Touching the Void.

I saw one of the most amazing docu-movies last night.

It was on PBS and it was called Touching the Void.

The story centers on two gents who decide to climb a mountain, Siula Grande in the Andes, by a route that no one has climbed before.


They summit, run into trouble on the way down and one of the climbers has to make a decision that probably would change anyone's life forever.

If you get cold easily, do not watch this movie.

If you have ever hurt your leg, do not watch this movie.

If you have ever asked yourself, "What would I do?", do not
watch this movie.

It was a horror movie.

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Light a fire, turn up the heater, get into your warmest clothes and make sure you have something hot to drink before you sit down to watch.........:eek:

Lol lol lol!

Made quite an impression on you huh?!

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Originally posted by karyn674
Lol lol lol!

Made quite an impression on you huh?!

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YES!!!!!!

I know that someone with a leather mask on and a chainsaw isn't going to cross my path anytime soon!

This is pure reality in it's most horrible form.

You could write a fictional story and make people cringe THAT way...But when you listen to the accounts by the three men that experienced it, it becomes a little more troubling.....

I get cold thinking about ice cream!
:D

Oh drat! I wanted b[]so[/b] bad to watch that. They had really been playing it up, and just the music alone made me want to watch it! And I missed it - pooh! Completely forgot all about it. :(

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Originally posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom
Oh drat! I wanted b[]so bad to watch that. They had really been playing it up, and just the music alone made me want to watch it! And I missed it - pooh! Completely forgot all about it. :( [/B]

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I checked the PBS site and there wasn't another showing scheduled.........for this month...

It would be well worth trying to find it as a rental or a purchase..

I am going to get the book this afternoon.....

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What would I do????

I guess you could take it like a man, sit down and die.

What did the Joe Simpson, the climber in trouble, do??

He took it like SUPERMAN!

I cannot get over this story-the next time I feel down, sick or hurt??

I don't think I'll complain as hard as I usually do!!


And as far as the music goes????


There is one especially funny part of the movie where Simpson gets a song stuck inside his head.....

Hell is dying with a pop song running thru your head!!!;)

It's an excellent film isn't it? There's a couple of parts where your blood really does run cold. I'll never be a climber because I absolutely could not have done what Joe Simpson did.

Ok, so

#1 I haven't seen the film and have no way to watch it if not maybe DVD

#2 I'm safe, I'm safe Yuhu! No ice, no snow here, not even mountains, just people and people and more people, not even much land though :rolleyes:

For those of us that didn't see it, what decision did he have to make?

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Originally posted by dukedogsmom
For those of us that didn't see it, what decision did he have to make?

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After making the summit , climbers Simon Yates and Joe Simpson, are on the way down, and they are tied together.

Simpson falls and breaks his leg. His shin bone tears his knee apart, and breaks off the lower part of his femur.:eek:

His partner, Simon Yates, climbs down to help.

They tie two 150' ropes together so Simpson can be lower 300' at a time.

The only problem is a climbing aid called a descender. It's a spring loaded plate that helps a climber descend. The holes in the plate will not allow the knot to go thru, so halfway thru the 150 foot length, Simpson has to brace himself to take the weight off the rope so Yates unthread the rope and thread it BACK thru the descender!!!

At one point Simpson is lowered over a cliff and is just hanging by the rope in mid-air. There is no way that either one can communicate to each other.

Yates cannot pass the bypass the knot because all of Simpson's weight is on the rope. After a few HOURS of holding his postion,
unable to talk to Simpson and slowly sliding down and out of the seating position that he has carved out of the snow, Yates cuts the rope and Simpson falls about 150' feet into a crevasse.

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The problem can be summed up as -

Do you cut the rope not knowing what condition you partner is in?

Remember, you are sitting in powdery snow at about 20,000 feet for a few hours, You don't have any water (melting snow in your mouth decreases your core temperature....you'll freeze sooner!), you don't know if your friend is dead or not, you are slipping out of position....by holding on you both will eventually go over the edge.

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The film touched briefly on their relationship and the thoughts of What Yates would have to say to everyone as to why he cut the rope.

An interesting and wild question to have to answer.

Do you take the chance that both of you will die OR cut the rope to save yourself??

NOPE Richard - I saw the trailers - read the preview and chickened out!!! It scared me to death just watching little snippets and I decided to be a coward!!!

Lynne

It's not a frightening film Lynne. Albeit that you might hold your breath from time to time and wince at Joe's pain. It is thought provoking and very interesting.

Could the Swiss Army Knife ever have found a better product placement deal?!

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Originally posted by Killearn Kitties
It's not a frightening film Lynne. Albeit that you might hold your breath from time to time and wince at Joe's pain. It is thought provoking and very interesting.

Could the Swiss Army Knife ever have found a better product placement deal?!

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Well, since the "cat" is out of the bag.....;)

Yates makes it down the mountain and Simpson is able to "climb/drag" himself down the mountain four days after his fall.

The part that I found most disturbing about the film were the questions I'd have ask myself if I was in either one's shoes.

Could I cut the rope?
Could I 'climb' down a mountain with a badly broken leg?
Could I tell everyone the truth about my cutting the rope holding my partner-Apparently Yates was criticized soundly when the story came out!!!!
Could I live with myself for cutting the rope?
Could I ever forgive my partner for cutting the rope??


It's a survival story told from both points of view.

Two different kinds of pain-mental and physical...


THAT'S what makes it a horror movie!!!

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LOLOLOL

On my desk is a Swiss Army Knife....I think the closest life-and-death situation it's ever been used for is nipping off a hang nail!!!;)

This is going to be on again tonight - Tuesday - at 10:00 pm central time. In the Chicago area anyway, and possibly elsewhere so check your local listings.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to set my VCR. :rolleyes:

OH OH OH!!!

Great!!!!

Does your VCR have a One Touch record feature???


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I bought the book last night......

The pictures in it are SPECTACULAR!!

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Originally posted by RICHARD
Does your VCR have a One Touch record feature???

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Ummm....what's that? Sorry, I know computers like the back of my hand, but the VCR....:confused:

We recently got a DVD/VCR in one. I've only recorded once on it, and I actually remember it being quite easy so I'll have to check it out again and see if I can figure it out. Oh, and don't tell me to have Terry check it out. His way of programming the VCR is saying "Debbie, can you record this program for me?" ;) :rolleyes: :D

Richard,

I just finished reading that book .......... and I asked the same questions.

I get goose bumps just thinking ....
Could I cut the rope
Could I have crawled all that way .....

The thing that amazes me most is that there is absolutely no animosity between them .....:eek:

I was disappointed that the film, didn't explore a little more about things were between them now. I thought it stopped very abruptly. It's quite a while since I saw it, but do I remember that it said they had been in the same climbing party since that time?