Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival [B0476]

2004 PB. Touching the Void is the heart-stopping account of Joe Simpson's terrifying adventure in the Peruvian Andes. He and his climbing partner, Simon, reached the summit of the remote Siula Grande in June 1985. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frost-bitten, with news that that Joe was dead. What happened to Joe, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of mountaineering survival but a compelling testament of friendship.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Crazy survival story of continuous horrendous luck. Determination gets one a long way. First quarter difficult to digest for a non climber with all the technical jargon. But following the descent, even I was able to understand the unimaginable hell that was unfolding."; "A great reminder of how resilient the seemly fragile human body actually is! This book was very hard to put down at some points - the urge to know what will happen next was irresistible."