Actor Nicholas Aaron, playing Simon Yates. Copyright FilmFour Ltd.
Touching the Void Story aired: Friday, February 06, 2004
The new film "Touching the Void" tells a story now legend among mountain climbers. In 1985, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates decided to take on the western face of Suila Grande, a peak in the Peruvian Andes.
Simpson and Yates were the first to ever summit the peak. But, on the way down, Simpson slid out of control on the snow and broke his leg severely. Yates then tried to lower his friend down the mountain by the rope that tied them together until Simpson fell off a cliff, and hung dangling over a crevasse. Yates then cut the rope holding the two together, sending Simpson into the crevasse. For days Simon Yates thought his friend had lost his life, but miraculously, he had not.
Joe Simpson told his story in the book "Touching the Void" which is the basis for the new film.
Guests:
Joe Simpson, climber and author of "Touching the Void"
