In the dead of winter — with snow on every street corner — the idea of seeing a documentary featuring snow-covered mountains and sub-zero wind chills may not sound all that appealing.

However, once one gets past the lack of climate escapism, one is treated to a wonderfully engaging film that explores the spirit of adventure, the perils of death and every emotion along the way.

“Touching the Void,” based on Joe Simpson’s book of the same name, chronicles the first and only “successful” climb — which Joe completed in 1985 — to the top of the Siula Grande peak, part of the Andes mountains in Peru.

Joe and his friend Simon Yates — two British mountain climbers in their mid-20s — reach the 21,000-foot peak of the mountain via the western face with relative ease. However, while descending, Joe falls, breaks his leg and has no means of survival besides SiMonday, who then attempts to lower his climbing partner down the mountain at breakneck speed. Complications leave the injured Joe dangling over the edge of a cliff, and Simon — at the other end of the rope — is forced to make a life-or-death decision.

Simon soon realizes if he doesn’t cut the rope both of them will fall. Choosing to save himself over imminent death, Simon releases Joe with the expectation — and accompanying guilt — that he cannot survive the fall.

Yet, Joe does survive his plummet, only to be trapped in a narrow crevice. His broken leg makes it next to impossible for him to climb out through the top of the cave and forces him to descend into the dark, unknown landscape beneath him.

Several days later, Richard, the man staying at the base camp, and Simon are preparing to leave. As they pack up, Joe shocks them by arriving at the camp after crawling down the entire mountainside.

The film alternates between interviews of the real Joe, Simon and Richard and a re-enactment of the climb filmed in Peru and the Alps. This juxtaposition of reality with acting prevents the pacing of the film from becoming monotonous. Interestingly, while the roles of Joe and Simon are performed by young actors (Brendan Mackey and Nicholas Aaron respectively), some of the difficult climbing shots use the real Joe and SiMonday, who amazingly still climb today.

All three men hold nothing back for the interviews. It is fascinating to hear the various dark insights they had throughout the ordeal. For example, after the climbers didn’t arrive to the base on time, Richard started speculating that one of them had died. Yet, rather than simply being sad, he debated which of the two climbers he would prefer to return alive. These hypothetical melancholy desires are intertwined into all of their thoughts, further increasing the intensity and madness of the expedition.

The real star of this film is Joe. Step by step, he reveals how he escaped on his own without food or water and with three fractures in his leg. Like a man in solitary confinement, he is his own best friend and his own worst enemy. Through various games, curses and sheer climbing expertise, he manages to keep himself sane with the grim specter of death around every corner. Much of this drama is due to the sizable talent of director Kevin Macdonald, who won a 2000 Academy Award for “One Day in September,” a fascinating documentary about the Israeli hostage crisis during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

As Joe reveals how he completed his difficult odyssey, he successfully takes the audience with him. There is a huge sigh of relief when Joe escapes the crevice and sees sunlight. As Joe is maneuvering over the rocks and falling with every jump, we cringe. When Joe, severely dehydrated, discovers fresh water for the first time in days, we feel ourselves replenished as well.

“Touching the Void’s” is highly superior to the recent fictional climbing film “Vertical Limit” because of the former’s fully developed characters. Although many scenes only feature one person, a gripping narrative tale is woven that is a tribute to the perseverance of willpower over physical limitations.

‘Touching the Void’: B

Weinberg junior Ben Rosen is a writer for PLAY. He can be reached at [email protected].