After a short distance we bumped into lain and Phil, who’d been held up a bit (see their account). We reassured them that they didn’t have far to go. Jane was bringing up the rear and looked very tired – it was a long slog up l suppose. The gradient increased steadily and overtrousers were donned (and I got my bivvy-bag out).
We were almost drawn on to the next Munro by following the people in front, so we had to actually look at a map. Initially the snow was too soft, but as the slope got steeper, the bivi-bag runs got longer and alarming speeds were reached. I was very glad of my ice-axe and used it constantly for braking. Descent was extremely rapid, and one run went on and on and on, until I spotted a nasty gully ahead and dug in to stop. Sarah came to a halt a few yards behind, and Ian soon rolled up. Mark was nowhere to be seen.
We decided to walk the next bit, as the tourist track went to the left. As we passed the gully (see later) we looked for Mark further down the valley, but saw no sign of him. We thought he might be behind, and decided we’d better stop and wait at a convenient spot below the snow line. We stopped by the lochan and put bits of clothing away etc.
After a few minutes, we heard a voice behind and looked round to see Phil falling flat on his face in the snow. He got up and told us our first news. of The Incident – Jane had hurt herself ‘quite badly’ and he was running down to the Youth Hostel to call up the Mountain Rescue.
Phil disappeared into the distance, and we debated what we should do. We decided we would be more use going back up to Jane, who wasn’t far above us on the mountain, then returning to the bus. We set off up and passed various other walkers who gave us snippets of information. It was rather worrying, because we didn’t know what had happened. We arrived at the scene of the crime to find Jane well wrapped up in a bivvy-bag and in the charge of a helpful passer-by called Sid. lain was also there, giving words of encouragement. Various items of clothing were provided for Jane to wear, and also to support her bivvy-bag, which was slowly slipping down the hill. Eventually it was secured by a sling to an ice-axe. Jane’ was getting a bit cold, so lain got in to give her a cuddle. The end of the bag was slit open and Jane’s wet socks were removed. I provided a pair of my long woolly ones – hence justifying carrying them over the mountain.
The initial frantic activity was followed by a long period of standing around in the cold doing nothing as we waited for the Mountain Rescue to arrive. lain and Sarah went off to find a better vantage point to see stretcher bearers coming up the valley, and Sid contemplated where we might spend the night if necessary (!!). Eventually an RAF helicopter appeared and we waved to it. It circled round a bit and then dropped off one man with a stretcher. He gave Jane a cursory examination and was happy that no great damage had been done. The helicopter soon returned with a few more M.R. people and a doctor, and then a third time to winch people off. For this exercise all blowable things had be kept well out of the way. The M.R. people trogged of down the hill, and lain trotted after them and told us when they were taking Jane. The helicopter picked them up by the lochan.
Ian, and I divided the weight of three extra packs (Jane’s, lain’s, and Phil’s) between us and set off down a second time. It was a slow trudge and the path was broken up in places, but eventually, at about 8 o’clock, we were greeted by Phil, Mark and Amanda at the bottom. The end of a long day, So I thought . . . . .
But.. …our problems were not over yet. Phil couldn’t get the bus started, and a push start was necessary. We drove into Fort William and missed the turning for the hospital, so w e got caught up in the one-way system. The bus then stalled on a hill start at a junction and could not be restarted. A car pulled up behind and we waved it round. It did not move. Amanda got out to express more clearly what we meant and got a rather rude response from the driver. After a bit of pushing, pulling and complex manoeuver ing, we finally got the bus started by pushing it at speed the wrong way down a one-way street, much to the consternation of a driver coming the other way.
At the hospital reception, we spotted lain’s orange hat drying on the radiator and knew we had come to the right place. A couple of people went in to fetch him, and he soon appeared, announcing ” “it’s twins”! After a guick one at the local, we finally returned to the lodge at about 10.30 and sated our ravenous appetites on David’s delicous lentil loaf.
What a day!
Tim