Good Film tonight for UK mmbers
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Howjoe
Established Member
Yep, totally agree, an amazing survival story. The book was impossible to put down.
The documentary about the journey back to make the film which comes with the DVD, is also brilliant.
Cheers,
Howard
The documentary about the journey back to make the film which comes with the DVD, is also brilliant.
Cheers,
Howard
Also agree, have not seen the film but the book is brilliantly written. You want to put it down but cannot. Totally rivetting. I am recording the film and looking forward to seeing it.
devonwoody
Established Member
Hope my video recorder worked last night then, something went wrong the previous evening doing a late night recording 
RogerS
Established Member
Superb film and based on recommendations looks like I need to buy the DVD and the book.
I used to climb in my teens but, compared to these guys, at a very minor level. However, one event still remains vividly in my mind to this day..but I hasten to add pales into insignificance compared to what these guys went through. But as a very inexperienced teenager was scary enough to say the least.
My friend, Pete, was leading and we'd agreed to make the first belay point around the corner of a sharp vertical ridge. I was belayed off (ie tied to the mountain to protect myself and Pete (who was leading) from falling off should he slip). Pete started off around the corner and was soon out of sight. I kept on feeding the rope around the corner to him. After about 50 feet of rope had gone I expected him to shout back to me 'Up and belayed. Climb when you're ready'. I heard nothing. Another 50 feet of rope. Still no sound from Pete.
"Are you belayed yet, Pete?" I shouted out. No reply. Another 50 feet of rope and still no sound. I kept on shouting out in vain. Still no reply.
Finally the moment I had been dreading arrived and there was no more rope to feed out. There was, however, the steady tug on the rope in my hand. I was in a dilemma. Had Pete decided to keep on climbing up to a higher point before belaying himself off? Was he, at that moment, straining to reach a handhold...only to be pulled back by the tension in the rope? Should I untie myself from the belay point and start climbing myself to minimise the risk of him falling off as there was too much tension in the rope? But then, if he wasn't belayed off and 200ft away and either of us fell off then we would both fall off the side of the mountain. Ground is hard whether it is from 200 ft or 2000 ft. Chances are you'll still die.
Mentally I wayed up the odds, untied myself and started climbing. As I came around the vertical corner, there was Pete, *** in mouth, exactly where he said he'd be, safely belayed off, 150ft of spare rope hanging down the mountain.
"What kept you so long?" he asked. The wind had been taking our voices away from each other.
I used to climb in my teens but, compared to these guys, at a very minor level. However, one event still remains vividly in my mind to this day..but I hasten to add pales into insignificance compared to what these guys went through. But as a very inexperienced teenager was scary enough to say the least.
My friend, Pete, was leading and we'd agreed to make the first belay point around the corner of a sharp vertical ridge. I was belayed off (ie tied to the mountain to protect myself and Pete (who was leading) from falling off should he slip). Pete started off around the corner and was soon out of sight. I kept on feeding the rope around the corner to him. After about 50 feet of rope had gone I expected him to shout back to me 'Up and belayed. Climb when you're ready'. I heard nothing. Another 50 feet of rope. Still no sound from Pete.
"Are you belayed yet, Pete?" I shouted out. No reply. Another 50 feet of rope and still no sound. I kept on shouting out in vain. Still no reply.
Finally the moment I had been dreading arrived and there was no more rope to feed out. There was, however, the steady tug on the rope in my hand. I was in a dilemma. Had Pete decided to keep on climbing up to a higher point before belaying himself off? Was he, at that moment, straining to reach a handhold...only to be pulled back by the tension in the rope? Should I untie myself from the belay point and start climbing myself to minimise the risk of him falling off as there was too much tension in the rope? But then, if he wasn't belayed off and 200ft away and either of us fell off then we would both fall off the side of the mountain. Ground is hard whether it is from 200 ft or 2000 ft. Chances are you'll still die.
Mentally I wayed up the odds, untied myself and started climbing. As I came around the vertical corner, there was Pete, *** in mouth, exactly where he said he'd be, safely belayed off, 150ft of spare rope hanging down the mountain.
"What kept you so long?" he asked. The wind had been taking our voices away from each other.
dedee
Established Member
I too have read the book and seen the film. You can't help but ask the question of youself what would I have done?
Andy
Andy
RogerS
Established Member
dedee":39p3bcwj said:
There was only the one option IMHO - to cut the rope. Where the controversy arose was after the event ...ie did he spend enough time trying to find his friend. But, then again, could he have done that safely in those conditions and with the available resources. I doubt it.
Howjoe
Established Member
Yes, I think in that position, the only thing you could do would be to cut the rope......but what a position to be in!
Cheers,
Howard.
Cheers,
Howard.
Funnily enough, I've never doubted the 'rightness' of Simon's actions at that point: the fact that Joe has never had a problem with it speaks volumes of the options left to him.
What is more impressive for me is how Joe kept it together in the crevasse, and then, with an 'exploded' leg, climbed/crawled out. The book is very good on just how close to giving up he came in the night down there. For a climber, to make the decision to lower himself with no knot in the rope, deeper into that hole, must have been near impossible.
(but then, he is a total loon: another incident left him hanging, bootless, trapped in his sleeping bag, from a crumbling piton on a vertical rock face in the Alps. He and his partner had to be rescued by helicopter after about 12 hours dangling, waiting to die - the partner never climbed again: Joe shrugged and carried on.)
What is more impressive for me is how Joe kept it together in the crevasse, and then, with an 'exploded' leg, climbed/crawled out. The book is very good on just how close to giving up he came in the night down there. For a climber, to make the decision to lower himself with no knot in the rope, deeper into that hole, must have been near impossible.
(but then, he is a total loon: another incident left him hanging, bootless, trapped in his sleeping bag, from a crumbling piton on a vertical rock face in the Alps. He and his partner had to be rescued by helicopter after about 12 hours dangling, waiting to die - the partner never climbed again: Joe shrugged and carried on.)
dedee
Established Member
Yes indeed, I had in mind when I wrote that note above is what would I have done from both perspectives and in fact I do not think I would have the courage to get out of that crevasse.
Quite frankly most serious climbers could be described as loons in fact I think I have done one or two things that have terrified me but only with hindsight.
Andy
Quite frankly most serious climbers could be described as loons in fact I think I have done one or two things that have terrified me but only with hindsight.
Andy
MilkyBarKid
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I went to school with Joe, and played rugby with him. I always remember him as having large thick squarish spectacles and being a very good if extremely fragile scrum half. He always seemed to be getting carted off the rugby field with one injury after another. I was quite astonished about this tale of mountaneering endurance. It's amazing what the frail youngster grew up to achieve.
MBK
MBK
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