Touching the Void (book) Touching the Void (book) Touching the Void is a 1988 book by Joe Simpson, recounting his and Simon Yates' successful but disastrous and nearly fatal climb of the 6,344-metre (20,813 foot) Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. It has sold over a million copies and has been translated into over 20 languages. In 2013 the 25th Anniversary eBook edition of Touching the Void was published by DirectAuthors.com. It features additional photography from the expedition. Simpson and Yates reach the summit of the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande. Upon descent, Simpson slipped down an ice cliff and
Touching the Void (book) pieces of mountaineering lore. The book won the 1989 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature and the 1989 NCR Book Award. In 2003, fifteen years after it was first published, the book was turned into a documentary film of the same name, directed by Kevin MacDonald. The film won the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the 2003 BAFTA Awards and was featured at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. In 2014, the book was being used in the English literature AQA GCSE course nationally in England. In 2017, it was announced the book was being adapted for the