:21empty meadow. He would find a square of
34:23flattened grass where the tents used to
34:25be, and that would be the end. Day six.
34:30Joe was still in the marines. He was
34:32dying of thirst. He found a stream, but
34:35it was glacial runoff full of rock
34:38flour, silt. It was gray and thick. He
34:42drank it anyway. It tasted like mud. He
34:45crawled on. He could see the green
34:48valley in the distance. It looked like
34:50heaven. But between him and the valley
34:53was a final obstacle, a field of giant
34:57boulders, some as big as cars. He had to
35:01climb over them. He was so weak he
35:04couldn't lift his body weight. He fell
35:06between two rocks. He got wedged. He lay
35:10there for an hour unable to move. He
35:12looked at the sky. This is it, he
35:15thought. I can't go any further. But the
35:19voice came back. The rational cold
35:22voice. You are not going to die here,
35:24Joe. Not after the creasse. Get up. He
35:28got up. He dragged himself over the
35:31rocks. He reached the edge of the
35:33marine. He saw the grass. He rolled onto
35:36the grass. It was soft. It smelled of
35:39life. He had made it off the mountain,
35:42but he was still three miles from camp
35:45and it was getting dark. Night fell on
35:48the valley. Joe Simpson lay in the tusk
35:51grass. He was miles from the glacier
35:54now, but he was still a mile from camp.
35:57A mile might as well be the moon when
36:00you're dragging a necrotic leg. His body
36:03had shut down. He had lost 30 lbs in 6
36:06days. His lips were split craters. His
36:09tongue was swollen so large he couldn't
36:12close his mouth. But his mind was the
36:14real casualty. The hallucinations became
36:17total. He wasn't Joe Simpson anymore. He
36:20was a character in a play. He saw
36:23Shakespearean figures dancing in the
36:25rocks. He saw Victorian ladies having a
36:28tea party. And the music, the music was
36:31deafening. Bony M. brown girl in the
36:34ring. Tra la.
36:37It was looping louder and louder. He
36:40screamed at the rocks to turn the radio
36:42off. Shut up. Shut up. But the rocks
36:46just stared at him. He realized with a
36:49terrifying clarity that he was losing
36:51his soul. If he died now, he wouldn't
36:54die as a man. He would die as a madman
36:57listening to disco music. At base camp,
37:00the sun rose. It was the day of
37:03departure. Simon Yates and Richard were
37:06solemn. They began the final tasks. They
37:09took down the tents. They packed the
37:12stoves. They had a pile of Joe's
37:14clothes, his spare socks, his books.
37:18What do you do with a dead man's things?
37:20You can't carry them. It's bad luck and
37:23it's heavy. They made a fire. They
37:26burned Joe's clothes. Simon watched the
37:29smoke rise. He felt a crushing weight of
37:32guilt. He had survived. He was going
37:35home, but he was leaving his friend in
37:38the ice. "He's gone," Simon told
37:40himself. "He died quickly. He didn't
37:43suffer." "It was a lie he needed to
37:46believe to keep his own sanity. They
37:49planned to leave at dawn the next day.
37:52One more night, they would sleep in the
37:54last remaining tent, then hike out to
37:57the village to get the donkeys." Joe was
38:00crawling through the dark. He had lost
38:02his vision. His eyes were crusted shut
38:05with pus and mucus. He was navigating by
38:08touch and by smell. Suddenly, he smelled
38:12something. It wasn't the clean smell of
38:14the snow. It wasn't the earthy smell of
38:17the grass. It was sharp, acrid,
38:21disgusting,
38:22feces, human excrement. He stopped. He
38:26sniffed the air like an animal. Most
38:28people would recoil. Joe Simpson wept
38:31with joy. It was the latrine, the toilet
38:34pit they had dug at base camp. If he
38:37could smell the latrine, he was close.
38:39He was downwind of salvation. He crawled
38:43toward the smell. He dragged himself
38:45through the thistles. His hands were raw
38:48meat. His knees were worn down to the
38:51bone, but he followed the scent of the
38:53toilet like it was perfume. Inside the
38:56tent, Simon and Richard were trying to
38:58sleep. The wind rattled the canvas. Then
39:02a sound, a shout. Simon. Simon sat up.
39:07His heart hammered against his ribs. Did
39:10you hear that? Richard looked at him.
39:13Hear what? Someone shouted. Richard
39:16shook his head. It's the wind, Simon. Go
39:19to sleep. Simon lay back down. He
39:22thought he was going crazy. Now the
39:25ghost was following him. 10 minutes
39:28passed. Then again, louder, closer.
39:32Simon. It wasn't the wind. It was a
39:35voice. A voice cracked and ruined, but
39:38human. Simon unzipped the tent. He
39:41grabbed his headlamp. He stepped out
39:44into the night. He shone the beam into
39:46the darkness. "Hello," he yelled. "Is
39:49anyone there?" The beam swept across the
39:53rocks. Then it stopped. It illuminated a
39:56creature crawling on the ground. It
39:59didn't look like Joe. It looked like a
40:01skeleton wrapped in rags. Its face was a
40:04black mask of sunburn, blood, and beard.
