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NAVY NEWS, NOVEMBER 2007 33
Peak practice
COMMANDOS headed to
stab through his toenails to allow ‘Leave the best till last’ is a wise appreciate the beauty of the
the mountains and ridges
the blood to drain under them,” and ancient adage. Substitute countryside,” Mne Moone added.
of Scotland to prepare for
said Mne Moone. ‘worst’ for ‘best’ and you have the And with Aonoch Eagach
Having conquered the climax of the exercise: the Aonoch mastered (followed by a trip down
one of the most gruelling Horseshoe, then the Mamores Eagach Ridge – “a huge ridgeline the pub), the Royals were ready to
combat environments on
ridge, the Royals grappled with with sheer drops either side, conquer the Himalayas.
the planet.
Three Sisters (a three-peaked renowned for its gusting winds,”
The Royal Marines of 42
mountain with each peak to be says Mne Moone.
● Mne Dwain Ross at the top of the Streilhorn in Switzerland during
training for the Himalayas attempt
Commando are spending three
scaled). The mountain leaders rallied
● At one with their environment...
weeks climbing, marching and
“The constant drizzle and the troops with a cheery pep talk
(Below) the camoufl aged green
conducting exercises alongside
gusting winds gave us a better look about exposure, hypothermia,
berets of 42 Cdo blend in with
To hell and Black
elite Indian airborne troops in the
forward to what winter mountain freezing temperatures, gale force
a craggy Highlands peak during
Himalayas.
training was going to be like,” winds which invariably all led
training for Himalayan Warrior
And to ready themselves for
said Mne Moone as the wind was to climbers falling, slipping and
and (above) the commandos
Himalayan Warrior in the Ladakh
funneled through the valleys and generally injuring themselves.
push their Bergens across a
region of the daunting range, the
the rain lashed the mountain tops, Such doom-laden forebodings
Highlands stream
SIX green berets and two sailors (15,748ft – roughly the height of Bickleigh-based green berets of
reducing visibility to little more were, however, not realised. “As we
will aim for the most diffi cult Mt Blanc) after a 150km (93 mile) Mike Company hit the Highlands.
than 150ft. climbed the steep, r u g g e d
peaks on the planet as Britain trek through the rugged, forested The Highlands cannot compete
You cannot head to this part of initial ridge, the
celebrates 50 years of military terrain and mountain steppe; at with the Himalayas for height, of
the world without tackling Ben clouds parted and
mountaineering. the limit of helicopter operating course. But many of the basics of
Nevis (aka Big Ben, apparently, the sun came
Sir Edmund Hillary baulked at conditions, it means porters and mountain warfare and climbing can
according to the Royals). out for the
the prospect of climbing Makalu – climbers have to carry their kit to be practised around the Scottish
It was, says Mne Moone, “the fi rst time in
an 8,462m (27,762ft) Himalayan the camp. peaks. And as it was the height
one everyone wanted to do”. The over a week,
peak not scaled until 1970. Oh, and to cap it all, there’s of the summer, temperatures and
one everyone wanted to do apart, so we were
In the 37 years since, fewer than the small matter of thousands of weather conditions were pretty
that is, from Mother Nature, who able to
250 people have reached the top pounds to raise for children in similar too…
promptly threw the very worst
of Makalu (more mountaineers Nepal. The Royals used the village of
weather of the entire training
climb Everest every year). Still, never let it be said that Kinlochleven as their base (home
package at the commandos.
To mark the half-century of British servicemen run away from to the largest indoor ice wall in
So, instead of beautiful vistas,
British Services Mountaineering, a challenge. Europe… and the odd hostelry),
there was just fog and low cloud
the three Armed Forces plan a The expedition is three years in casting their net around fi ve of
to admire. The best view
two-pronged assault on Makalu. the planning already, with Royal the most challenging peaks in the
of the day was the sight
Royal Marines C/Sgt Frankie Marine Reservist Al Hinkes as the area.
of the four-tonne
Fredericks and L/Cpl Darren tri-Service team’s spiritual and The week’s training began
trucks arriving to
Swift will attempt to reach the physical mentor. ‘gently’ with the Ballachulish
take the green berets
top of Makalu (known as the Al is the only Brit to scale Horsehoe, intended to prepare the
back to camp.
Black Mountain) by the notorious all 14 mountains in the ‘death green berets for marching at pace
south ridge; only two teams in the zone’ (peaks in excess of 8,000m) through the mountains.
mountain’s history have reached – including Makalu. As ‘gentle’ marches go, it began
the top that way. He’s left the team under no with a 1,000-metre (3,280ft) climb
If they successfully scale illusions about the difficulties they to the fi rst check point… after a few
Makalu, the Royals and their face. ‘vent stops’ (or ‘rests’ in common
Army and RAF comrades will “Makalu is one of the most parlance) for the exhausted Royals
then continue to descend the formidable mountains in the – with the exception of the ‘duty
mountain by the north ridge (only world,” he warns. fi t bloke’.
slightly less treacherous). “Its remoteness, technical The commandos successfully
Their way down should difficulty, the length of the route negotiated the Horseshoe,
be made easier by the efforts and the unpredictable weather will although it proved a painful
of Lt Tom Boeckx and Capt make this one of the toughest experience for one green
‘Mollie’ MacPherson RM, who propositions yet faced by a joint- beret in his “Gucci new
are attacking Makalu using the Services mountaineering team.” walking boots” which
northern ridge – and will leave A British military team was he didn’t break in
their camps for the south ridge forced to abandon the last attempt suffi ciently before the
team to use when they descend. on Makalu back in 2004 when bad hike.
If grappling Makalu wasn’t weather set in. “The relief of
enough for this 50th anniversary Four years later (the summit blood was a nightly
mission, there are two separate attempt is earmarked for March), occurrence as he
climbs/exercises running at the they are convinced their training heated up a needle
same time. has been as thorough as it can be with a lighter to
A junior team, including Mnes for a renewed assault.
George Allen and Dwain Ross, The team has just returned
each less than a year out of from training at Zermatt, where
training, will carry out three weeks expedition leader Sqn Ldr David
of high-altitude training, including Tait selected the climbers for the
hopefully taking on Mera Peak, respective missions and where
the highest trekking peak in the some of the junior climbers got
Himalayas. their first experience of mountains
Meanwhile, veteran of these in excess of 4,000m.
parts Surg Capt Andy Hughes will ■ Follow preparations for the
lead what is believed to be the first expedition at www.myspace/
British attempt on another hugely makalu-2008
challenging mountain, the 6,793m
(22,286ft) Pethangtse.
● The team pose atop Cantilever
All the climbs will be attempted
Rock in North Wales
without using breathing
apparatus.
It takes 11 days just to get
to the base camp at 4,800m
0033_NN_Nov.indd 133_NN_Nov.indd 1 117/10/07 12:24:037/10/07 12:24:03
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