touching the void pack

8/9/2019 Touching the Void Pack

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Touching the

VoidBy Joe Simpson

Name ________________________

Teacher _________________________

1


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BENEATH THE MOUNTAIN LAKES

I was lying in my sleeping bag, staring at the light fltering through the red and

green abric o the dome tent. Simon was snoring loudly, occasionally twitching

in his dream world. We could have been anywhere. There is a peculiar anonymity

about being in tents. Once the ip is closed and the outside world barred romsight, all sense o location disappears. Scotland, the !rench "lps, the #ara$oram,

it was always the same. The sounds o rustling, o abric %apping in the wind, or

o rainall, the eel o hard lumps under the ground sheet, the smell o rancid

soc$s and sweat & these are universals, as comorting as the warmth o the down

sleeping bag.

Outside, in a lightening s$y, the pea$s would be catching the frst o the morning

sun, with perhaps even a condor cresting the thermals above the tent. That

wasn't too anciul either since I had seen one circling the camp the previous

aternoon. We were in the middle o the (ordillera )uayhuash, in the *eruvian"ndes, separated rom the nearest village by twenty+eight miles o rough

wal$ing, and surrounded by the most spectacular ring o ice mountains I had

ever seen, and the only indication o this rom within our tent was the regular

roaring o avalanches alling o (erro Sarapo.

I elt a homely aection or the warm security o the tent, and reluctantly

wormed out o my bag to ace the prospect o lighting the stove. It had snowed a

little during the night, and the grass crunched rostily under my eet as I padded

over to the coo$ing roc$. There was no sign o -ichard stirring as I passed his

tiny one+man tent, hal collapsed and whitened with hoar rost.

Suatting under the lee o the huge overhanging boulder that had become our

$itchen, I relished this moment when I could be entirely alone. I fddled with the

petrol stove which was mulishly ob/ecting to both the temperature and the rusty

petrol with which I had flled it. I resorted to brutal coercion when coa0ing ailedand sat it atop a propane gas stove going ull blast. It burst into vigorous lie,


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spluttering out two+oot+high %ames in petulant revolt against the dirty petrol.

"s the pan o water slowly heated, I loo$ed around at the wide, dry and roc$+

strewn river bed, the erratic boulder under which I crouched mar$ing the site at a

distance in all but the very worst weather. " huge, almost vertical wall o ice and

snow soared upwards to the summit o (erro Sarapo directly in ront o the camp,

no more than a mile and a hal away. -ising rom the sea o moraine to my let,

two spectacular and e0travagant castles o sugar icing, 2erupa/a and -asac,

dominated the camp site. The ma/estic 1,333+oot Siula 4rande lay behind

Sarapo and was not visible. It had been climbed or the frst time in 1567 by two

bold 4ermans via the 8orth -idge. There had been ew ascents since then, and

the true prie, the daunting 9,:33+oot West !ace had so ar deeated all

attempts.

I turned o the stove and gingerly slopped the water into three large mugs. The

sun hadn't cleared the ridge o mountains opposite and it was still chilly in theshadows.

;There's a brew ready, i you're still alive in there,' I announced cheerully.

I gave -ichard's tent a good $ic$ing to $noc$ o the rost and he crawled out

loo$ing cramped and cold. Without a word he headed straight or the river bed,

clutching a roll o toilet paper.

;"re you still bad


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spot, but in the bac$streets o =ima we had become suspicious o everyone.

"nyway, we had invited -ichard to come up and /oin us or a ew days i he

wanted to see the "ndes at close uarters.

It had been two days' wal$ rom where the bone+sha$ing bus deposited us ater

@3 heart+stopping miles up the mountain valleys. !orty+si0 people were crammed

into a ramshac$le vehicle designed to carry twenty+two, and we were not

ortifed by the sight o so many wayside shrines to dead bus drivers and their

passengers. The engine was held together with nylon string and a %at tyre was

changed with a pic$+a0e.

Ay the end o the second day, -ichard was eeling the eects o altitude. Bus$

was gathering as we approached the head o the valley, and he urged Simon and

me to go ahead with the don$eys and prepare camp beore dar$C he would ta$e

his time to ollow. The way was straightorward now & he couldn't go wrong, he

had said.

Slowly he staggered up the treacherous moraines to the la$e where he thought

we were camped and then remembered a second la$e on the map. It had begun

to rain and grew increasingly cold. " thin shirt and light cotton trousers were

poor protection rom a chill "ndean night. Tired out, he had descended to the

valley in search o shelter. On the way up he had noticed some dilapidated stone

and corrugated+iron huts which he assumed to be empty but suDciently

sheltered or a night's rest. )e was surprised to fnd them occupied by two

teenage girls and a large brood o children.

"ter protracted negotiation, he managed to get a place to sleep in the ad/oining

pigsty. They gave him some boiled potatoes and cheese to eat, and threw in a

bundle o motheaten sheeps$ins or warmth. It was a long cold night, and the

high+altitude lice en/oyed their best eed or a long time.

Simon came over to the coo$ing roc$ and regaled us with a vivid dream. )e was

frmly convinced that these weird hallucinations were a direct result o the

sleeping pills he was ta$ing. I resolved to try some that very night.

