Unexpected Company
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"The screaming was human, someone was out there." The real-life story of four mountaineers marooned for a third day on Mont Blanc.
Transcript
"My eyes spun open and the yellow plastic of the tent came into focus. Outside the Alpine storm raged on.
Four experienced mountaineers attempting an easy route up the magnificent Mont Blanc and here we were, marooned for a third day on Col Maudit in one hell of a storm.
The winds outside screeched like phantoms. I shifted in my sleeping bag, warm, but wet. Why we'd gone out yesterday in 40 mile an hour winds and temperatures of -30C in a vain attempt to find our way down, I'll never know - it was against every mountaineering guidebook written.
The storm outside wailed an aria of the damned. I closed my eyes to block it out.
Almost immediately, they snapped open again: the screaming was human. Someone was out there!
I opened the zip of the tent to find a man, babbling hysterically. We dragged him inside, wrapped him in foil blankets and gave him water.
As he recovered, he told us his story. His climbing companion had died in the storm and he had staggered around for 12 hours before finding a lifeline - our footprints in yesterday's snow leading him to our tent.
By midday the storm had blown itself out and the sun appeared. As the four of us packed up, the emergency services arrived to fly our visitor to hospital. In gorgeous weather, we started our descent, Mont Blanc shimmering unconquered behind us.
We had stupidly contravened the rule book, but in so doing, a life had been saved."
An interview with the author
Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I work as a Development Officer for Voluntary Action Cardiff and I am also currently writing my first novel.
What is your story about?
I was a rock climber and mountaineer for eight years. My story is about a storm which marooned myself and my three climbing companions on Col Maudit when we were attempting to climb Mount Blanc back in 1999.
According to the "rules" of mountaineering, if you're caught in a storm in your tent, you should 'sit it out', i.e. ration food, water and fuel and wait for the storm to ease. We ignored this advice and packed up our tents to find a route down. Four hours later we were back on Col Maudit, very cold and very wet and digging a snow hole because we'd lost one tent. However, through our mistake, we inadvertently saved someone's life.
What is your story about?
I like the story because it shows how life breaks the rules; sometimes when we're convinced we got it wrong, we actually get it right and sometimes when we think we're getting it right, we're actually getting it wrong. Also, as this story is available online, then there's a possibility that the Swiss Guide in the story may come across it and, if he wishes to contact me, he would be able to. In our tent on Col Maudit, we had wanted to exchange contact details but on mountaineering trips no-one packs a pen!
What did you find most rewarding about the workshop?
I loved the workshop - it was definitely a highlight of my year. I enjoyed meeting new people, learning how to use the image manipulation and video editing softwares but, most of all, being trained to tell my story using my words and my photographs in such a vivid and powerful way.
