RELEASE: 2004; GENERE: Sports/Recreation (Documentary); RUN-TIME: 1 hr, 47 mins RATED: None
SYNOPSIS: Crippled and frostbitten, Joe Simpson was left to die in the Peruvian Andes. How he survived is the harrowing subject of Touching the Void. In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates set out to climb the 21,000 feet Siula Grande mountain in the Peruvian Andes—the only mountain in the Peruvian range that hadn't yet been conquered. They were... In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates set out to climb the 21,000 feet Siula Grande mountain in the Peruvian Andes—the only mountain in the Peruvian range that hadn't yet been conquered. They were young, fit, skilled climbers and were confident that they would succeed where others would fail. Their story has become part of mountaineering legend. Simpson and Yates' method of climbing was Alpine Style—moving quickly up a mountain with the barest of supplies and no series of base camps. This approach left absolutely no room for error. Any problem they might encounter along the way would have extremely grave consequences. Following a successful three and a half day ascent, disaster struck. Simpson fell and broke several bones in his right leg. His lower leg pushed through his knee joint, crippling him. At that altitude and in those remote conditions, this was effectively a death sentence. With no food or water, severe dehydration and the ugly spectre of hypothermia before them, the climbers knew they had to get off the mountain—and fast. Yates was determined to find a way to get his friend home. They each had 150 feet of rope, which tied together so that Yates could lower Simpson down the mountain 300 feet at a time. The only complication was that Yates had to stop after each 150 feet and signal for Simpson to give him enough slack so that he could get the knot past his harness. Each drop down the mountain was agonizing for Simpson, but Yates had no choice but to ignore his partner's cries. Both of their lives were at stake. Things were progressing unexpectedly well when Simpson failed to respond to Yates' signal. Unable to move any further and having no idea why Simpson was not pulling at the rope, Yates positioned himself against the mountain face and waited in the blinding storm. He held onto the rope with all of his strength, but was all too aware that eventually his muscles would fail him and both would plummet down the incline. What Yates couldn't know was that he had unknowingly lowered the injured Simpson over the edge of a crevasse. Simpson was hanging over the sheer vertical face of the mountain. Joe remained suspended, unable to climb back up the rope with frostbitten fingers and unable to communicate with Simon above him. Simon hung onto the rope for an hour, with his strength ebbing away and Joe's weight on the rope slowly pulling him towards the edge of the cliff. Eventually Simon realized he was faced with an unthinkable dilemma: he could hang on to the rope until they were both pulled off the mountain. Logic would say that it would be better for only one man to die rather than both. But the biggest taboo that any climber can commit is to cut the rope that binds you to your partner. For a climber, it is unthinkable. Certain they would both soon be pulled to their deaths, Yates cut the rope. Shattered, frostbitten, Simpson managed to extricate himself from the icy vaults he had fallen into and make his agonized crawl back to base camp.
REVIEW: Besides being a fantastic story of human grit, was the director's (Kevin Macdonald) ability to painstakingly reproduce their climb and decent. First, he employed two actors (Brendan Mackey as Simpson and Nicholas Aaron as Yates—Macdonald) who are also experienced cimbers. Second, he reproduced the climb by using the Alps as the location to shoot this harrowing event. During filming, the actors and crew actually endured twenty-below conditions during the worst snowstorm in ten years. Making it even more surreal is the fact that while showing the realism of the events as they occurred on the mountain, he used the real Simpson and Yates in a series of periodic interviews to provide background and detail as to the actual thinking of each during the ordeal. I do have to admit that there were several times when I said that they were "nuts" to have made the decision to make the climb in the first place, and that this conscious decision somewhat tempered my admiration for what they accomplished. We both thought it was the most amazing, realistic documentary recreation we have ever seen. We give it [5-Stars].
SYNOPSIS: Crippled and frostbitten, Joe Simpson was left to die in the Peruvian Andes. How he survived is the harrowing subject of Touching the Void. In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates set out to climb the 21,000 feet Siula Grande mountain in the Peruvian Andes—the only mountain in the Peruvian range that hadn't yet been conquered. They were... In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates set out to climb the 21,000 feet Siula Grande mountain in the Peruvian Andes—the only mountain in the Peruvian range that hadn't yet been conquered. They were young, fit, skilled climbers and were confident that they would succeed where others would fail. Their story has become part of mountaineering legend. Simpson and Yates' method of climbing was Alpine Style—moving quickly up a mountain with the barest of supplies and no series of base camps. This approach left absolutely no room for error. Any problem they might encounter along the way would have extremely grave consequences. Following a successful three and a half day ascent, disaster struck. Simpson fell and broke several bones in his right leg. His lower leg pushed through his knee joint, crippling him. At that altitude and in those remote conditions, this was effectively a death sentence. With no food or water, severe dehydration and the ugly spectre of hypothermia before them, the climbers knew they had to get off the mountain—and fast. Yates was determined to find a way to get his friend home. They each had 150 feet of rope, which tied together so that Yates could lower Simpson down the mountain 300 feet at a time. The only complication was that Yates had to stop after each 150 feet and signal for Simpson to give him enough slack so that he could get the knot past his harness. Each drop down the mountain was agonizing for Simpson, but Yates had no choice but to ignore his partner's cries. Both of their lives were at stake. Things were progressing unexpectedly well when Simpson failed to respond to Yates' signal. Unable to move any further and having no idea why Simpson was not pulling at the rope, Yates positioned himself against the mountain face and waited in the blinding storm. He held onto the rope with all of his strength, but was all too aware that eventually his muscles would fail him and both would plummet down the incline. What Yates couldn't know was that he had unknowingly lowered the injured Simpson over the edge of a crevasse. Simpson was hanging over the sheer vertical face of the mountain. Joe remained suspended, unable to climb back up the rope with frostbitten fingers and unable to communicate with Simon above him. Simon hung onto the rope for an hour, with his strength ebbing away and Joe's weight on the rope slowly pulling him towards the edge of the cliff. Eventually Simon realized he was faced with an unthinkable dilemma: he could hang on to the rope until they were both pulled off the mountain. Logic would say that it would be better for only one man to die rather than both. But the biggest taboo that any climber can commit is to cut the rope that binds you to your partner. For a climber, it is unthinkable. Certain they would both soon be pulled to their deaths, Yates cut the rope. Shattered, frostbitten, Simpson managed to extricate himself from the icy vaults he had fallen into and make his agonized crawl back to base camp. REVIEW: Besides being a fantastic story of human grit, was the director's (Kevin Macdonald) ability to painstakingly reproduce their climb and decent. First, he employed two actors (Brendan Mackey as Simpson and Nicholas Aaron as Yates—Macdonald) who are also experienced cimbers. Second, he reproduced the climb by using the Alps as the location to shoot this harrowing event. During filming, the actors and crew actually endured twenty-below conditions during the worst snowstorm in ten years. Making it even more surreal is the fact that while showing the realism of the events as they occurred on the mountain, he used the real Simpson and Yates in a series of periodic interviews to provide background and detail as to the actual thinking of each during the ordeal. I do have to admit that there were several times when I said that they were "nuts" to have made the decision to make the climb in the first place, and that this conscious decision somewhat tempered my admiration for what they accomplished. We both thought it was the most amazing, realistic documentary recreation we have ever seen. We give it [5-Stars].
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