Extreme Eiger by Peter Gillman;Leni Gillman;

Author:Peter Gillman;Leni Gillman;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781680510515
Publisher: Lightning Source Inc. (Tier 1)

Chapter Eleven

STORMS BATTER EIGER MEN

When Kor left the snow hole at the Death Bivouac to return to the delights of Kleine Scheidegg on 11 March, he stretched a tent bag over the entrance and fastened it in place with a selection of pitons. It was intended to protect Harlin and Haston from snow and spindrift, and it effectively sealed them in. The snow hole was just large enough for them to lie down side by side but there was no scope for enlarging it, as the walls were already wafer-thin while the rear of the cave consisted of the impenetrable black rock of the Eiger itself, scarred with icy grooves. In their confinement, their senses became attuned to cues and clues from the outside world. They heard Kor’s muffled footsteps as he walked away from the snow hole, followed by the whipping of the fixed ropes as he set off down. Before long the storms resumed, bringing the hammering of the wind and the hissing of spindrift avalanches. Occasionally, they would be startled by creaks of the cornice shifting and settling, reminding them that it would eventually split away from the rock and tumble down the face – but not until the spring, they fervently hoped.

The worsening weather, while confirming that there was no immediate prospect of climbing, brought other consequences. Despite Kor’s efforts to block the entrance, every avalanche brought fresh clouds of spindrift bursting past the tent bag. The truth was that the entrance was too large, a consequence of the frenzy with which the snow hole had been dug out two days before. Haston and Harlin adjusted the tent bag and stuffed socks and gloves around it. But still the spindrift spurted in, both via the entrance and trickling down the rock at the rear. Each time Harlin insisted they brush the spindrift away for fear that it would saturate their clothing. On their first night, Haston was woken at 2 a.m. by Harlin calling: ‘Christ, Dougal, we’ve got to get up.’ They spent an hour clearing snow before Haston collapsed back into sleep. At 5 a.m. they went through the same routine again.

They faced other difficulties. In order to brew drinks, they had to fill a stove from an unwieldy yellow plastic canister that held a gallon of paraffin. But they had no funnel and it proved an awkward operation. The stove needed to be preheated, which normally required white powdery blocks known as Meta Fuel. They had none of those and Haston used a candle instead. As soon as he rested the stove on the snow its flame dwindled and died because the cold prevented the paraffin from vaporising. Instead, Haston had to hold a candle against the stove. Even finding snow to melt was a problem: apart from spindrift, there was none inside the snow hole, and they had to hack out ice from the floor below the rear wall.

Their drinks were made with two nutritional supplements, Minivit and Calcitonic, which were meant to replenish mineral loss.

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