1. The author does not explain the technical jargon because firstly the target audience. The target audience is who the author plans to sell most of the books, so how old they are, what their profession is, what gender, what hobbies they have etc. Touching the Void by Joe Simpson is mainly targeted at mountaineers as it is a book about climbing mountains and problems up their, so when Joe Simpson doesn’t explain the technical jargon he assumes they already know what it means. But there are others who read the book so he has put the jargon in context so he may be able to figure out what it means, and if they do not know what the word means they can take responsibility and search it up online.

2. Karrimats: A soft mat used to lay the sleeping bag on to sleep, also to lay over hard ground so the sleep is more comfortable. It is important in the text as in the context of ‘We had the advantage of head room when it came to rolling up our karrimats’ It helps to explain that the space that slept in is a large area which is good for them.

Seracs: Is a pinnacle or ridge of ice on the surface of a glacier. In its context it is important as it helps to explain that they were in a tough situation and it would be hard to get out of it.

“Friend”: Also known as a camming device it is used to fit into gaps in rocks or ice to then pull on it and it tightens, the tighter you pull the tighter in the rock it is. It is important as it lets us know a bit more about the surroundings so we can picture it more vividly as we know that they are on a steep slope with crack that they can fit the “friend” into.

Bivi: Short for bivouac, which is a temporary camp without tents or cover. It helps the reader as it lets us know that the are sleeping outside in the cold without tents and exposed to the weather.

Cornices: A piece of hardened snow or ice overhanging a cliff or precipice. It is important as it allows the reader to visualise the summit in this case as a overhanging and risky spot.

Flutings: it is a process of weathering and erosion that leaves groove like features. This again helps to visualise but only if they know what the word is in which most will because the targeted audience is mostly mountaineers.