Joe and Simons Relationship:
As Joe and Simon begin there climb they seem to be enjoying themselves, having fun, working together, and have a carefree attitude to the climb. “Simon stood on the outside of one foot, hanging back on the ice screws hammered into the ice, casual, relaxed…” “Looking to my right, I smiled seeing Simon with legs astride a large rock, sack off, taking a photograph of me…” But as there climb becomes more dangerous there is more tension between the two and it almost seems as though they are trying to start conflict with each other. ‘ “You took your time,” he (Simon) snapped. I (Joe) bristled.’ Joe and Simons relationship is interdependent because at the simplest level they need each other for beylays, if for no other reasons, however Joe and Simon also seem to depend on each other for company.
The environment:
The environment for this part of the climb steep snow covered west face of Siula Grande, the face also has sections of rock and ice. This section of the climb involves the face being scaled in pitches because of its difficulty and length, this requires one climber to lead, which involves putting ice screws on the way up as anchors, and the other to belay then they rotate this means that the climber must switch positions and gear. Near the end of the chapter Joe is scaling the last of a pitch when he realises he has forgot to collect the ice screws for Simon when the rotated positions, he is able to overcome this by being very careful and thorough with his moves to minimise his chance of falling.
Language and Joe’s Experiences
As the chapter draws to a close we find out that Joe has had accidents on the mountains doing similar things to what he and Simon are undertaking. We find out that he has mostly recovered from his experiences, but he was close to dying, and that he is still scared of bivvies. Technical jargon is one language feature used throughout the this chapter, it is used so that we, the reader, get dialog that is more authentic to what would have been said in this situation, and so that we learn the proper names for all equipment, technical, rock and ice features, and the like.