Page 20 - 2007 AMA Summer

and modern
fibres that these guys were getting soaked and spent the night as such before having a crack at the impossible in the morning. Whatever hap­ pened, their bodies were found the following day on the plateau.
Hunkered down at the top of the route.
Of the five fatal­ ities during this meet, four were of exposure and all were preventable; unless your lucky enough to have an MIC or UIAGM Guide as a climb­ ing partner then there is no shortcut to gaining the knowl­ edge required for success in the mountains. As Anatoli
Boukreev said ‘Experience can count for nothing, a man can do something wrong his whole life!’ Coming back each time simply isn’t enough and may simply be down to a healthy dose of luck, which must run out at some stage.
These unfortunate lads fol­ lowed their sense of adven­ ture and love of the outdoors
to Coire an t-Sneachda; they had died but had not wasted their lives on a street corner or pothouse. They obviously had the drive and dedication to achieve great heights and great things.
In the forces there are ample opportunities to receive mountaineering tuition either in a formal environment at Ballachulish or informally by attending the winter meet and climbing/walking with experi­ enced mountaineers. This year the meet saw attendance from an Aspirant British Alpine Guide, 6 Winter MLs, 4 MIAs, an MIC trainee and numerous Summer MLs, as well as many familiar faces that attend every year.
If you are a member of the AMA then the benefit of this experience is available to you free of charge by simply attending the meet. This year we trained 11 WMPs and it was very satisfying to see the smiling faces of people crawl­ ing into their first snow hole and to overhear conversa­ tions of the recently graduat­ ed students saying how much they had learnt. Of course the meets are not just about tuition and qualifications, they are so much more about friends and sharing good times with like-minded peo­ ple. They are about hearing ‘OH MATE’ every time Jules