Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tains and an imagination that allowed him to seek out new approaches. But he was
also an enigma. Even good friends today say they really knew very little about Alex.
'He was hard work much of the time when we first started climbing together,'
said John Powell, his roommate and early climbing companion at university. 'He
didn't have much to say about things. He spent most of his time weighing things
up but, eventually, when he did make a comment, it was usually pretty accurate.
When, just occasionally, he was well off the mark, he would never admit defeat in
an argument. He would resort to sarcasm when required as a way of wearing you
down.'
By the time he got to the south face of Annapurna, he had taken the idea of light-
weight to extremes. He and Ghilini carried only one ice screw, two rock pegs, one
rope and the sheath of another to use for abseiling, light sleeping bags, a bivvy
tent, and food and gas for four days. Some have suggested that Alex broke his own
rules going this light on such a massive face where the technical difficulties were
unknown.
Style is a balancing act between the audacious and the acceptable. Alex's wiry
stature hid an immensely strong will, but he hated heavy loads. He never planned
to carry more than eighteen kilos to the base of any unclimbed route on an
8,000-metre peak. On Annapurna, he tried to get this down to less than that. In
theory, by going light, your speed increased and thus reduced your exposure to
danger. It was a simple theory; in speed lay safety. But the desire to make first as-
cents of great, unclimbed routes on the highest peaks was an ambition fraught
with exposure to incalculable dangers. Very few climbers have got away without
sustained good fortune if they continued to climb at the highest standard. Many
had the sense to retire, or at least climb on lower peaks where the risks were more
manageable.
'Good acclimatisation and the weight of your gear thus become critical,' Alex had
proclaimed as the golden rules of high-altitude climbing. These two elements were
among the keys to any successful expedition. But what else was needed? The right
team, of course, unless you were soloing. For exponents of lightweight style, that
usually meant just two members, and never more than four. Roger Baxter-Jones,
one of the leading and strongest British alpinists of the 1970s and 1980s, summed
up the essential dynamics of teamwork on a Himalayan climb:
1. Come back
2. Come back friends
3. Get to the top
