Beneath the Mountain Lakes Summary and Analysis

Joe Simpson describes crawling out of his tent early one morning from his campsite on the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes. He is camping with Simon, a man with a rather reckless spirit that Joe admires. The third of their party is a man named Richard. He is an explorer of sorts and his purpose is to remain with the gear while Joe and Simon are out climbing. As Joe and Simon make several practice runs on smaller climbs, Joe is pleased that the two of them are well-matched. There is some concern about the weather but they finally decide that the daily rainfall is actually nothing more than a normal weather pattern.

They plan to climb the South Ridge of Seria Norte but discover the cliffs are not suitable for climbing. Two additional...