Lauren Elder set out in a light aircraft in company with the pilot and his girlfriend. It was going to he a joyride, sightseeing over the mountainous splendour of the Sierra Nevada range.

The Cessna hit the mountain fifteen feet from the crest. The joyride had turned into a nightmare.

After a night of sub-zero temperatures Lauren was the only one of the three left alive.

She faced the terrifying prospect of climbing down to safety, wearing only a jacket and skirt and fashionable boots, down 8,000 feet of fearsome, precipitous mountain to the desert below.

'VIVIDLY RECREATES NIGHTMARE ORDEAL' YORKSHIRE POST

1978 Hardcover ex library no obtrusive stamps binding text good