King’s Outdoor World Blog

Touching the Void

May 11th, 2006 David King - King's Outdoor World

I wanted to share a book with you that I think is one of the most incredible stories of survival that I have ever read or heard about. Last fall I had a pretty harrowing experience on my Utah wilderness mountain goat hunt. I was a little reluctant, but ended up sharing my story in the March/April 2006 issue of Hunting Illustrated as part of our Annual Adventure Issue. Shortly after my hunt, my brother -in-law Scott was talking with somebody about my experience. He ended up referring Scott to a great book he needed to read. Scott ended up buying Touching the Void - The True Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival and gave it to me to read.

Touching the Void is a book by Joe Simpson recounting the true story of Simpson’s and Simon Yates’ disastrous and near tragic attempt to climb the 20,813 foot Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. This mountain had been climbed by some German’s in the 1930’s, but nobody had been able to ascend to the top going up the West face. Simpson and Yates took on the challenge. The story is one of the most incredible accounts of survival I have read about. The interesting thing is that Simpson himself authored the book. This allowed for incredible detail and insight to the story.

This story has it all when it comes to intense situations and deals with a very controversial issue in the fact that Joe Simpson ended up breaking his leg just after they started their descent. This put them in a very serious situation. Using ropes to lower his partner down in 300-foot intervals, Yates was faced with a decision after he lowered his friend over a cliff. It was dark and in blizzard conditions and he was holding onto Simpson. He couldn’t hold him any longer and instead of both of them dying, he ended up cutting the rope that was tied around him sending Simpson falling into darkness. Yates, thinking he had just killed his friend, had to struggle to get off the mountain alive himself. However, Simpson did not die in the fall. This story takes you through his amazing struggle for survival to get back to base camp with a broken leg and no water or food before Yates and others leave off the mountain.

The book is a quick read and captures you in vivid detail the events of two men’s will for survival. A must read for all. What is cool is this book was made into a documentary 15 years after it was published. My wife saw that is was showing on PBS and ended up taping it for me. The documentary was great, but nowhere close to the detail of the book.

For those of you looking for a great adventure while enjoying the comforts of home, pick up a copy of Touching the Void. You will appreciate your life all that much more. Now I just need to convince my wife to let me go goat hunting again!

Get the book and the DVD at PBS

Buy it at Amazon and even read an excerpt

View excerpt from Google Books

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