Quote from Cliff_C on April 24, 2024, 6:21 pm

Ben Nevis, Orion Face.

 

1986 I managed to get myself on the winter climbing course at Tulloch, not far from Fortwilliam. Two weeks climbing on Ben Nevis and Glen Coe. Very lucky because the winter conditions were the best for many years, lots of hard pack snow.  I trained for weeks beforehand, I was stationed at Milton Bridge and spent most afternoons running in the Pentland hills (many stone ago).

The days spent on the course were the most physically demanding I had experienced. A 3-4 mile walk in, carrying ropes and all the metal ware trudging through snow to get to the climb. It was 2 students to each instructor and the first climb has never been forgotten and for the wrong reasons it still plays on my mind to this day.

We were climbing up the 1000 foot gully named “No 4 gully”,  I was enjoying every minute, ice axes, crampons, just like you see on the mountaineering programs. We completed the climb and on the way down we stopped for lunch, made scrape in the slope and sat down tucking into the cook house sarnies.

Across the glen I observed what looked like 2 black ants spinning down the side of the cliff. The leader's radio then burst into life, he said that there had been an accident and we were to help. The army were the only ones to carry radios on the hill and the course always offered our services for mountain rescue.

At first I thought what a bore because I was knackered and was looking forward to getting back.

The accident was about a mile because we had to contour the hill, at the bottom of the “Orion Face” a very serious 800 foot climb. On getting there it was not nice. 6 casualties, the 2 I had seen had hit another 2 then another before coming to rest all sprawled at the bottom in the snow.  1 was being resuscitated and I was to attend the guy (Dave) who had a head injury. There was kit everywhere, the rucksacks split open as they hit rocks, as do people. There was blood everywhere, it looked florescent on the snow. I can still see it now.

Our guy was given first aid by someone who was supposed to be “an expert”, we assembled the stretcher, tied the survivor to it and then proceeded to stumble and drag ourselves and the stretcher to the ambulance 4 miles away.  It is not easy carrying a stretcher, I can remember Garry who was in the 14/20^th in front of me, his glove was dripping blood and I asked him where it was from, he said it was from the guy he was resuscitating (I found out later it wasn’t). We kept up a conversation with Dave to keep him awake, he was a 30-year-old teacher from Newcastle, a family man. Dave would go in and out of consciousness. He was in shock and became grey and then deep unconscious but still alive when we put him in the ambulance. It was very dark and everybody was relieved.

When we got back to Tulloch lodge and in the room stripping off to get a good wash, Garries white thermals were soaked in blood, everyone laughed, there was lots of typical squaddie humor!

Later on we heard that Dave was dead on arrival and his climbing partner was also dead, he had sustained fatal head trauma, one other had broken ribs, another a head injury.

The blood on the glove! Dave had a broken femure, the sleeping bag was full of blood and where it was in contact with the glove it soaked through.

I still think about Dave and how it could have been done differently. Since leaving the army I did an “advanced techniques” medics course for use in the offshore industry and now know that the outcome could have been different but hindsight is a wonderful thing as they say.

At the time we just got on with it and after a few beers and a few sick jokes it was all forgotten and we carried on with the course. It was a good course and I learned a lot.

 

Hope everyone is well! I still go on the hills and if anyone wants a companion for some mountaineering give me a call

All the best

Cliff