Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the valley. And the others, still sleeping soundly, were probably going to deal with
the rest of their hunk of sheep.
I'd already spied out my route. First I would ascend around 1000 metres to a
peak similar to the one we'd climbed the previous day, only about five or six kilo-
metres further away. From there, I'd try to traverse a kilometre across an extremely
exposed and jagged-looking saddle to reach the soaring peak in the distance. My
peak.
'If I'm not back by tomorrow,' I told the half-awake Englishmen, 'come look
for me, all right?'
I scrambled steadily up through the treeline, and climbed further on steeper and
steeper rocks until I finally reached the first summit around lunchtime. I stopped
and had a bite to eat, admired the view and steeled my nerves to press on.
I worked my way tentatively out onto the top of the saddle, scrambling and
scaling big boulders and rock formations as the crest narrowed to a knife-edge. I
crawled cautiously out along a narrow ledge of rock and saw with dismay that it
ended in a vertical drop of about ten metres. I took a breather and weighed up my
options.
I was born with neither the skill nor the inclination to be a rock climber, and al-
though the rock face was generously creviced with hand and foot holds, I decided
against taking the risk. The rock was flaky, and I didn't have any ropes. A slip
would more than likely transform me into a bloody pulp among the rock heaps half
a kilometre below.
I crawled backwards and gingerly climbed down a crack off the side of the
ledge. I eased my way around a little way, onto another tiny ledge that protruded
out a centimetre, but it didn't continue and I had to go further down.
I reached the bottom of the high rock pillar and found myself standing at the
very top of a long rocky chute that cascaded down into a gigantic scree slope be-
low. The gradient was about eighty degrees and it stayed that way for hundreds of
metres. The vast slope was littered with loose rocks and stones and I could hear a
constant background clatter as boulders slipped downwards in mini-avalanches.
I inched my way along the top of this slope, willing myself to stay calm and
to not look down past my shaking legs. I kept all of my weight on my toes and
pressed my arms, chest and face up against the rock face in front of me, straining
with all my will to adhere to it. Every time I lifted a foot to move, rocks clattered
downwards and I had to test carefully before trusting my weight on anything.