40:08Its eyes were wild, staring holes. It
40:11was dragging a leg that looked like a
40:13piece of raw meat. Simon froze. Horror
40:17washed over him. Joe, he whispered. The
40:21creature looked up. You bastard, Joe
40:24croaked. You cut the rope. But there was
40:27no anger in the voice, just relief.
40:30Simon ran to him. He fell to his knees.
40:33He touched Joe. He was real. He was
40:36warm. Richard ran out. They grabbed him.
40:40They didn't hug him. He was too fragile.
40:43They lifted him. They carried him into
40:45the tent. Simon was crying. He was
40:49laughing and crying at the same time.
40:52You're alive, Simon kept saying. I
40:55thought you were dead. I cut the rope,
40:57Joe. I thought you were dead. Joe looked
41:01at him. I know, Joe whispered. I know.
41:05The dynamics in the tent shifted
41:07instantly. Minutes ago, they were
41:10mourners. Now, they were medics. They
41:14laid Joe on a sleeping bag. They cut his
41:16clothes off. They looked at the leg. It
41:19was a ruin. The knee was the size of a
41:22melon. The smell of gang green was faint
41:25but present. Simon heated water. He
41:28washed Joe's face. He fed him tea. Spoon
41:32by spoon. He held Joe's hand. The bond
41:35that had been severed by the knife was
41:37reforged. Simon had almost killed him.
41:41But now Simon was the only thing keeping
41:43him alive. Joe looked at Simon's face.
41:47He saw the guilt. It's okay. Joe said,
41:50"You did the right thing." It was the
41:53absolution Simon needed. Finding Joe was
41:56a miracle. But the ordeal wasn't over.
41:59They were still days away from a
42:01hospital. Joe couldn't walk. They had to
42:04wait for the donkey driver to arrive.
42:07When the mules arrived, they had to
42:09strap Joe to the back of a beast. This
42:11was act four of the torture. The trek
42:14out took 2 days. The path was rocky and
42:18steep. Every time the mule took a step,
42:20Joe's broken leg bounced. Imagine riding
42:23a roller coaster with a broken femur for
42:2648 hours. Joe screamed. He passed out.
42:30He woke up screaming. Simon walked
42:33beside the mule holding the leg, trying
42:36to cushion the shocks. They gave him
42:38painkillers, but they ran out. By the
42:41time they reached the mining road, Joe
42:44was delirious. They reached the road.
42:47They flagged down a truck. It was an old
42:49pickup carrying workers. They threw Joe
42:52in the back. The driver drove like a
42:55maniac down the mountain passes. Joe
42:58bounced around in the truck bed. He held
43:01on to Simon. "Don't let me die now," Joe
43:04said. "Not after the creasse."
43:07They reached Lima, the hospital. The
43:10doctors looked at the leg. They shook
43:12their heads.
43:14This is bad, the surgeon said. We might
43:17have to amputate. Joe grabbed the
43:20doctor's coat. No, he said. I climbed
43:23out of a grave with that leg. You keep
43:26it attached.
43:27Joe Simpson kept his leg. It took six
43:30operations. It took years of rehab. His
43:34knee was fused. He would never walk
43:36normally again. But he was alive. But
43:39the real story is what happened to Simon
43:42Yates. When they returned to the UK, the
43:45story came out. The climbing community
43:48is small and judgmental. People heard
43:51that Simon had cut the rope. They didn't
43:53care about the details. They didn't care
43:56that he was dying, too. They broke the
43:58cardinal rule. You never cut the rope.
44:01Simon was vilified. He was attacked in
44:03pubs. He was spat on.
44:06the man who cut the rope. Joe Simpson
44:10saw this happening and he did something
44:12extraordinary. He wrote a book, Touching
44:16the Void. He didn't write it to make
44:18money. He wrote it to save Simon. He
44:21wrote it to tell the world. I would have
44:23done the same thing. He defended Simon
44:26in every interview. Simon didn't try to
44:29kill me, Joe said. He tried to save me.
44:33And when he couldn't, he saved himself.
44:36That is not murder, that is survival.
44:40The book became a phenomenon. It changed
44:43the way people thought about survival.
44:45It showed that heroes aren't perfect.
44:48Heroes are terrified, selfish,
44:50hallucinating wrecks. And it showed that
44:53sometimes the right decision is the most
44:56terrible one. Simon Yates continued to
44:59climb. He went back to the mountains. It
45:02was his way of healing. Joe Simpson
45:05continued to climb too. Even with a
45:08fused knee, they remained friends.
45:10Though distant, they are bound by a
45:13secret that nobody else can understand.
45:16The secret of the void. The documentary
45:19ends with a shot of Sula Grande. The
45:22west face, cold, indifferent, beautiful.
45:27The wind howls over the north ridge. It
45:30doesn't care about Joe Simpson. It
45:32doesn't care about Simon Yates.

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