This book is an illustrated account of the ascent of the west face of the 21,000ft peak, Siula Grande, in the Peruvian Andes.

The author and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, achieved the summit in June 1985 before disaster struck.

A few days later, Yates staggered into base camp, exhausted and frostbitten, to tell their non-climbing companion that Joe was dead.

For three days Simon Yates, believing that he had caused his friend's death, suffered torment and guilt.

However, a cry in the night led them to Joe, badly injured and delirious, crawling through the snow.

Far from causing his friend's death, Simon had paradoxically saved his life when he cut the rope.

What happened and how they dealt with the resulting psychological trauma is the subject of this book.