We've been away for a couple of days, so I'm catching up again.
On Friday, we climbed Ben MacDhui in winter for the first time.
Our chosen ascent path, given the beautiful weather, was via the March burn, a fairly steep climb, requiring crampons and ice axe at the top.
We wanted to climb to the plateau, by this route, for dad. Back in November 1971, the Feith Buidhe disaster occurred, when 6 teenagers perished on the plateau above this burn. As leader of the Braemar Mountain Rescue Team, during the search for the missing, dad was advised 'to make haste on foot up the March burn', where a person had been spotted, by a helicopter, crawling in the snow.
We knew that dad's ascent to the plateau was steep, and we knew that his biggest fear was avalanche as the snow was soft and very deep. He also told us of how many glucose sweets he and his colleague, Dr Tom Stewart, consumed to give them the energy to get them to the top through the depth of the snow! Sadly on arrival at the site, they had to dig out the bodies of the 6 teenagers who had perished. One teenager survived, along with the leader of the group. This still remains Britain's worst mountaineering accident, and one that dad will never forget being a part of. It was just so avoidable. An absolute tragedy. The mountains in winter are beautiful, but they can be killers.
What a heart breaking tragedy - you must be very proud of your dad for playing such a big role in the rescue. Are you part of a search and rescue team too?
A truly terrible tragedy… the leader of the group must have been very badly affected too….sometimes things go wrong or bad decisions made & it will be always if only……. Your brave dad & his colleagues must have never forgotten that day.
