Desolation

The wind was different up there, everything felt so desolate. I am back now six months but I will never forget the events that happened deep in the Eastern Alps last winter.

Eight of us started the excursion to reach the highest point Piz Buin which stood at 3.225 m and was located on the border between Austria and Switzerland. This was something I wanted to do for years and finally I assembled a team bold and brave enough to take on this challenge. Three of these men I had never met before they were local mountaineers that knew the area well and were recommended to be by the B.M.C (British Mountaineering Council) . The other four were personal friends of mine whom I grew up taking on such adventures with and trusted them with my life but this was our most challenging climb by far.

The morning we set out was filled with anticipation we couldn't wait to get started, we were split into two groups - Ed, Alan,Bud and myself were group A and Nigel and the three Austrians were group B. The Austrians told me their names countless times but I could never remember so I just stuck with the Austrians, I was just glad that Nigel drew the short straw and was landed in their group.
The weather wasn't great, but nor did we expect it to be. The two groups separated to see who would reach the summit first, Ed always loved the competitive side to things but to be fair we were all similar in that way.

From the start there was a different feeling up here, the most popular time of the year and yet no one was around, I couldn't understand this and soon I realized why. We took ourselves over a long winding slope, Alan noticed a smell of burning but it wasn't the cozy smell of someone starting a warming fire it had a harsh, throat cutting scent to it, one that would make you think twice about your next breath. Up in the distance we could see smoke coming from different directions I remember hearing one of the guys counting " 1..2...3.......4, I count four balls of smoke"so we went to check them out starting with the closest.

When we got there it was like the remains of a forest fire but instead of tree's there were bodies, lying there with a foul stench oozing out from them. We were stunned , I had to rub my eyes and repeatedly pinch myself to see if this was real, perhaps what was most haunting was the fact that none of us said a word we just looked at each other, reading each others worst thoughts and then slowly approaching each body. They were unrecognizable to us, I had no idea if this was Nigel and the Austrians or what the hell happened here, they were burnt so bad it was as if they were lying there for weeks on end but the smoke was only fresh so this must of just happened. Needless to say we checked the other three areas that had smoke coming from them and the same thing lay in front of us, countless bodies burned to crackling bone.

What did we do? Do we turn back? Keep going to see if there were anymore up over the mountains ahead of us? Nothing was the answer we sat trying to take it in and try and piece together how this happened, our radio connection to Nigel wasn't working so we feared the worst.
After a while we decided to retrace our steps and head back towards base camp, we were just over half way gone so it was gonna take some time.  I remember seeing a large helicopter passing overhead it was unusually low , well it looked like a helicopter, we signaled but it flew past us then returned and once again kept on going we were visibly demoralized.

You know when you get that out of body experience where you don't know if what's happening is actually happening? Yeah this was a case of that, existentialism I think it's called. Our minds all over the place we must of took a wrong turn or else our marked path had been well em unmarked, getting lost was the last thing we needed but sure as hell it was what was happening. There was the faintest sound of what could only be described as a muffling radio connection, maybe it was Nigel's we thought so we did our best to follow it until we were greeted by a blinding light.

When the light went away I was alone, Ed, Alan and Bud gone, whoever was shining the light was gone. I looked down at my feet I seen a hand lying there covered in snow and blood, who's was this I remember thinking to myself, Then I noticed. It was my hand , me left hand was gone , ripped straight off me without me feeling a thing, no blood spatter, it was like it was torn off and the arm sewn back together in a matter of seconds. Surely I am hallucinating but everything was so real, right on cue another puff of smoke came just a few hundred yards up from me floating in the sky, you could almost make out a smiling face in it.

I clenched my cross around my neck and closed my eyes remembering all the one's I loved, I trudged forward every step was agonizing , keeping my balance with one hand is a lot harder than you would think. Almost there I said to myself "this is it, face it, just do it" crawling up over the snowy slope that hid where the smoke was coming from, every second seemed like an hour. I reached the top of the slope all I could see was the smoke and on the ground I could make out three bodies, I knew who they were, then just past them were five figures standing peering at me.

I was too weak to see properly so I knelt down waiting for "it" to happen, took my last smokey breath and closed my eyes, I wanted the last image in my head on this earth to be of my son and daughter.
"Sir,Sir are you alright" My eyes opened before he could finish the sentence, it was five people sent out on a rescue mission and they actually found me, I fell to the ground smiling as they came and aided me, I did it I survived

On the way back I was being carried, the smile still on my face I looked up at the bright sky and clenched my cross knowing I would be seeing my family soon, I then seen that strange helicopter that passed earlier with a familiar blinding light shining out of it as it disappeared into the distance.

This was the story of my survival on Piz Buin, whatever killed my friends I still don't know. I have my ideas but I prefer to keep them to myself. People always ask me "What was it like up there" I always respond " The wind was different up there, everything felt so desolate".
E.T Lee , Earl Tom Smith