So there I was in the breaking dawn, wrapped up in my alpine clothes like a giant child wondering if it was safe to leave the refuge for any length of time. With a night of little sleep behind me and a mountain to climb, I checked my pack and adjusted my gear. As usual, the good humour of those around me and the good old ‘Keep calm and carry on’ attitude was stronger than my desire to opt out and nurse my gurgling, empty and unpredictable stomach. We set off, crampons crunching through the brilliant snow up towards the peak. From there on a mixture of one step in front of the other and cursing got me through the day. Some encouragement from Mike, Nouri and Seb certainly helped. That ranged from friendly support to ‘Come on Looser’. I can’t say it’s the easiest thing I’ve done and we we’re certainly not the fastest to summit that day but I think we definitely earned it. I had been at much higher altitude in the Himalaya, which led to the foolish assumption that this would be a much easier climb. It wasn’t. Each mountain has its own character, environment and set of rules. Some hours later we were sitting under the cobalt blues sky, prayer flags and mementos from other climbers eating generous portions of bread and cheese at our bizarre 4200 meter picnic. Relief was the strongest emotion at this point. Birds happily picked at crumbs and torpedoed from the peak into the long, deep silence. Mike fell asleep on a ledge. We all took deep breaths in the thin air and surveyed the rest of the world for what might have been the first time.
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In other news……….
The full band are on tour in the UK for the next six weeks starting tonight in Birmingham. Hope to see you at the shows.
All the best,
Martin









