Vertical Limit Page #3

It's not just snow.

It's gonna be ice and rock.

We need special tools.

I don't know how much we have here.

Then how do you get it

up there, Mr. Garrett?

Then we dig with our bare hands

if we have to.

Whatever it takes. We have more than

enough guys here to get this done.

What the hell do you want to do?

Just leave them there?

Peter.

You can't ask people to work there.

That high, just staying alive is...

So we just walk away

and forget about them?

They had one fuel can each. They can

melt ice and rehydrate for a day.

At 26,000, without it,

their lungs fill with fluid.

That's pulmonary edema,

they die within another 12.

That gives us a window of 36 hours.

Montgomery Wick.

Wick speed-summited in 24.

We're not Montgomery Wick.

Even if we were, how long does that

leave to get through the rock and ice?

We don't know their exact location.

How long will that take?

I won't let Annie die.

So what are we gonna do?

Nitroglycerin, Mr. Garrett.

I wouldn't touch it

with an English barge pole.

We use it to blast rock

for gun emplacements.

It's low-freezing

and more powerful than symtex.

My responsibility ends at that door.

I want to make one thing clear.

This is your decision.

It's got nothing

to do with the Pakistani army.

Which is a legal way of saying

I think it's madness.

A magnificent madness, though.

Good luck.

Stop!

Skip, don't move your feet.

Everybody keep very still.

Okay, Skip.

Let me get this straight.

You want to go up that hill...

...with nitro on your back

and hope that it doesn't jolt?

That's right.

A hundred thousand sperm

and you were the fastest?

Skip here's agreed to go,

so I need four more.

It'll be a speed ascent,

in pairs, one canister per team.

People have to share?

Won't everyone want their own bomb?

Ed.

You're the best climber here.

I'm not one to walk away,

but I think it's suicide.

If we just leave them,

what do you call that?

It's reality. You're willing

to risk six lives to save three?

How do you feel about that?

The same way you do.

Your best friend died on Everest.

What if it was him up there right now?

I will go.

Ali is my cousin. It is my duty.

How about it, Mal? You and Cyril

have been up there before.

No...

Why would we want to leave this place?

Luxurious accommodation.

Fine cuisine.

Sultry weather.

Frostbite's off my dick.

I reckon we should wait

until they chuck in a ski lift.

Good idea. Imagine coming to the

Himalayas and actually climbing.

Especially when you have

to complete your autobiography.

And rustle up those all-important

endorsements. You wankers!

What's bloody wrong with you?!

We're in.

Thank you.

I need one more.

I'll write a check now

for anyone who goes.

Whether Elliot makes it or not,

I'll be waiting when you get back.

Half a million bucks.

Does that include the tip?

My brother's got explosives.

They're gonna blast their way down.

Blast their way down.

How are they gonna find us?

We might as well be on Mars.

It's not a question of how,

it's how long.

It's time that's gonna kill us.

We have to lay down a schedule.

A regimen we all adhere to.

Edema sets in

if we don't keep drinking.

Now, I figure, three water bottles...

...that's half a cup each,

every 2 hours.

After that, fuel cells to melt ice,

and finally...

...we use the dex syringes.

Chances are we're all gonna get

pretty sick...

...but if we keep to the schedule,

keep to it...

...maybe we can hold out.

Annie, we need to give them the grid

reference for our last known position.

She says they were about 300 feet

above the Anvil, heading down east.

The shoulder ice field.

I checked their manifest.

This is what they have.

We leave at dawn.

They got 22 hours if they're lucky.

How high can we chopper in?

Rasul says 21,000.

Any higher, the air's too thin.

He drops us.

How fast can we get there?

Negrotto Col's the only place we can

land. From there, 27 hours.

Five hours short.

We need Montgomery Wick. He's the

only man who's done it faster.

Will he do it?

Four years ago, a big storm blows

an American team off the hill.

There's nine up there, including

his wife. She was a guide.

He knows he can't help her, but he

goes anyway. The only one who did.

He lost all his toes to frostbite

but dragged 3 guys off the mountain.

They owe their lives to him.

What do you reckon?

Where is he?

On the mountain.

Up the shoulder, where he always goes.

They never found his wife's body,

so he keeps looking.

The guy's a lunatic.

That's just what we need.

Yeah. Strap on the nitro.

That's a great idea.

Smoking next to the nitro.

Although, bro and I always hoped

that you'd blow us.

Why are you going?

The money, of course.

Skip hasn't paid anyone in months.

You know of a better way out?

Can you climb?

Peter wants to know if I can climb.

Worst I've seen.

Couldn't climb a ladder.

You're that good, huh?

Yeah. But it was a very tall ladder.

What the hell are you doing?

I'm trying to kiss my ass goodbye.

It's dawn.

If the weather's cleared,

they'll be on their way.

I know.

Thank you.

And your brother?

Has he climbed since Utah?

No.

People say he lost his nerve.

Have you heard that?

Yeah, I've heard that.

Annie!

It's a pack! Quick!

I'm not interested.

You went before.

Men owe you their lives.

Four years ago.

Now I just climb for myself.

My father was a climber. Royce

Garrett. He climbed Everest with you.

I don't care. I don't live my life

so you can look up to me.

My sister's dying up there.

Before you lecture me,

get your facts straight.

It'll be less embarrassing.

Up there, you're not dying,

Mr. Garrett. You're dead.

What the hell happened to you?

Vaughn's people are offering $500,000

to anyone that goes.

Maybe that'll make a difference.

Why would they do that?

He's one of them.

What's their supply situation?

Enough for 22 hours.

Twenty-two.

Who's coordinating at base?

- Vaughn's people.

- That's a mistake.

I'll need someone there I can trust.

Taylor, you know the mountain best.

Skip's one of the best climbers.

We'll need him.

Let's agree on one thing:

This is not a climbing democracy.

On a rescue, we don't vote,

question or argue.

You listen and do exactly as I say.

Chopper will take you back.

Here's how we'll split it up.

Malcolm, you'll climb with Kareem.

- Cyril, you'll...

- What? No, I bloody won't.

You've been up the mountain too long

and forgotten the rules.

Never eat at a place called "Ma's"...

...don't play cards

with a fellow named Doc...

...and never climb with a stranger.

I'm going with my brother.

Frankly, I'd rather climb

with the Sheila.

My rules:
I put a strong climber

with a weaker one.

You'll climb with Kareem.

Mr. Garrett,

you'll be climbing with me.

Cyril. Guess what?

Come on, darling.

Give us a smile, eh!

It's the second best thing

you can do with your lips.

We'll take the west ridge.

Cyril, the Mushroom.

Malcolm, Hockey Stick Gully.

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