Touching the Void, Joe Simpson

Plot Summary
In Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival, English
climber Joe Simpson offers an account of surviving a nearly fatal climb of Siula
Grande in the Peruvian Andes. After undergoing six surgeries on his leg, Joe
Simpson’s doctors told him he would have trouble walking and never climb again.
Joe proved his doctors wrong. He continued mountain climbing after two years of
physical rehabilitation. From 2000 to 2003, he attempted to climb the North Face of
Eiger in Switzerland six times but had to abort due to bad weather conditions. Today
Simpson is an author and motivational speaker.
In the summer of 1985, Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, decide to
conquer an unclimbed route in the Peruvian Andes. The two young and headstrong
men choose to climb the daunting West Face of the 20,813 foot Siula Grande in the
Cordillera Huayhuash mountain range. If they are successful, their feat would be
considered a major achievement in the mountaineering community. The attempt will
test the physical endurance, bravery, and the will to live of two friends.
On the ascent, the two climbers take turns serving as the lead and the belay point
while roped together on a 150-foot rope. The journey begins with significant
obstacles in the first few days. Joe and Simon overcome snowstorms and dangerous
terrain to reach the summit. They are about four miles above sea level at the
summit. Their climb is an incredible achievement.
Joe and Simon are not able to celebrate their accomplishment for long. The ascent
has taken them longer than they had planned due to bad weather. After running out
of fuel for their stove, they are no longer able to melt snow and ice to drink. They
need to make a quick descent 3,000 feet to the glacier below before they run out of
daylight and more bad weather hits.
As they make their descent down the dangerous, near-vertical North Ridge, Joe has
an accident. He slips down an ice cliff and breaks his right leg and ankle. After Simon
is able to traverse his way to Joe, he sees the severity of Joe’s injuries. He worries
that Joe will not make it off the mountain alive.
Simon must now attempt to rescue Joe. Simon and Joe figure out a way to create a
belay point which will help hold some of Joe’s weight. Simon creates one 300-foot
rope by tying two 150-foot lengths together. The knot in the ropes does not fit
through the belay plate, a piece of climbing safety equipment used to control the
rope and act as a friction brake. Joe has to stand on his left leg to create enough slack
in the rope to keep rethreading the rope through the device.
Using this complicated manoeuvre with the ropes, Simon attempts to lower Joe
down the mountain. At first, this system works.
The conditions around the two men get worse by the minute due to darkness and a
storm. Simon makes a mistake because he cannot see or hear Joe. Simon has to rely
on the feel of Joe’s weight on the rope. Simon inadvertently lowers Joe off of an
outcropping. There is nothing Simon can do but hope that Joe can climb the rope.
As Joe cannot let Simon know what has happened, he tries to climb the rope. He tries
to create a Prusik knot, which is a friction hitch that attaches two ropes together so
they can be adjusted easily. But Joe’s hands are badly frostbitten. His knot is not tied
properly. This causes him to drop one of the cords. Joe is suspended into space for
more than an hour, thinking he is going to die.
Simon is now fearful that they will both die as they are tied to the same rope. Simon
makes an extremely difficult decision. To save his life, he must cut the rope. His belay
seat was not going to last much longer.
Joe begins falling. He thinks that Simon must have fallen.
Simon, who believes that Joe is dead, spends the night in a snow cave. He is racked
with guilt and grief. After the storm ends, he completes the descent to base camp
the next day. He does so despite hypothermia and extreme exhaustion.
When Joe awakes, he is miraculously still alive. He finds that he has landed on a small
ledge. He assumes that Simon will believe that he is dead. Instead of killing Joe, the
cutting of the rope may have actually saved his life. Instead of enduring further
exposure to the freezing wind, he landed in a more sheltered spot.
Joe discovers that the rope has been cut and that he must make it down the
mountain by himself to survive. After the storm, Joe now has to work the way down
the mountain. He cannot climb up to the crevasse’s entrance so he has to lower
himself deeper to find another exit. He finds an exit back onto the glacier.
Joe then has to crawl, walk and struggle the five miles back to base camp. In addition
to his injuries, he is also starving and dehydrated. The agonizing journey will take
every last ounce of his physical and spiritual strength to survive. He manages to
reach base camp hours before Simon plans to leave and return to civilization.

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