| Name |
Joe Simpson |
| Height |
|
| Naionality |
English |
| Date of Birth |
13-August-1960 |
| Place of Birth |
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Famous for |
Mountaineer |
Joe Simpson is an English mountaineer, author and motivational speaker. He is best known for his book Touching the Void and the 2003 film adaptation of his book. Simpson was born on 13 August 1960 in Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaysia, where his father was stationed with the British Army. From the age of 8, Simpson travelled between schools in Britain and various countries where his father was stationed. Simpson began rock climbing after being introduced to the sport by a teacher at Ampleforth College.
He was 14 when he read The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer about the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger by Harrer with Anderl Heckmair, Fritz Kasparek, and Ludwig Vörg in 1938. Despite the inherent dangers of mountaineering described in the book, this reading sparked a passion for the mountains in the young man. In 1985, Simpson and climbing partner Simon Yates made a first-ascent of the previously unclimbed West Face of Siula Grande (6,344m) in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes. On the descent, Simpson broke his leg and during the subsequent self-rescue in a storm, the two became separated. The climb was nearly fatal for both climbers and upon returning to Britain; Yates received some criticism for cutting the rope due to a misleading article in a national newspaper. Simpson published an article in the climbing press shortly afterwards, and later wrote Touching the Void. He made six unsuccessful attempts on the North Face of Eiger from 2000 to 2003 with his regular climbing partner Ray Delaney, all aborted by bad weather. A bad fall broke his left ankle while climbing with Mal Duff in 1991 on Pachermo in Nepal, and is described in Simpson's third book This Game of Ghosts.
His later non-fiction books describe other expeditions and his changing feeling towards extreme mountaineering brought on by the many deaths that surround the pursuit. One of his books, The Beckoning Silence, was made into a documentary shown on Channel 4 in October 2007. The book won the 2003 National Outdoor Book Award (Outdoor Literature category). Simpson has begun another career as a motivational speaker, addressing corporate events throughout the world.
