DESNIVEL LA VERTIENTE OSCURA

In 1992, on the South Col of Everest, climbers witnessed the lonely agony of an Indian mountaineer, just thirty meters away from them. From the shelter of their tents, they watched as he waved to them. Why did these men impassively adopt the role of passive spectators to a tragedy? Why didn't they try to help the dying man? Why were they unable even to ease his agony by holding his hand and comforting him with words? The answer to that question terrifies Joe Simpson, who, after being left for dead in a crevasse in the Peruvian Andes in 1985, said: "I will never forget the horror of dying alone, the dreadful feeling of loneliness and emptiness."

Everest is currently becoming a playground for the wealthy. Numerous agencies offer guided trips along the fixed ropes at its summit, camping amidst debris and the unburied bodies of less fortunate climbers. Amidst this scenery, the author wonders if the noble instincts that once characterized mountaineering have been irrevocably forgotten, as has happened in other facets of society. In this exciting and challenging book, he explores, through anecdotes and conversations with other mountaineers, the moral climate of mountaineering today, the "dark side" of high-altitude mountaineering.