A question about "touching the void"

[Don_Serl]

Otay, a real question: who did they get to do the axshun climbing shots. looks as if they actually were on Siula Grande, so how high did they go (did they summit?) Movie says the route is unrepeated, but didn't Buhler do a line thereabouts called "Avoiding the Touch" a few years back

 

the movie contains a wonderful zooming shot which shows climbers perhaps a third of the way up the face (foreshortened), at the top of the initial snow/ice fields on the same line that simon and joe climbed. this is pretty impressive, BUT the harder mixed, ice, etc still lay above. the FA pair had covered the opening ground in a few hours - it got much harder and slower above. still, a long way up a big, pretty dangerous face, just to recreate a scene for a movie is going some...

 

the credits are to dave cuthbertson and rory gregory.

 

see for instance: http://www.triangle.com/movies/story/1040354p-7081237c.html

 

from which this quote:

Working in Peru and the Alps, Macdonald overcame enormous technical challenges as he filmed actor/climbers Brendan Mackey (playing Simpson) and Nicholas Aaron (Yates) re-creating the climbing scenes. Stuntmen Dave Cuthbertson and Rory Gregory handled the most dangerous falls. The filmmakers' base camp in Peru was a three-day hike past the end of the closest road, and 80 donkeys brought in the equipment.

 

and: http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/lifestyle/bal-to.void20feb20,0,6881519.story?coll=bal-artslife-today

 

from which:

Interspersing present-day interviews with the actual climbers and footage of actors Brendan Mackey (as Simpson) and Nicholas Aaron (as Yates) re-enacting their story in the Andes and the Alps, director Kevin Macdonald achieves a rare blend of visceral force and contemplation. (Dave "Cubby" Cuthbertson and Rory Gregory served as climbing and stunt doubles for Mackey and Aaron, respectively.) Like the climbers, you feel the trivia of the world fall away as they dig into the forbidding West Face of Siula Grande.

 

impressive achievement.

 

cheers,

[Rodchester]

Otay, a real question: who did they get to do the axshun climbing shots. looks as if they actually were on Siula Grande, so how high did they go (did they summit?) Movie says the route is unrepeated, but didn't Buhler do a line thereabouts called "Avoiding the Touch" a few years back

 

Carlos Buhler and Mark Price did a line very close to the Simpson Yates route in 1999 (I think it was 99). I spoke with both of them in Huarez right after they did the route and have since duscussed it with Carlos on a couple of occasions. He was, and is, impressed/amazed by the effort Joe undertook to get his as out of there. He said the terrain was very rough. he said the route they did was challegning and if I recall correctly difficult to protect.

[Dru]

So the W face of Siula Grande now has about 4 or 5 routes according to a topo in High Mountain sports. Avoiding the Touch climbs the bottom 2/3 of Simpson/yates then climbs straight up where the s/y line moves right. The other routes on the face are all to the left between Avoiding and the Simpson/Yates descent route. At least two of those routes were only completed to the summit ridge and not to the actual summit.