Kevin MacDonald's acclaimed, award-winning, box-office breaking drama documentary tells the story of two young mountaineers, Joe Simpson and Simon Yates. In 1985, they set off to conquer a peak in the Peruvian Andes, climbing hard and fast, with minimum equipment. On the descent, Simpson fell, breaking his leg. Yates lowered him down the mountain 300 foot at a time - until he lowered Simpson over a precipice. Yates, being pulled down by Simpson's weight, had to decide - join him in the fall - or cut the rope... Simpson crashed into a crevasse. He couldn't climb out, so he risked climbing down to find an exit, which he did. Now all he had to do was continue the descent of the glacier, navigate the boulder-strewn murrain, hope he didn't die from dehydration and hope Yates hadn't struck camp. Mixing simple interviews with the two men and stunning re-construction of their individual physical and emotional plights, this is, quite simply, filmmaking at its best.
Touching the Void is a Film programme that first aired in 2003 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
