Page 29 - 2019 AMA Winter

EX TIGER MERA
By Sean Mackey
For the past eighteen months I have been on a journey toward (and on) an expedition. Its hads it ups and downs but generally I have enjoyed it.
It all start with my first day at a new posting. As with most things in the military I had been directed into the post
and I was less than happy about it- The job was dull and monotomus and as far away from mountains as you can imagine. My boss knew that I wasn’t looking forward to the next two years and threw me a bone to keep my motivation up; I was asked to organise an expedition. I jumped at the chance and settled (after much deliberation) on Mera Peak (6476m) in the remote Hinchu Valley in Nepal.
While I have an extensive background in climbing and walking in the UK and Europe, this would be my first trip to the greater ranges and I’d also be leading a team of 10 soldiers! Mera Peak was first climbed in the golden era of the 1950s by Colonel Jimmy Roberts and is one of the most popular routes in the Himalaya due to being the highest trekking peak in
Nepal. I chose Mera Peak as I wanted to take novice military hill walkers and give them the opportunity to do something extraordinary. As the sole planner for the expedition, my organisational skills were pushed to the limit and the age-old adage of ‘Amateurs talk tactics; Professionals talk logistics’ certainly rang true.
Unsurprisingly I was inundated with applicants for the team, but once we had selected the ten members, we began the challenge of training them up. Our UK training consisted of a skills week in North Wales covering disciplines such as navigation, rope work and equipment, followed by a Winter skills week in Scotland focussing on the use of ice axes, crampons and movement across frozen terrain. Finally, we completed a remote emergency care course con- centrating on Acute Mountain Sickness (Altitude related illnesses), advanced
trauma and procedures for dealing with casualties. With the skills that the team have learnt and developed over the last year of training, most of them are now booking onto Mountain Leaders courses to become instructors themselves.
The team where all motivated, fit and enthusiastic volunteers. We all got on really well and I wasn’t concerned in the slightest about the team work and inter personal relationships. Over the build up training the team forged and, as we all worked together in our day jobs, strong relationships were made. One of the biggest characters was also one of the smallest. Short and stocky he spoke at a thousand miles per hour in a thick Scottish accent. He was brilliant, funny and just the sort of man you trust. It was devastating when I got the phone call at 1am three weeks before we were due to fly telling me he had tragically taken his own life. We were shocked and
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 29