Touching the Void

 

            In the book, Touching the Void, Joe Simpson tells the story of his ascent up one of the Peruvian Andes’ most dangerous, magnificent, and previously unclimbed peaks, Siula Grande. He recounts the climb up the mountain, accompanied by his close companion, Simon Yates, and their terrifying descent, which shattered the image of their flawless climb up. Through Simpson’s use of imagery, the reader really comes to know exactly what both climbers, especially Simpson, were experiencing throughout the tragedy.

            The story begins in the foothills of the Peruvian Andes where Simpson and Yates prepared to climb the uncharted peak, Siula Grande. From their base camp, both the route up and descent seem like nothing that they cannot handle. After setting out, they soon realize that the climb is slightly more treacherous than they had anticipated and it really pushed them to their physical limits. Battling against the unforgiving snow and wind, Simpson and Yates push to the summit after three days of strenuous climbing. Figuring that their descent would be rather easy, they only packed enough food for two days after reaching the summit. Upon beginning their descent, they realize that they are in for more than they had bargained for.

Constantly facing the threat of collapsing ice, Simpson and Yates push onward down the mountain. While still relatively close to the summit, the accident occurs which later snowballs into a major emergency situation. As Simpson tries to descend a small ice cliff, his axe slips and he looses his balance, falls, and breaks his leg. A broken leg is no minor injury on a mountain 20,000 feet above sea level. Struggling to even crawl, Simpson slowly makes his way down the mountain with Yates trailing him. A day later, with only a few hundred feet left to the bottom, disaster strikes as Yates accidentally lowers Simpson off the edge of a steep overhanging ice cliff. Simpson, unable to reach solid ground and remove his weight from the rope, realizes that he is slowly pulling Yates off the mountain and accepts his fate that they will both die. After another harsh hour of being fully exposed to the elements, hanging over the side of the cliff, Simpson suddenly feels the rope holding him go loose as he plummets down towards a crevasse in the glacier below him. Yates, who was forced to cut the rope holding his friend, has no doubt that Simpson is dead after seeing what he fell down and continues to climb back to camp alone, deeply depressed over the death of his close buddy. Meanwhile, Simpson is at the depths of a huge crevasse that is seemingly inescapable. Against all odds, he is able to climb out of the crevasse and by pushing himself harder and further then he ever has before, far surpassing his physical and mental limits, he makes it off the mountain alive after an additional three torturous days. 

Throughout the events that unfolded during Simpson’s week on the mountain, the reader always knows exactly what both climbers are thinking though Simpson’s marvelous use of detail and imagery. In describing his fall down the first ice cliff, Simpson says, “Everything was still, silent. My thought raced madly. Then pain flooded down my thigh – a fierce burning fire coming down the inside of my thigh, seeming to ball in my groin, building and building until I cried out at it, and my breathing came in ragged gasps. My leg! Oh Jesus. My leg!” This is just one of the many episodes in which Simpson describes the unbearable pain that he went through during his descent. In sections such as this, the reader comes to understand just how much pain Simpson was going though at the time and it really helps to illustrate how miraculous his survival really was. No ordinary person would have made it off the mountain if they had been in his place.   

Later in the story, Simpson describes the thoughts that were going through Yates’ head when he cut the rope, releasing Simpson to fall into his icy tomb.

 

I had already made the decision. There was no other option left to me. The metal blade stuck to my lips when I opened it with my teeth… It needed no pressure. The taut rope exploded at the touch of the blade, and I flew backwards into the seat as the pulling strain vanished. I was shaking… I was alive, and for the moment that was all I could think about. Where Joe was, or whether he was alive, didn’t concern me in the long silence after the cutting.

 

This section of the book, which focused on what Yates was thinking before and after the cutting, really added a lot to the story. It was the first and only time that Simpson really focused in on Yates and allowed the reader to get inside him and his thoughts. This was a great time in the story to do this because it gives the reader another perspective during this crucial moment during Simpson’s story. Simpson’s use of both detail and imagery give this book life and helps to reveal the struggle for survival that both climbers, and especially Simpson, went though. The only negative aspect of this book was its relatively short length as it was a truly gripping story that was extremely well written.

Overall, this book was an exhilarating read and is perfect for anyone who enjoys reading about mountaineering and climbing and anyone else who is looking for a good read and a miraculous story of survival. Readers who enjoyed Jon Krakauer’s, Into Thin Air, and other similar books should definitely add this story to their collection.