Joe Simpson is an English mountaineer, author and motivational speaker.
Background
Simpson was born on 9 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.
Career
He is best known for his book Touching the Void and the 2003 film adaptation of his book Childhood 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 manitoba
On the descent, Simpson broke his right 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. Simpson underwent numerous surgical operations as a result of the leg injuries sustained on Siula Grande.
The doctors told him he would never climb again and that he would have trouble walking for the rest of his life.
After two years of rehabilitation, however, he returned to mountain climbing. 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.
Simpson has begun another career as a motivational speaker, addressing corporate events throughout the world. His best-selling book about the Siula Grande ordeal, Touching the Void, has been translated into 23 languages and has sold almost two million copies worldwide.
Simpson"s most recent book is the novel The Sound of Gravity. Joe Simpson is one of the six people mentioned in the song "Ali in the Jungle" ("Like Simpson on the mountain"), by The Hours as an example of someone who overcame hardship and beat the odds to make a comeback.