I swallowed the last o my coee as Simon too$ control o the brea$ast+ma$ingand then started to write in my diaryE

15 Fay 15@:. Aase camp. )eavy rost last night, clear s$ies this morning. I'm still

trying to ad/ust to being here. It eels menacingly remote and e0hilarating at the

same timeC so much better than the "lps & no hordes o climbers, no helicopters,

no rescue & /ust us and the mountains . . . =ie seems ar simpler and more real

here. It's easy to let events and emotions %ow past without stopping to loo$ . . .

I wondered how much o this I really believed, and how it related to what we

were doing in the "ndes. Tomorrow we would start an acclimatisation climb up-osario 8orte. I ft enough at the end o ten days, we would attempt the

9


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unclimbed West !ace o Siula 4rande.

Simon handed me a bowl o porridge and more coeeE

;Shall we go tomorrow then


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would li$e to have been.

;What time do you rec$on you'll be bac$


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-ichard Simon

?sing Simpson's descriptions, s$etch a small picture and write a uote that

describes each placeHperson.

From Neither Here Nor There by BillBryson

I got o at the !rong station in Brussels" !hich is easy to do i# you are

a little bit stupid and you ha$e been do%ing and you a!a&e !ith a start

to see a plat#orm sign outside the !indo! that says B'()*++*S, I

leaped up in a mild panic and hastened to the e-it" &noc&ing

passengers on the head !ith my ruc&sac& as I passed" and sprang .eter

.an/li&e onto the plat#orm 0ust as the train thre! a steamy !hoosh1 at

my legs and pulled out,

It didn2t stri&e me as odd that I !as the only passenger to alight at the

station" or that the station itsel# !as eerily deserted" until I stepped

outside" into that gritty dri%%le that hangs perpetually o$er Brussels"

and realised I !as in a part o# the city that I had ne$er seen be#ore3 one

o# those anonymous neighbourhoods !here the buildings are grey and

e$ery end !all has a three/storey ad$ertisement painted on it and the

shops sell things li&e s!imming/pool pumps and signs that say N4

.5'6IN7/ 75'57* IN 84NST5NT (S*, I had no idea !here I !as, I set

my #ace in a dogged e-pression and trudged to!ards !hat I thought

might be the do!nto!n,


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I hate as&ing directions, I am al!ays a#raid that the person I approach

!ill step bac& and say" 9ou !ant to go !here: The centre o# Brussels:

Boy" are you lost, This is Paris,you stupid idiot"2 then stop other

passers/by and say" 9ou !anna hear something classic: Buddy" tell

these people !here you thin& you are"2 and that I2ll ha$e to push my

!ay through a cro!d o# people !ho are #alling about and !iping o#tears o# mirth #rom their eyes, So I trudged on, Just !hen I reached

the point !here I !as beginning to thin& seriously about phoning my

!i#e and as&ing her to come and ;nd me" I turned a corner and there to

my considerable surprise !as the


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Brussels is a seriously ugly place" #ull o# !et litter" boule$ards li&e

#ree!ays and muddy building sites, It is a city o# grey oGces and

#aceless oGce !or&ers" the brie#case capital o# *urope, It has #e!er

par&s than any city I can thin& o#" and almost no other #eatures to

commend it/ no castle on a hill" mo mountainous cathedral" no street o#

singularly elegant shops" no bac&drop o# sno!y pea&s" no #airy/lighted

sea#ront, It doesnt e$en ha$e a ri$er, Ho! can a city not at least ha$e

a ri$er: They did once ha$e some city !alls" but all that remains is a

crumbly #ragment stuc& ne-t door to a bo!ling alley on the 'ue des

5le-iens, The best thing that can be said #or Brussels is that it is only

three hours #rom .aris, I# I !ere in charge o# the *(" and #ran&ly you

could do !orse" my ;rst mo$e !ould be to trans#er the capital to ublin

or 7lasgo! or possibly Naples" !here the 0obs !ould be appreciated

and !here the people still ha$e some pride in their city" because in

Brussels" alas" they simply ha$en2t,

The one corner o# charm in the city is a !arren o# narro!" pedestrian/

only streets behind the 7rand/.lace called" !ith a mildly pathetic dash

o# hyperbole" the Sacred Isle, Here the little lanes and passage!ays

are pac&ed !ith restaurants and cro!ds o# people !andering around in

the happy state o# deciding !here to eat" nosing around the ice

barro!s o# lobsters" mussels and cray;sh that stand outside each

establishment, *$ery door!ay issues a !arm draught o# grilled aromas

and e$ery !indo! re$eals cro!ds o# people en0oying themsel$es at

almost any hour o# the day or night, It is remorselessly picturesEue and

appealing" and it has been li&e this since the


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escribing .lacesAryson uses a range o ad/ectives, verbs, personifcation and metaphorsto describe his reactions to the places he visits. !or each o the sentencesbelow, underline and annotate any o the above eatures. Then write your

own sentence using that particular eature.-ead the e0ample below beore trying the ollowing twoE

*-ampleBryson2s sentence3I stepped outside, into that gritty drile thathangs perpetually over drile.

8omment3The ad/ective gritty suggests that the night was unclearand blea$ and shows that Aryson's frst impression o Arussels was not

a positive one.


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8ow fnd sentences o your own to useE

Sentence 6

Bryson2s sentence3

8omment3 ...............................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................


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Tas&

?sing some o Aill Aryson's techniues or describing places and creating

humour, write an article about a city or town that you $now well.

Step (hoose your destination. Is it going to be your local town or

somewhere that you have visited recently

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