Simon Yates (born 1963) is an English mountaineer. In 1985, he climbed the west face of Siula Grande in the Huayhuash mountain range in the Peruvian Andes with Joe Simpson. On the descent, an accident resulted in Simpson falling over a cliff while roped to Yates, who was forced to cut the rope to avoid both climbers falling. Simpson survived, and recounted the story in the book Touching the Void, which was later adapted into a film. Yates currently lives in Cumbria, UK with