Touching the Void by Joe Simpson (1988)

One of mountaineering’s most famous stories, this book tells of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates’ climb of Siula Grande, in the Cordillera Huayhuash of Peru. Simpson broke his leg on the descent and had to be lowered down the mountain by Yates. Amid a storm and mishap, Yates was forced to cut the rope, sending Simpson to his presumed doom. But Simpson survived the fall, landed in a deep crevasse, and eventually crawled out and self-rescued back to camp. Touching the Void is one of the most amazing stories of human drive to survive. This book was made into a pretty good movie!

218 pages, text with two color photographic inserts. This is the 2004 paperback edition, with one of the worst, most obviously-photoshopped cover designs you'll ever see.