Siula Grande is a mountain in the Cordillera Huayhuash, in the Peruvian Andes. It is 6344 m high.
It was made famous by the book Touching the Void by Joe Simpson, about an ascent and subsequent harrowing descent of the mountain by him and Simon Yates in 1985. The book has recently become a film of the same title in 2003. Although they ascended the West face, and thereby became the first to reach the summit by that route, they chose the North Ridge for their descent, which although first descended in 1936 by a German team, was made almost impossible by horrible weather in 1985. All subsequent climbers have avoided the ridge and rappelled back down the face.
This is a partial list of first ascents by new routes made.
- 1936 North Ridge by two Germans
- 1985 West Face by Joe Simpson and Simon Yates
- 1999 Peru West Face Touching The Void (new route) by Carlos Buhler. (Buhler's route followed the Yates/Simpson route for much of the ascent, and Buhler christened it "Avoiding The Touch")
- 2001 July 17 Noches de "Juerga", WEST FACE OF SIULA GRANDE
- 2002 July 3 Northeast Face, Los Rapidos by Marjan Kovac and Pavle Kozjek ([1]) (in Spanish)
