Touching the Void

One of the greatest adventure stories of all-time, Touching the Void recounts the thrilling, disastrous climb Joe Simpson and his mountaineering partner Simon Yates undertook as they set out to scale the previously insurmountable west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes. Winner of numerous awards including a BAFTA for Best British Film, this critically-lauded documentary from IFC Films combines dramatic reconstruction of the climb and interviews with the two climbers it nearly killed. It was 1985 and Joe Simpson and Simon Yates were young, fit, skilled climbers. The west face of Siula Grande, remote and treacherous, had not been climbed before. Following a successful 3 1/2 day ascent, disaster struck. Simpson fell a short distance and broke several bones in his leg. With no hope of rescue, the men decided to attempt descent together. What followed is one of the most incredible accounts of tragedy, friendship and human endurance.