Touching the Void

I have a friend at work who likes to go camping in the snow. I think he hikes with a friend up the mountain, digs a snow cave, and spends the night. Why? He says it's good to "break the body down" once in a while. He obviously has problems.

There are people who pay $100k or the current going rate to climb Everest. My mind stops at the $100k and also stops at the mind numbing cold. Plus Everest is littered with trash and frozen bodies. Nice. I can think of better ways to spend money and time. And it would involve being in good weather.

It's not just climbing that perplexes me, or cold, but also people who take crazy risks. Have you seen Into the Wild? That is a good movie and a better book, and it describes (or tries to describe) the mindset of these risk-takers, who are almost always men. Maybe because I don't even understand the concept of this type of risk, I find myself fascinated by stories of the people who embrace it. One such story is the documentary Touching the Void.

First off, these guys definitely broke their bodies down. (I scoff at the efforts of my friend at the office.) I have no idea why they enjoy mountain climbing, but they do mention the contrast to the "humdrum" daily routine. Anyway, the movie is fascinating because they're both still alive (this is not a spoiler), because of what Simon had to do to keep Joe alive, and what Joe had to do on his own. It's one of those movies where everything gets black and impossible, and then it gets worse. And it's a documentary. This is the real deal. (Contrast this movie to Cliffhanger, with Stallone running around in the ice with no shirt, etc. Cliffhanger is insulting to the intelligence - watch it if you want to throw things at the TV.)

Plus these guys are really honest in the commentary. It's fascinating to watch and incredibly repellant to a risk averse person like this one. I think I would rather go to Mobile, Alabama. Anyway - it's an incredible story.