This is a documentary that tells the truth and remakes it on the spot. It tells the story of distress on the snow-capped mountains, companions helping each other, making choices and saving themselves. Very real. Undoubtedly, it embodies the outdoor spirit.
Two British young men, Joe and Simon, came to Peru to conquer the west slope of the 6,400-meter-high Siula Grande peak that no one has ever climbed. Richard, a man who has never climbed a mountain, joined their team. He does not plan to go up the mountain and will stay in the base camp to take care of him. The base camp was built on the edge of an icy lake on a vast rocky beach under a permanent glacier, a few kilometers away from the foot of the mountain. The mountain peak has been etched by thousands of years of wind, and it is blade-shaped. On the climbing route, there are almost vertical snow slopes of about 60-80 degrees.
Joe and Simon are double alpine climbing to the summit, taking turns to explore and protect. This is a climbing method that emphasizes fairness, autonomy and speed, and is known as the essence of mountaineering. Facing the unknown without resorting to any external help, conquering the unknown with my own judgment is fair to the mountain and to myself. Under these conditions, one's own life is completely entrusted to the partner's hands, and his own hands hold the partner's life. On the mountain, the two are one, and if they lose each other, they are in extreme danger.
They are masters who are proficient in this way. They like this sport, and they like mountains. On the mountains, being away from all civilization makes them feel free. The beginning went smoothly. They followed the glacier straight up, and after reaching the expected height, they camped, melted the snow into water, and ate. The next day, as the altitude increased, the wind became very strong, and the snow masses were hard to breathe and observe. The temperature was very low and climbing became extremely difficult. In 5-6 hours, they only climbed a few tens of meters. When climbing alone, the person responsible for the protection needs to sit in the snow nest, which is extremely cold. On the third day, the weather was very good. On the almost vertical steep snow slope, they carefully avoided the ice cracks, and finally succeeded in reaching the top. Everything was fine, and now they were going down the mountain. They know that 80% of accidents happen on the way down the mountain.
After observation, they chose to descend from the northern ridge. The road seemed easier, at least'walking'. Still in the Alpine style, one explores the road ahead and the other protects it, slowly moving forward in waist-deep snow. However, they soon discovered that this line is actually very difficult, covered with thin ice fronts like walls. If you accidentally slip, you will face a cliff of several hundred meters. The sky changed, visibility was poor, and they lost their way. Simon finally saw the ridge they were going to walk on in the gap between the clouds. When preparing to return to the route, a piece of snow collapsed. Fortunately, the two quickly stopped the slip and returned to the route. According to the original plan, they should withdraw to the bottom of the mountain on the third day. However, after these variables, when it was dark, their position was still very high, about 6000 meters above sea level. At night, they ran out of fuel and lacked water and food.
On the fourth day, they continued to descend along the route. Joe was exploring the way. When he climbed over an ice wall, he accidentally appeared. He fell down, his right leg was heavily jabbed on the ice, his knee was severely injured, and this one couldn’t bend or stand. . Joe is desperate, because it will put two people in a difficult position, and with his injured state, Simon can't take him out of the snowy mountains at all. He thinks, the only thing Simon can do is to leave him, go on by himself, and seek some help.
Simon said in the narration that he also thought of this, but he quickly changed his mind. Everyone has a protective rope about 50 meters long. The two ropes are connected, about 100 meters. Simon wants to use this rope to take Joe down the mountain. He tried to dig a dimple on the snow slope so that he could sit firmly in it, and then lowered the rope little by little with the descender. At one end of the rope is Joe, lying on the snow slope. As Simon lowers the rope, Joe slides down the snow slope until the rope runs out. Then Simon climbed down by himself, digs a snow nest, and puts the rope.
At the time, they had to get down to a safe place as soon as possible, so Simon put the rope quickly, and Joe struggled to balance with a short ice axe with good legs and hands. During this process, he must be very uncomfortable. The body rubbed on the surface of the snow, the pain of the injured leg under such a shock, and the splashes of snow hit his face, eyes, and mouth. Joe is annoyed, although he clearly understands that Simon is a last resort. Even so, the speed is still slow, and the sky is getting dark again. Due to their physical conditions, they could not dig a snow hole overnight, and because they ran out of fuel, they could not drink water or eat.
