Touching the Void - film

This is a film, made in 2003, about two mountaineers tackling the unclimbed west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes.  Simon Yates was 25, and his companion Joe Simpson was 21.  They had no support team, other than a man with no interest in climbing who stayed in the tent with their equipment.

The ascent to the summit took three days of huge efforts, but they made it, and all they had to do now was descend - but most climbing accidents happen on the way down.   In this case it happened to Joe, who fell and broke his leg, very badly.  

How they coped with this and eventually made their separate ways back to the tent makes for a remarkably gripping film with terrific photography, based on interviews with the three people concerned.


Kevin MacDonald made the film and tells of the difficulties involved in it in this article.