MOUNTAINEER Simon Yates's life has been shaped by a dramatic incident captured in the movie Touching the Void.

In 1985 the climber found himself faced with a terrible dilemma while attempting to descend the Siula Grande mountain, in Peru.

He was being slowly pulled off the side of the mountain by his injured partner, Joe Simpson, who was dangling on a rope 50 metres below.

Yates's decision to cut the rope, though it appeared at the time to consign Simpson to death, ended up saving both their lives - as documented in Yates's book, Touching the Void, which was made into a film of the same name.

The still active mountaineer and guide, who lives in Cumbria with his wife and two children, will discuss this and other true stories of extreme endurance when he speaks at Otley Courthouse on Friday, September 29.

He has to date written three autobiographical books about mountaineering including his latest, The Wild Within, which documents adventures in Tierra del Fuego, the Alaska-Yukon border and eastern Greenland.

His Otley presentation will feature anecdotes told with his trademark dry wit along with images and video clips from some of his epic climbs

A Courthouse spokeswoman said: "An enthralling evening is guaranteed - wrap up warm!"

The event starts at 7.30pm and tickets cost £13.

To book a place visit otleycourthouse.org.uk, call (01943) 467466 or pop into the Courthouse on Courthouse Street, Otley.