In The Beckoning Silence, Joe Simpson – who starred in the award-winning Touching the Void’s stunning struggle for survival – travels to the Eiger’s treacherous North Face to tell the story of one of mountaineering’s most epic tragedies.
As a child, it was this story, especially that of one of the climbers, that first captured Simpson’s imagination and inspired him to take up mountaineering.
Toni Kurz was a talented young climber who, together with three other climbers, attempted to scale what was then the last unconquered peak in the Alps in 1936.
Their attack on the mountain started off well, but then disaster struck. One by one, Kurtz’s colleagues were killed, leaving him alone at the end of the rope, fighting for his life in the most horrific of circumstances.
More than 50 years later, Kurtz’s story tells the story of Simpson in Peru, struggling to survive in a suspended state. His plight is eerily similar to what happened to Kurtz — only Simpson overcame all odds when his hero died.
