CLOCKWISE
FROM ABOVE:
Setting out on
day 1. Breathing
is already proving
laborious; but
what hassle is a
little laboured
breathing when
mountains such
as these loom
into view; taking
in the view from
Unwin Lodge;
scenic landscapes
were all around.THE WAY UP
By the time we unloaded the gear from our helicopter at the
top of the Tasman Glacier, it was more or less assumed that the
army guys would rope up together, old mates Damien and John
would do the same, so that left me and Jonathon as the
remaining roped pair.
For someone in his early-20s, Jonathon seemed to have
things dialled. He worked as a mining engineer in WA and had
the enviably cool responsibility of setting and detonating
explosives. On top of that, he was also trained in roped rescue
(as was Dan). Replete with risk assessment, technical know-
how and a hint of bad-assery, I had no qualms being tied to the
other end of this guy’s rope.
Our first foray beyond the Tasman Saddle Hut, our base for
the following days, took us up to Aylmer Col. We sea-level
dwellers breathed heavily at 2,300 metres and the snow
swallowed each footstep to mid-shin level. At this point I
recognised that John and Damien, aged 71 and 68 respectively,
were a serious force. Active retirements, lives punctuated with
long, hard bushwalks and the odd spot of canyoning had clearly
conditioned them for this kind of travel. The course we were on
was merely a sampler for these two, who had booked back to
back with a guided climb of the 3,033-metre Mount Aspiring.
The very idea of doubling up like that made me feel exhausted,
but as they charged ahead with long, confident strides I could
see that they were well within their comfort zones.
Spoiler alert, they summited Aspiring three days after we
f lew out of Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, accompanied by
Prakash and another Adventure Consultants guide. Around the
same time, I was in a shopping mall back home getting a full
body massage. They never showed any desire to boast of their
achievements, but Damien and John left me feeling humble. It
seemed that they had nothing to prove, they simply lived for
adventure.Prakash had a similarly
impressive Himalayan
resume. Less than two
weeks earlier, he’d been
standing on the summit of
Ama Dablam and he still
wore the goggle tan to prove
it. He explained his personal
goal of climbing all 14
8,000-metre peaks without
bottled oxygen, a few of
which he’d already ticked
off.
Outdoor \ 63