Sunday 24th February 2001

I sat by the fireside as the snow fell through the inky darkness outside. Tired eyes watching shadowy figures cast by the dying flames leap and dance against the walls as though to some invisible pipers tune. My feet were warming, as was my belly, and I slowly swirled the last of my dram round the glass before feeling its luxurious heat trickle down my throat. Idly fingering the numbers on my phone, I glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. 10pm. I’ll try his number again I thought.

As I listened to the ringing on the other end my thoughts turned to the days events. My best mate Davie had phoned the night before. Did I want to do something on Lochnagar? he’d asked. He’d been thinking about Parallel A but I wasn’t sure. The conditions weren’t great despite it being mid february, powdery rubbish, and I’d not been out on anything harder than a snowplod in a while. There was also a storm forecast for the next day and I just wasn't happy about it having been caught out a few weeks previously on another route when a storm, forecast for the day after, had blown in much, much quicker than expected. It had been a complete whiteout. We hadn't been able to discern sky from ground in the blizzard and with no visible landmarks, had to leapfrog nav all the way back from the summit. Perhaps something easier Davie? Theres plenty there we haven't done yet.




He was not to be persuaded. Parallel A it was to be so I made my apologetic excuses and suggested he take our mutual friend Andy with him. Andy had started winter climbing the year before and had a string of II’s and the odd III under his belt as well as many a years winter walking. We all knew each other well working as foresters on the local estate. Davie agreed to give him a call but said if I changed my mind there was space enough in the car.


I’d not long put the phone down when it rang again.

Aye?

Aye its me again. Andy’s up for it. I reckon it ga’n tae be a belter o’ a day the morn. Are ye sure ye dinna fancy comin oot?

Nah Davie. Yer ok. I’ve things to be doing about the place. I might go for a wander up Bennachie. If yer passin early though, I wouldn't mind a lift intae Alford? Ah’ve some stuff te get.

And so it was agreed they would pick me up first thing in the morning on the way through.

7am came and went. 8am came and went. 9am came and went and by 9.30am I was convinced I’d been forgotten in the early morning rush. Not that it bothered me; it was a fine walk over the hill. Davie had been right with his forecast, a bonny blue sky stretched overhead as I began the four mile walk to the village. As I topped the first wee brae though, I heard a familiar noise and turned to see Davies car. At first I thought he’d maybe decided not to go after all but as he drew alongside I could see Andy and all their gear.

Christsakes! Are you not away yet?

Nah, this eejit (gesturing towards Andy) forgot tae set his alarm. Onyway, are ye still needin a lift?

In I jumped. I made some comment about the lateness of the hour and asked if they were still intending to do the route. If one of us was out, it was a silent agreement that one of the others would act as a ‘responsible person’ and take a note of the intended route, equipment carried and all the usual information. They told me they still intended to try and would give me a phone when they were back at the car. I waved them off.

The time was now 10.30am.

I’d calculated that it was going to be lunchtime before they even got to the bottom of the route and as I walked back from the village and set about the days chores, my mind kept wandering and worrying. Ach but perhaps I’m just being stupid I thought. They’ll likely not bother with the route. The afternoon passed quickly and as I was coming back down the Black Hill from a wander round the tops of Bennachie all thoughts of Davie and Andy had disappeared. It had been gorgeous. Knee deep powder and brilliant blue skies.

The ringing continued.

I’ll try his mobile I thought. I usually didn’t bother as this was the time before hands free kits were generally available and Davie just wouldn’t answer if he was driving but I presumed Andy would at least pick it up.

Ring ring, ring ring

No answer

Ring ring, ring ring

Hello?

It was Davie

Aye! Its me! Hows it goin? How was your day?

Well, it could be better….

Aye?

Aye, em….the thing is we’re still on the climb. At least we think we are. We micht hae gone a wee bit aff route. Dinna worry though, we’ve hammered a few nuts in and we’re on both a wee ledge...

Oh for fuck sake.

I quickly got the story from them as best I could with the wind howling down the line. Davies batteries were low, the cold would limit any battery life even further. They were half way up the corrie wall as far as they could make out but darkness had fallen and they were fairly sure they’d gone off route. The climbing had got harder and harder and eventually they’d had to stop on a nine inch ledge and secure themselves and their rucksacks to the rock as best they could. They could go no further. Andy had also hurt his hand and couldn’t use it. It was pitch black, howlin’a gale, minus god-knows-what and my two best mates were stuck somewhere on Lochnagar.

