"I Shouldn't Be Alive" is a documentary television series featured on Animal Planet. The show reenacts true events that have taken place, and the survivors of the stories talk about the situation that occurred during their harrowing experiences. Death Climb was the story of Jamie Fisher and Jamie Andrew, two friends that had a love for mountaineering, who attempted a climb on the north face of Les Droites in the Mont Blanc massif in the western Alps back in January 1999.
Les Droites is the lowest of the 4000-meter peaks in the French Alps. The north face of the mountain is the steepest face on the 10 kilometer-long ridge that stretches from the Aiguille Verte to Mont Dolent.
The conditions on the first and second day of climbing for Fisher and Andrew seemed to be perfect. However, as they got closer to the summit, snow and high winds made it difficult to keep climbing, but they kept going. They did end up making it to the summit, but then they were trapped in snow and winds of up to 90 miles per hour and temperatures of -30⁰C.
The two men were stuck on a very slippery ledge on the summit of Les Droites. They knew the weather conditions would prevent a rescue team to search for them. All Andrew and Fisher could do was hope the weather would calm down for them to attempt a descent off the mountain. They had no way to melt snow for water and no food to fuel their bodies.
During one night, Andrew slipped and fell down a 3000-foot precipice. Fortunately the rope that was attached to his harness caught him. His only option was to climb back up the rope to where he originally was. His first attempt ended with another fall as he got half way back up to Fisher. Not willing to give up, Andrew finally made it to the ledge.
On the fifth morning of being stuck on the ridge of Les Droites, the blizzard cleared, and the men saw a clear sky for the first time in days. The best sound in the world surrounded them as they were spotted by a helicopter. As the helicopter tried to move in closer to Fisher and Andrew, a powerful wind prevented the helicopter to get close enough to the men to retrieve them. The rescue attempt failed, and the hope for survival turned into a continuous losing battle to hypothermia and severe frostbite.
During the last night, Fisher began to succumb to the final stages of hypothermia as he was extremely delirious. The delirium eventually turned into unconsciousness, and then Fisher was gone. After seven days of being stuck on Les Droites, a helicopter rescue team finally reached the two men. Jamie Andrew barely survived with severe frostbite and hypothermia.
Andrew had all four limbs amputated in order to save his life. He went through grueling rehabilitation and has since taken part in skiing, snowboarding, paragliding, rock climbing, and even mountaineering among several other outdoor adventures. He wrote Life and Limb, a book that tells his story. He is also a motivational speaker and a powerful example of one who kept going and worked hard to gain his strength and health back to where he is, once again, enjoying his love for the outdoors and living a fulfilling life.
If you enjoyed this article, please click on Subscribe at the top of the page to receive E-mail notifications for future articles by this author. Also join my Facebook group and follow me on Twitter.
Comments