Touching the Void (Isis Series)
Joe Simpson and Simon Yates were descending a 21,000-foot peak in the Andes when Simpson fell off an ice ledge, breaking his leg. In a desperate struggle to get his friend off the mountain, Yates lowered Simpson over a 3,000-foot cliff. When his belay collapsed, Yates was forced to cut the ropes just seconds before he would have been pulled to his own death. Simpson fell away into the dark, leaving Yates to assume his partner was dead. After a search, Yates returned to base. Four days later, and in a tremendous feat of endurance, Simpson crawled into camp, half dead. An epic chronicle of suffering and survival, and of the triumph of the human spirit.
"Simpson touches a nerve of the mountaineering community and the hearts of others." (Los Angeles Times)
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
Concise and yet packed with detail, Touching the Void, Joe Simpson's harrowing account of near-death in the Peruvian Andes, is a compact tour de force that wrestles with issues of bravery, friendship, physical endurance, the code of the mountains, and the will to live. Simpson dedicates the book to his climbing partner, Simon Yates, and to "those friends who have gone to the mountains and have not returned." What is it that compels certain individuals to willingly seek out the most inhospitable climate on earth? To risk their lives in an attempt to leave footprints where few or none have gone before? Simpson's vivid narrative of a dangerous climbing expedition will convince even the most die-hard couch potato that such pursuits fall within the realm of the sane. As the author struggles ever higher, readers learn of the mountain's awesome power, the beautiful--and sometimes deadly--sheets of blue glacial ice, and the accomplishment of a successful ascent. And then catastrophe: the second half of Touching the Void sees Simpson at his darkest moment. With a smashed, useless leg, he and his partner must struggle down a near-vertical face--and that's only the beginning of their troubles.
From the Publisher:
5 1.5-hour cassettes
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherIsis Audio
- Publication date1993
- ISBN 10 1850897808
- ISBN 13 9781850897804
- BindingAudio Cassette
- Rating
(No Available Copies)
Search Books: Create a WantIf you know the book but cannot find it on AbeBooks, we can automatically search for it on your behalf as new inventory is added. If it is added to AbeBooks by one of our member booksellers, we will notify you!
Create a Want