Touching the Void is a 1988 book by Joe Simpson, recounting his and Simon Yates' successful but disastrous and nearly fatal climb of the 6,344-metre (20,813 foot) Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

Awards

The book won the 1989 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature and the 1989 NCR Book Award.

Film

In 2003, fifteen years after it was first published, the book was turned into a documentary film of the same name, directed by Kevin MacDonald. The film won the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the 2003 BAFTA Awards and was featured at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. In 2014, the book was being used in the English literature AQA GCSE course nationally in England.

Plot

Simpson and Yates reach the summit of the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande. Upon descent, Simpson slipped down an ice cliff and landed awkwardly, crushing his tibia into his knee joint, thus breaking his right leg. The pair, whose trip had already taken longer than they intended due to bad weather on the ascent, had run out of fuel for their stove and could not melt ice or snow for drinking water. With bad weather closing in and daylight fading, they needed to descend quickly to the glacier, about 3,000 feet below.

Touching the Void is a 2003 documentary based on the book of the same name by Joe Simpson about Simpson's and Simon Yates' disastrous and near fatal attempt to climb Siula Grande (6,344 m) in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

Critically acclaimed, it was listed in the PBS' 100 "Greatest" Documentaries of All Time. The Guardian described it as "the most successful documentary in British cinema history".

Synopsis

Both climbers successfully reach the summit of the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande in Peru. Joe is injured during the descent after falling, resulting in a badly broken leg. The pair decide to lower Joe with the help of ropes on the steep snowy slope, while an enormous storm rages on. Simon cannot see where he is lowering Joe and Joe eventually drops off a cliff and is suspended by the rope in mid-air. Simon arrests his fall, but neither sees the predicament his partner is in nor hears him, due to the severity of the storm.