In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates climbed the 20,813-foot-high Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. During their descent, Simpson fell through a cornice and broke his right leg and heel, which required Yates to have to lower Simpson using ropes during the mountain stages.
Disaster struck during bad weather when Yates lowered Simpson over an unseen cliff. Simpson was left dangling over a deep crevasse only connected by a rope attached to Yates. Yates couldn’t hear or see Simpson, but resorted to cutting the rope to prevent himself from falling off of the mountain.
Simpson fell approximately 50 feet into the crevasse below but managed to survive the fall. He then dragged himself across miles of rough terrain until he eventually reached base camp four days later. Simpson was reunited with Yates in the middle of the night, who was planning to break camp the following morning.
In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates climbed the 20,813-foot-high Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. During their descent, Simpson fell through a cornice and broke his right leg and heel, which required Yates to have to lower Simpson using ropes during the mountain stages.
Disaster struck during bad weather when Yates lowered Simpson over an unseen cliff. Simpson was left dangling over a deep crevasse only connected by a rope attached to Yates. Yates couldn’
t hear or see Simpson, but resorted to cutting the rope to prevent himself from falling off of the mountain.
Simpson fell approximately 50 feet into the crevasse below but managed to survive the fall. He then dragged himself across miles of rough terrain until he eventually reached base camp four days later. Simpson was reunited with Yates in the middle of the night, who was planning to break camp the following morning.
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