Chapter 7
Getting Down the mountain
Simon and i decided to tie our two ropes together. That gave us 100 metres of ropes. Simon
would dig a hole in the snow. Then, he would sit in the hole and lower me down.
Our plan worked very well. We quickly went down 100 metres but it was now four oclock and
another storm was coming. We had two choices: we could dig a snow hole for the night or we
could continue down the mountain. We decided to continue down.
Simon was lowering me very fast in a terrible storm. I was in great pain because my knee kept
hitting the side of the mountain. I felt angry that he was hurting me, but I knew he had no
choice. We had to get down quickly.
By 7.30 that evening we knew we were getting close to the bottom of the mountain. it was
now completely dark and the storm was very bad . I knew we should stop, dig a snow hole and
melt some snow for water. But we couldnt because we had no gas.
Just then, I felt the slope getting steeper. I realized that there was another cliff. I screamed to
simon to stop lowering me. He couldnt hear me, because the wind was too loud. Suddenly, the
side of the mountain disappeared under me and I fell into space.
The rope pulled against my body and I stopped. I had gone over a steep ice cliff and I was
hanging about 26 metres above a black crevasse. I tried to reach the walls of the cliff with my
axe. They were too far away. I knew my weight would soon pull Simon off the mountain. When
that happened, we would both die. I had to get back up the rope and I had to do it quickly. My
only chance was to use two smaller pieces of rope that I had with me. I could tie these small
ropes around the main rope with special knots. Then I could use them to climb to the top of
the main rope.
My fingers were so cold that I couldnt feel them. It took fifteen minutes just to tie one knot.
Then I dropped the other piece of rope. At that point I knew there was nothing more I could
do. I hung on the end of the rope and waited to die. I knew the cold would soon kill me.
Bajando la montaa
Simon y yo decidimos unir nuestras dos cuerdas. Eso nos dio 100 metros de cuerdas. Simon
cavara un agujero en la nieve. Entonces, l se sentara en el agujero y me bajara abajo.
Nuestro plan funcion muy bien. Rpidamente bajamos 100 metros, pero ahora eran las cuatro
y otra tormenta vena. Tuvimos dos opciones: podamos cavar un agujero de nieve por la noche
o podamos continuar por la montaa. Decidimos continuar abajo.
Simn me estaba bajando muy rpido en una terrible tormenta. Yo estaba en un gran dolor
porque mi rodilla segua golpeando el lado de la montaa. Me senta enojado de que me
estuviera lastimando, pero saba que no tena otra opcin. Tuvimos que bajar rpidamente.
A las 7.30 esa noche sabamos que estbamos cerca del fondo de la montaa. Ahora estaba
completamente oscuro y la tormenta era muy mala. Saba que debamos parar, cavar un
agujero de nieve y derretir un poco de nieve para el agua. Pero no pudimos porque no
tenamos gasolina.
En ese momento, sent que la pendiente se haca ms empinada. Me di cuenta de que haba
otro acantilado. Grit a simon para que dejara de bajarme. No poda orme, porque el viento
era demasiado fuerte. De repente, el lado de la montaa desapareci debajo de m y ca en el
espacio.
La cuerda tir contra mi cuerpo y me detuve. Haba pasado por un escarpado acantilado de
hielo y estaba colgando unos 26 metros por encima de una grieta negra. Trat de alcanzar las
paredes del acantilado con mi hacha. Estaban muy lejos. Saba que mi peso pronto sacara a
Simon de la montaa. Cuando eso sucediera, ambos moriramos. Tuve que volver a subir la
cuerda y tuve que hacerlo rpidamente. Mi nica oportunidad era usar dos trozos ms
pequeos de cuerda que tena conmigo. Podra atar estas pequeas cuerdas alrededor de la
cuerda principal con nudos especiales. Entonces podra usarlos para subir a la parte superior
de la cuerda principal.
Mis dedos estaban tan fros que no pude sentirlos. Tard quince minutos para atar un nudo.
Luego dej caer la otra cuerda. En ese momento supe que no haba nada ms que pudiera
hacer. Me colgu en el extremo de la cuerda y esper a morir. Saba que el fro pronto me
matara.
