Middleton and Steve Swindlehurst were staying in a village in the Bavarian Alps. They were experienced skiers, so they had decided to ski down a difficult track, known as a Black Run, on a nearby mountain.
It was the track neither of them had tried before. . When they had set off up, the mountain, it was a beautiful day. They’d reached the top and started skiing. But the Black Run wasn’t marked very clearly and suddenly, it seemed to come to an end. Steve and Ian were puzzled. They stopped and looked around. They soon realized they were on another track, somewhere deep in the middle of the forest. At first the two skiers were not worried. They thought it would be easy to find their way back to the Black Run. But as they went on, and on, they realized they must have missed it altogether. On winter nights in the Alps, its common for the temperature to drop to-20. It s difficult for a human to survive a night at this temperature. Ian and Steve knew this, but they failed to get down the mountain before it grew too cold. The forest was thick, and it was getting dark. They decided to stay in one place, so that it would be easier for a search party to find them. It grew colder and colder. Ian and Steve made a shelter in the snow, to keep warm in, but it didn’t work very well. Gradually, they gave up hope of being found that night: they had been missing for nearly eight hours. A rescue team had been looking for them. They’d been hunting for hours, and were about to give up. The mountainside was huge and forbidding in the dark, and the skiers could be anywhere. They decided to make their final attempt. Ian and Steve were getting dangerously cold. They jumped up and down to keep warm, but nothing seemed to work. Would anyone ever come? When one of them thought he’d heard voices, it seemed too good to be true. They looked around but couldn’t see anything. Then, a few minutes later, they heard voices again and saw flashlights through the trees. It was true - the rescuers had found them at last. They were safe!
Forbidding - неприступный.
Answer the questions:
1. Was this the first time that Ian and Steve tried that track?
2. Why were they lost?
3. Why can nights be dangerous in the mountains?
4. Were they being searched? 5. Did the help come in time?