Touching the Void - Joe Simpson

Maybe it wasn't the best idea I ever had to read this book while my husband and a friend were off on a backcountry backpacking trip. Luckily, my husband and his friend are pretty reasonable guys. The guys in this book were nuts!!! And it's a TRUE story.

The two men in this book started out to climb a previously unclimbed peak in South America. And you know why it was unclimbed? Because it was crazy dangerous, that's why!! And guess what, one of the guys broke his leg on the climb! Not good. His buddy tried to lower him down, and was pretty successful for several hours, but then it finally got to be too much and he had to cut the rope and let him go. this should have meant his death, but it didn't. He CRAWLED back to camp.

It's an amazing story that is as much about the power of determination as anything.

If you're a strong reader interested in mountain climbing, I'd recommend this book. Available at the Multnomah County Library.