Page 35 - RAFMA Winter 2003

BSE 92 - POETRY - Supplied by Dave Howie
Poem 1
The 14 March was the first nervous day,
Into the icefall to find a way
Through the jumbled masses of tumbling seracs, With fixed rope, ice stakes, screws and our axe.
Meryan with engineering skills set to the task
Of providing a route that would have to last Umpteen climbers and Sherpas pulling up the route, From April to May without a hoot.
An awesome task in a moving icefall,
With crevasses and ladders constantly a pitfall.
One day there's a rumble we look around aghast, In the crash site there's a collapse,
Ice boulders sliding into a moving crevasse; The fear was there but thankfully it's past.
Across the Football Pitch, a faster way, Weaving through seracs to catch up a day. Bill's folly a tricky route,
Sherpas not happy to follow suit.
A Kiwi joins us to recce things out,
Jumping from ice ridge to serac helped us without a doubt. One of the best day's mountaineering
In a chaotic world
Atop a pillar of ice a tent hangs with pegs,
Days later amongst the debris, an artificial leg.
The Upper Chasm - the final key Fraught with danger as; all: could see. Surrounded by ice, a crumbling mass, Creaking crevasses - a chaos to pass.
At the lip of the Cwm Sherpas rush to see
A climber leaping with: utmost glee. Having reached Camp 1 with ladders in place, We wait for others to start the race.
Up into the Cwm to establish their camps,
Whilst down below at base camp negotiations are taking place. To maintain all the ropes and ramps,
For climbers to pass through to higher camps!
Poem 2
This experience is mixed with much history of the Khumbu An icefall that has befelled many a mountaineer
To venture into such a awesome feature
With stories of epics, icefall crashes and disaster What chance is there of a successful pathway through a jumble of chaos thats a frightening sight even for the experienced mountaineer
With so much danger beyond the control of man Why do we venture here to claim our goal
Did Shipton realise what peril we'd be in
When he spotted this route to venture therein
For access to Everest was the aim
And from this began the flow of challenge and blame For those who have ventured on the huge peak beyond To lay claim to have climbed on, its snows and its rock And to ascend its faces and ridges aloft
To breathe the thin air and experience the magic
O f being up there to gain what height it allows
To return with memories that last a lifetime to behold My life has been affected by this route from the South Through an icefall that holds memories
As you pass through it with your heart in your mouth
Journal 2003 RAFMA