The closer you are to death. The more you realize you are alive.|Sep. 05, 2003|UK|106 Min.|R
Genre: Action;Adventure;Documentary
Description: In 1985, experienced mountaineers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates embarked on an expedition to climb the unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande in Peru. After successfully reaching the summit, a fierce storm struck during their descent, resulting in Simpson breaking his leg in a fall. Attempting a self-rescue, Yates lowered Simpson down the icy slope using ropes. However, unable to see below due to the storm, Yates accidentally lowered Simpson over a cliff edge, leaving him suspended mid-air. Despite halting the fall, Yates couldn’t hear Simpson or understand his predicament over the roaring winds.
After an hour of struggling, with no way to pull Simpson back and slowly losing his grip in the snow, Yates faced a dire decision. Believing there was no way to save either of them, he cut the rope connecting them. Yates descended the mountain after enduring a freezing, stormy night but couldn’t locate Simpson, assuming he had died. He returned to base camp alone to recover.
Unbeknownst to Yates, Simpson survived the fall and found himself trapped in a crevasse. Through sheer determination, he managed to lower himself deeper into the icy abyss, eventually discovering an exit at the mountain’s base. Despite his severe injuries, frostbite, and dehydration, Simpson crawled for days across glaciers and rocky terrain to reach base camp. Exhausted and on the brink of delirium, he arrived just hours before Yates planned to leave for civilization.
Cast director: Kevin Macdonald
Cast actor: Brendan Mackey, Nicholas Aaron, Richard Hawking, Ollie Ryall, Joe Simpson, Simon Yates
Original name: Touching the Void