Lightning hit the cliff high above us, sending a dumper-load of rocks thrumming like jagged cannonballs out of the clouds to explode around us. Bill took a direct hit on his helmet, which was smashed. He hung limply and silently on the rope. His face, which was streaming with blood from a gash in his head, was a ghastly shade of white. For a horrible moment, we thought he was dead, but he came round slowly. We suggested bivouacking until he recovered but Bill, who always thrived i...
Lightning hit the cliff high above us, sending a dumper-load of rocks thrumming like jagged cannonballs out of the clouds to explode around us. Bill took a direct hit on his helmet, which was smashed. He hung limply and silently on the rope. His face, which was streaming with blood from a gash in his head, was a ghastly shade of white. For a horrible moment, we thought he was dead, but he came round slowly. We suggested bivouacking until he recovered but Bill, who always thrived in adversity, was having none of it. Having bandaged his head and reversed his helmet so that the hole in it wasn’t over the hole in his head, and at his insistence bunged a fag in his mouth to keep him happy, we continued into the storm up the last 300 metres of the snow covered cliff. We emerged triumphantly over the cornice into the blizzard and whiteout, another first ascent in the bag.‘ Adventures in the Northlands is a collection of short stories written by British adventurer and mountaineer Tony Howard. From a life spent in the mountains and wilderness, Tony recalls epic tales of climbing, kayaking and adventure from Greenland, the kon and, his home-from-home, Norway. Journey with Tony into some of the most incredible wild places on earth. Vertebrate Mountain Shorts are collections of mountaineering, climbing, adventure and wilderness writing, published as ebooks and intended to be read in one go. Written by some of the world’s leading outdoor adventure authors, they include rare, previously out of print and exciting new works. Vertebrate Mountain Shorts will always be inspirational, direct and to the point.
