THE SOUNDS ARE TERRIFYING. Cracks. Crunches. Crumbling. It's as if the enormous mountain outside has come alive tonight and is angry. Or, maybe the entire world is falling apart? Either way, all Ryan Cooper can do is lie in his tent and hope the mountain doesn't swallow him up.
It's June 2024, and Cooper is high up on one of the world's most daunting mountains, Peru's Huascarán. He and his group count their blessings when the sun comes up the next morning. So far, the trip has been one obstacle after another. Avalanches, rockslides, snowstorms. Cooper is a 44-year-old fitness coach and endurance event organizer from Las Vegas with a wife, three kids, two dogs, two cats and two birds back home.