Climbing Mount Adie

Chapter 1

It would be the pinnacle of all my adventures. Climbing Mount Adie. Not that I have had many experiences of extraordinary feats. I go hill walking. I can run at a steady pace for an hour or two although I've never run a marathon. But my mate Stan kept suggesting it for ages. He was about the same as me. Same age. Same fitness. He was going bald whereas I was just thinning out on top. He favoured caps and I liked my fedora. After I agreed the planning proper had begun in earnest. Equipment list; we need 2 long ropes each and one to tie us together, a tent and sleeping bags, crampons, 2 piton hammers. 30 pitons and carabiners. Good sturdy boots. Large backpacks. Thick trousers (not jeans – I drew the line there), 3 tops or t-shirts, 2 jumpers, a good fleece. Waterproof outerwear. 2 good all weather sleeping bags. A map of the mountain and the surrounding area. 2 compasses. An altimeter. Helmets with torches attached. Medical kit. Mobile phones fully charged but off. Sunscreen. Thick socks and underwear were a given. A scarf each and sunglasses. It would be cold at the top and the sun would be bright. We obtained a nice selection of dried food, deciding we wouldn't want to muck about with making meals. Water – we thought 5 litres each although we each had a mug for heating snow in if we got desperate. And matches. We discussed bringing anything else for quite some time.

Mount Adie was 20,000 feet high. Not the tallest of mountains by far but easily the nearest. And it was in our own country, almost our own back yard. We decided we wouldn't need oxygen, and if we did have trouble breathing we would descend immediately. Altitude sickness was impossible to predict. Either of us might succumb while the other was still ok.

I wanted to know how far we might be able to see from the mountain. I found a formula and applied it to 3 heights. Ay 1000 feet we should expect to see 40 miles. At 10000 feet it would be 123 miles. At 20000 feet we ought to be able to see up to 173 miles. Wow.

We decided to go for a few runs just to tone us up. The first 2 we did ok. Not far but far enough. Then we wore packs to test our stamina. We set off carrying 20ibs each. That was tough. We did it again and agreed it was still tough. A third time and surprisingly it felt easier. We set Saturday for the first day of the climb. We made sure both our families were aware of our endeavour and set off. With all the gear stowed we eased out of my driveway and set off at 8am. We could see the top of the Aide already but it still took us almost 3 hours to drive to the car park at its feet. We set about gearing up. I think we were carrying a little more that 25ibs which worried me but Stan said it would be fine. We aren't trying to break any records. The mountain had been climbed several times. We were using a similar route. Not trying to forge another way or anything like that. Next thing was to check the weather for the next few days. It looked dry, with a slight chance of a shower.

Chapter 2

My first step away from the car was strange. I felt a little nervous. I think Stan felt it too as for once he was quiet. We made good time on the lower slopes, following a known route taken by our predecessors. Pretty soon the going got tougher. The slopes steeper. This was as far as most public would go for a stroll. In fact, we saw or met nobody on our way. The first steep climb came up all of a sudden. We roped up, giving ourselves about 30 feet between us. Stan went up first, after a few seconds I followed him. He wouldn't always be the one in front, we'd sort of take turns. Neither of us was Leader either although we knew there should be one. I watched where he put his hands and feet and followed suit. We had discussed our approach and so far this was straight forward. "Hey Tim!" Stan yelled down.

"Yeah" I yelled up.

"Be careful here, there's a nest with a couple of eggs in it."

"Ok Stan!" I shouted up at him. Nice of him to warn me. No sign of the bird, probably a hawk of some sort up here. It wasn't hot yet but not cold either so we weren't wearing our fleeces. Mine was looped through the strap of my backpack. Stan had tied his around his waist. I got up to the nest and saw both eggs. They were a pale blue in colour. I quickly passed them and climbed higher. Stan was waiting for me on a bit of a ledge. As I got to him he laughed.