When Joe was descending, he found that the slope was getting steeper and steeper, and it felt bad. He tried his best to call Simon's name, hoping he could hear it. However, the wind and snow swallowed these sounds. Joe was hung in the air on a cliff. He realized that the rope was exhausted and he couldn't reach the bottom of the cliff. He knew that Simon would not loosen the rope until he got his signal, but he couldn't tell Simon what happened here. According to the appointment, Simon quivered the rope and asked if Joe could loosen the rope. He didn't get any answer. He couldn't loosen the rope. However, for a long time, he didn't wait for any signal from Joe.
Joe was hanging in the air. His only hope was to climb the cliff along the rope. He tried to use the short rope and hook to lift his body up, but his hands were frozen and all this could not be done. Simon was also in a desperate situation. It's been a long time, and it's dark. He grabbed the rope and sat in the snow nest. His whole body was frozen and motionless. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't know what to do. After hard attempts, Joe was also desperate, hanging on the rope waiting for death to come.
After a long and suffocating wait, Simon realized that if this goes on, both people will die. He gritted his teeth and cut the rope. He didn't know what happened to Joe, he needed to keep himself alive. Digging a small snow nest, curling up into it, wrapped in a sleeping bag, and pressing the backpack against the hole, spent the longest night of his life.
Joe fell several tens of meters, smashed through the snow shell, fell into a crack in the ice, and continued to slide down. It was a miracle that he was still alive. He slowly pulled the rope down, found the end of the rope, and found the trace of the knife cut. Joe thought that maybe he would die here, but he knew that the other person was still alive, and the rope didn't take Simon's body, and Joe was very happy that Simon was still alive.
On the fifth day, Simon walked alone through the glacier zone full of ice cracks and traps, and returned to base camp. Both he and Richard are sad because Joe is dead. They didn't know why they didn't leave this place right away. None of them talked about this topic and continued to live in the base camp.
Joe in the crevice of the ice began to try to climb up, out of the hole he fell into, but he soon discovered that this was futile, and he couldn't do it at all without a leg. After countless attempts-despair-waiting for death, Joe suddenly realized that his only chance was to descend in the ice cracks and descend to the bottom. If there is an exit at the bottom of the ice crack, he still has a chance to survive. Finally, the dawn of the sixth day brought him a ray of sunshine, and he was able to crawl out of the ice along the ray of sunshine. This is only the first step. For Joe, he still needs to face the crisis-ridden glacier area alone and pass through the large areas of rubble to return to the campsite. He has become extremely weak because he has no rest, no water and food.
Joe only relied on the most primitive desire to survive. He changed various positions and tried to crawl. Fortunately, he passed the glacier area safely. The rocky area caused Joe more trouble. The ground was no longer as smooth as a snow slope, but was covered with rocks as big as a tabletop and as small as a football. Joe threw away all the unnecessary things and used a moisture-proof pad. Wrap the injured leg and tie it tightly, use an ice axe to support the ground, stand up hard, fall down, and move like this. It was dark again, and Joe, who could no longer move, yelled Simon's name loudly. Oh my goodness, thanks for everything, Simon and Richard have not left yet, they heard Joe's voice.
I was suddenly moved, not because of Joe's rescue, but because a lot of things gathered together and became an inexplicable emotion.
The three people's narration is always peaceful and sincere, telling the inner change process of life and death in the past 6 days. This is indeed in line with their character. I think that the fairness in the character of people who choose alpine climbing comes from their bones. Regarding Joe's injury, Simon didn't choose to leave alone, he had to do his best to try to take him down, although he didn't succeed. Simon and Joe were very calm about cutting the rope. Simon said that he waited for so long without any response. He thought that Joe on the other end of the rope was dead. If he didn't cut the rope, he would die together. Joe said that Simon had tried his best, and he was very grateful for everything Simon did to try to take him down the mountain, and thought that cutting the rope was the right decision. Later, when many friends in the mountaineering industry accused Simon, Joe stood up to defend Simon because he thought Simon was right.
On the snow-capped mountains, everything has been extremely simplified. There are no others, no interference, only two people and a lonely snow-capped mountain. All judgments and decisions are naked and point to the heart. Obey the rules of the game, the rules of man and nature, and the rules of man and nature, and do the most correct thing.
Men take it so.
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