The text returns to Simpson’s perspective before Yates cuts the rope. As the rope jolted him down in increments, he wondered how long it would be before Yates fell with him. Resigned to their inevitable deaths, Simpson reflected that no one would ever know they successfully summitted Siula Grande.

Simpson could see that he was suspended above a crevasse at least 20 feet wide. He suddenly plummeted downward, briefly landing on his back in the snow covering the crevasse, and then fell again until he landed, facedown. Stunned, he simultaneously laughed and cried, realizing that he was alive. In the dark, he felt the ice walls and realized that he had landed on an ice bridge that had formed across the crevasse. Below him was a further drop. Using an ice screw and karabiner, he roped himself to the wall, estimating that he was 50 feet down. He shouted for Yates and laughed manically at the echo. Shining his torch downward, he could see no sign of the crevasse bottom. He knew that if Yates realized he had fallen into the crevasse, his friend would assume he was dead.

Simpson reasoned that if Yates also fell and landed beside the crevasse entrance, he could use his dead friend’s weight to climb back up.