"Reconstructs the disastrous 1985 attempt that Joe Simpson and Simon Yates made on the 21,000 foot Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. All went well for three days, until Mr. Simpson fell and drove his lower leg into his kneecap, leaving him crippled. Mr. Yates tried to lower Mr. Simpson down the mountainside with a climbing rope, but accidentally lowered him into a deep crevasse. Receiving no response from his partner, Mr. Yates was faced with a terrible choice: either to stay and hold on to the rope, at the risk of being eventually pulled into the ravine by Mr. Simpson's body weight, or to cut the rope and attempt to save himself."
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