Touching the Void

285 00:31:27,752 --> 00:31:31,532 It was a point where we should have dug a snow cave and taken shelter, 286 00:31:31,533 --> 00:31:35,703 got in our sleeping bags and made a hot brew, and rehydrate. 287 00:31:36,885 --> 00:31:39,278 We couldn't, 'cause we'd run out of gas. 288 00:31:39,279 --> 00:31:43,192 And we just lost control at this point because we couldn't dig a snow cave, 289 00:31:43,193 --> 00:31:47,363 and risk getting trapped by a storm that didn't break. 290 00:32:43,841 --> 00:32:48,011 It was all starting to look up in many ways at that point, as we were virtually down. 291 00:32:54,580 --> 00:32:56,309 And I started to slowly think, 292 00:32:56,310 --> 00:33:00,481 "maybe after this one we will have one more, and we'll be on the glacier". 293 00:33:02,777 --> 00:33:05,641 And suddenly all got hard on my elbows, and icy, 294 00:33:05,642 --> 00:33:09,519 and it got steeper, going down a slope and suddenly it's steeper, 295 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:13,691 and I just was full of alarm. 296 00:33:16,464 --> 00:33:20,635 I was screaming at Simon to stop as loud as I could, and he just couldn't hear me. 297 00:33:34,116 --> 00:33:38,085 I did notice that more weight came onto the rope, 298 00:33:38,086 --> 00:33:41,214 but didn't really think a lot about this. And I just thought, 299 00:33:41,215 --> 00:33:44,760 "Well, he's going over some steeper ground" 300 00:33:44,761 --> 00:33:48,931 When I looked down, and I glimpsed 'cause there was a big drop underneath me, 301 00:33:50,945 --> 00:33:55,116 I was horrified to discover what I'd gone over. 302 00:33:55,419 --> 00:33:59,590 And I could clearly see that there was a large crevice directly under the cliff, 303 00:33:59,702 --> 00:34:03,872 about 25m below me. 304 00:34:04,900 --> 00:34:09,071 I was trying to get my axes to see if I could reach this wall that was out there, 305 00:34:09,155 --> 00:34:13,326 I think, almost as I start and try to do that, I started being lowered again. 306 00:34:15,169 --> 00:34:16,973 And I was thinking, "Christ, don't do it, don't do it", 307 00:34:16,974 --> 00:34:21,145 'cause I knew, that there wasn't enough rope to get me to the bottom. 308 00:34:21,634 --> 00:34:23,475 And if I couldn't get my weight off the rope, 309 00:34:23,476 --> 00:34:25,566 he couldn't disconnect the rope, to get on the other side. 310 00:34:25,567 --> 00:34:29,010 And I knew all this, and I was screaming again, not to lower me. 311 00:34:29,011 --> 00:34:33,181 I carried on lowering him, until I reached the knot, then shook the rope. 312 00:34:34,221 --> 00:34:38,392 My signal to him, to take the weight off the rope. 313 00:34:40,116 --> 00:34:43,367 And nothing happened. 314 00:34:43,368 --> 00:34:47,538 And nothing continued to happen. 315 00:35:13,934 --> 00:35:18,104 I knew, that the only way out of this is if I could climb up the rope. 316 00:35:33,233 --> 00:35:37,404 I had two prusik loops. Prusik loops are thin cords of rope. 317 00:35:39,313 --> 00:35:43,484 And if you use a special twisting knot on the rope, you can slide it up the rope, 318 00:35:44,387 --> 00:35:46,491 and pull on it, and the knot grips the rope. 319 00:35:46,492 --> 00:35:49,756 Clip a snapping to it and then a sling to it, and you can stand up. 320 00:35:49,757 --> 00:35:53,652 And if you got another one, tied above it, you slide that one up, 321 00:35:53,653 --> 00:35:57,824 Standing this loop is now higher. 322 00:36:06,770 --> 00:36:10,800 I was trying to hold myself upright, to keep the rope in place. 323 00:36:10,801 --> 00:36:13,740 And then trying to put this knot through itself, and through itself, 324 00:36:13,741 --> 00:36:17,912 and this fiddly bloody rope... it is just hard to describe how I couldn't do it. 325 00:36:17,961 --> 00:36:20,652 Because my fingers, I just couldn't feel the fingers at all. 326 00:36:20,653 --> 00:36:24,414 And I'd be looking and trying to push the thing in, and using my teeth, 327 00:36:24,415 --> 00:36:28,586 and getting it round, and getting it round. 328 00:36:32,565 --> 00:36:36,735 My hands were cold, my feet were... I was very very cold. 329 00:36:40,546 --> 00:36:44,452 It was a desperate position, made worse by the fact that that I had no idea 330 00:36:44,454 --> 00:36:48,624 what Joe was doing, or what position he was in. 331 00:36:48,950 --> 00:36:53,120 I just couldn't figure out why it was taking him so long to get his weight off the rope, 332 00:36:55,271 --> 00:36:59,442 there was no sensible explanation for it. 333 00:37:04,083 --> 00:37:08,253 I got one on, and I clipped it to my chest, because that would keep me upright. 334 00:37:09,355 --> 00:37:13,526 And I tried to put the other one on, and I had real trouble with my hands. 335 00:37:22,060 --> 00:37:26,231 And I dropped the bloody thing, and I wat