I’m calling mountain rescue Davie.

No dinna, we’ll be fine. We jist need a minty tae figure oot far aboots wi are.

Davie... I’ll call ye back in a minute.

Its an odd feeling calling an emergency service. As much as you’ve imagined what it would be like, as many times as you’ve seen them attend a road accident or a fire or seen the landrovers hurtling down a glen towards some other poor sods. As many times as you may have called them before – its still a heart stopping moment when you hear ‘which service do you require?’.…what do you say? How do you say it? Do you ask for the police or mountain rescue? My words came falteringly and my heart was in my mouth when the police called me back 5 minutes after my initial report.

I’m sorry to bother you but er… my mates are stuck somewhere on Lochnagar and one of them has hurt his hand and they’re on a wee ledge somewhere near Parallel A.

Let me take some more details

And so within another five minutes the police had every detail I could muster – from their names and addresses, experience and ability, mobile numbers, equipment carried, last known location…

Ok that’s great thanks. We’ll try giving them a call ourselves and see what the situation is. It might be an idea if you could alert Andy's partner as to the situation.

The time was now 1045pm

Elise answered the phone. Elise, I've got something to tell you...

The rest of the conversation is a hazy memory of tears and question and answers as best I could give. Within five minutes she was at the door - better to wait together for news...

The next couple of hours were the longest in my life. I'd phoned my father, who had often accompanied Davie and I to the hills, to let him know too and he rang intermittently to see what was happening. We called the rescue team. They were inordinately patient with us, assuring us that both local teams were gearing up, RAF Lossiemouth had also been alerted and an initial party from Braemar had already left to see if they could see any sign of Davies or Andys torchlight on the headwall. We sat and smoked and stared into the fire. Too tired and too lost in our own thoughts to speak.

An hour later we called Davie. He sounded so cold, so tired. I told him what was happening. He'd seen some lights but they had dissappeared.

The time was now 2.30am

At 3.30am Davie rang.

Theres a fookin great big helicopter overhead!! It keeps going round. I dinna think they can get tae us, its fookin mental up here!!

Just hang on ok? You've half the rescue teams in Scotland oot for ye. It won't be long.

Aye I suppose.... Its really, really cold Jo.

I tried not to let Elise see the tears welling up in my eyes.

More smoking, more coffee. We switched on the tv to distract from the silence. Word was already out.

"Rescue teams are battling a severe storm in the Scottish mountains to rescue two men missing on Lochnagar. High winds and blizzard conditions are hampering the rescue attempts involving Aberdeen and Braemar rescue teams and marines from RM Condor in Arbroath. A helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth is also involved in the search but as yet has been unable to locate the climbers."

Tired and struggling with all sorts of emotion, my brain turned, despite my best attempts to the worst possible scenario. What if they didn't get to them in time? How long can someone survive in that weather? What if their gear failed? What would I tell Davies kids? Oh god, Davies kids, they don't even know!


The phone rang.

Hello Jo. Just to let you know we've located Davie and Andy. We've been unable to get to them with the helicopter due to the weather but we're hoping to get guys down to them on ropes once it gets lighter. They're on Eagle Buttress.

Leaping off the sofa, I danced round the room. Oh christ thank fuck for that! Elise and I hugged each other and started phoning friends who had already called after seeing the first reports on the TV.

It all happened remarkably quickly after that. Two rescuers were winched down from the top of the headwall to where Davie and Andy were stuck, and hauled them back up. Apart from, as Andy recalls, 'feeling like my bollocks were being squeezed in a vice' during the haul up, and dehydration (their water bottles had frozen during the night), both were none the worse for their experience. They were walked off the mountain then taken in a landrover to Ballater for a debriefing and subsequent interviewing by the papers. They apologised for all the trouble caused and admitted they'd made some pretty bad decisions based on forecast and conditions.

We met two very sheepish looking climbers a few hours later at Davies house...and a week later I presented him with his very own model rescue 'copter, just as a reminder ;)