SULTANS OF SWING - One Day as a Tiger - page 116

Despite its difficulty, the pair made short work of the route. On the second day, a
Swiss guide came out of the window that leads from the face to the Eigerwand sta-
tion on the Jungfrau railway to demand that they come in: 'Your climb with just
two is impossible.' They paid no attention, and with minimal fuss and shared leads
reached the summit mid-afternoon on 17 October. Then Alex went home for a
break.
When I phoned to ask what the Eiger had been like, he simply replied: 'It was
like Bandaka but colder during the day and safe. What's happening with the Poles
and plans for next year?'
We had agreed on Gasherbrum IV when we said goodbye to Voytek at the
Warsaw train station two months before.
'Voytek phoned yesterday. He tried for G4 but we were too late. [2] It was already
booked. But the good news is he's got something else. It's the south face of
Changabang. What do you think? It's a bit of a well-trodden mountain with three
ascents already, but we need to agree something soon.'
'What's the face look like?' Alex asked.
'I haven't got a clue. Voytek says it looks fantastic, a big mixed ridge like the
Walker Spur followed by El Capitan and starting at 20,000 feet.'
'Sounds interesting; I'll come up this weekend. Can I borrow a suit for the BMC
interview?'
Alex had applied for the vacant national officer's job at the BMC. Peter Board-
man had just taken over the International School of Mountaineering in Leysin
after the death of Dougal Haston. The interviews were the following week. The
problem was I had applied for the job as well.
'You think I have two suits? We'll have to change in the corridor.'
I was in two minds about the job. I lived in the idyllic village of Boot in Eskdale
and had a perfectly good job working for the county council as a project manager.
Manchester seemed a poor second choice compared to the Lakes. I had a routine,
to run or climb most evenings and climb all weekend. Still, the national officer's
job was well paid and it offered time off for an annual expedition in the contract.
Whoever got the job was definitely moving into the professional ranks as a
climber.
'Great, come up - we can rehearse the interview together.'
We climbed that weekend, and phoned Voytek to agree on Changabang. I did
have two suits, both hand-me-downs from my uncle. Alex went off with a double-
breasted suit that was far too big for him, but he looked striking in it, a mix of high
style and total anarchy.