Joe Simpson and Simon Yates were the first people to climb the West Face of the Siula Grande in the Andes mountains. They reached the top successfully, but on their way back conditions were very 1 . Joe fell and broke his leg. They both knew that if Simon continued alone, he would probably get back 2 . But Simon decided to risk his 3 and try to lower Joe down the mountain on a rope（绳）.
As they 4 down, the weather got worse. Then another 5 occurred. They couldn't see or hear each other and, 6 , Simon lowered his friend over the edge of a precipice（峭壁）. It was impossible for Joe to climb back or for Simon to pull him up. Joe's 7 was pulling Simon slowly towards the precipice. 8 , after more than an hour in the dark and the icy cold, Simon had to make a decision. In tears, he cut the rope. Joe 9 into a huge crevasse（裂缝）in the ice below. He had no food or water and he was in terrible pain. He couldn't walk, but he 10 to get out of the crevasse and started to move towards their camp, nearly ten kilometers 11 .
Simon had 12 the camp at the foot of the mountain. He thought that Joe must be 13 , but he didn't want to leave 14 . Three days later, in the middle of the night, he heard Joe's voice. He couldn't 15 it. Joe was there, a few meters from their tent, still alive.
