Lightning hit the cliff high above us, sending a dumper-load of rocks thrumming like jagged cannonballs out of the clouds to explode around us. Bill took a direct hit on his helmet, which was smashed. He hung limply and silently on the rope. His face, which was streaming with blood from a gash in his head, was a ghastly shade of white. For a horrible moment, we thought he was dead, but he came rou...