Risk

I am not a big risk-taker, and I am generally pretty happy staying inside what I believe to be my limits, physically and otherwise. However, I am fascinated with how other people persevere in extreme situations. I often wonder how I would bear up under the pressure of a true life-or-death situation, how deeply I could dig when the shit hit the fan.

Tonight I got two hours of this kind of contemplation when Mike and I went to see Touching the Void, a documentary about two young British climbers who were the first - and thus far only - people to summit Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes.

Their story is just unbelieveable. The fact that both climbers are narrating the film tips you off to their survival, but the way they survive is beyond description. Let's just say that Jon Krakauer, author of Into Thin Air, had a spa vacation on Everest compared to Joe Simpson's experiences on Siula Grande.

The film is in limited release but if you get the chance you should check it out.