‘Don’t worry. We’ll take care of her.’
With that, he glanced across at Bill and moved forward on to the ledge, keeping his hips close to the rock and the top half of his body arched out, so he could see higher up. Shara watched the ropes slowly paying out to where Luca climbed in a steady rhythm, only pausing every five metres or so to clip in one of the bolts that hung in a great bunch of twisted metal from his harness. In what seemed like just a couple of minutes he was fifty feet above where they stood, his movements fluid and precise. There was an absolute confidence to the way he climbed, each grip of his hand deliberate, each foothold instinctive and self-assured.
Pausing again, he jammed down two bolts about a metre apart into an open crack in the rock. Offsetting the angle, he clipped a carabineer through each point and ran through a sling, twisting it back on itself with a flick of his wrist. Clipping the climbing ropes into a third carabineer, he screwed the locking gate closed and finally put his weight back into the seat of his harness, secure.
‘OK,’ he shouted down the face. Bill tied Shara into the same rope and then motioned her forward. He counted out ten more metres before tying himself in.
‘Just take the exact same route,’ he said. ‘And, whatever happens, don’t look down.’
Shara moved methodically, keeping her focus on the wall ahead and trying to ignore the fact that her legs felt wooden and her heart was beating in her throat. Every few meters, the ropes ahead of her would gently tug at her waist as Luca pulled in the slack from above.
Along the actual ledge, the going was not too bad. Although she was much slower than Luca, her feet moved upwards in a near-constant flow. Then, fifty feet above the ground, the ledge naturally sheared off, leaving an exposed patch of perfectly smooth rock.
Shara stopped, feeling for a handhold higher up the cliff. There was nothing above or below — just smooth, unbroken rock. All she could think to do was to press her body flat against the cliff and edge her way higher. But without a decent grip, her balance felt tenuous, as if the slightest breeze would send her toppling over the edge. She’d watched Luca climbing this part from the ground. He hadn’t even hesitated.
Looking across the gap, Shara could see where the ledge continued. It was only a metre or so away. All she had to do was lean out.
She felt her breath becoming quick and shallow as the sweat collected across her forehead. She tried to move, tried to force her heavy, unresponsive legs forward, but every instinct screamed out for her to stay where she was.
‘Come on,’ she murmured to herself. ‘Come on. Just one step…’
With a sudden lurch, she reached forward again, pushing out across the drop. The side of the cliff yawned out below her and, for a second, she looked down, seeing the hazy outline of the ground beneath. Then the toe of her right foot connected with a loose pebble lying on the edge and suddenly she was sliding downwards, her knee banging against the cliff and her hands clawing at the rock.
There was a sudden jolt as the ropes went tight, then a stabbing pain as the straps from the slings dug into her waist and kidneys. The heavy bag on her shoulders yanked her whole body backwards, pulling her off balance, and she frantically reached for the taut ropes ahead of her. Then everything went still. There was silence, except for the slow creaking of the ropes.
‘You OK?’
Luca’s voice wafted down to her.
She tried to shout back but her mouth was completely dry. As she fought to steady her breathing, her body slowly spun round on the end of the ropes, forcing her to look away from the cliff towards the distant mountains. Using her hips, she swung her weight round again, trying to get her feet flat against the rock. After a few moments of fighting they finally connected.
Shara swallowed a few times, trying to get some moisture into her mouth.
‘Fine,’ she shouted, feeling her lungs bursting from the effort.
A moment later the rope tugged upwards and, inch by inch, Luca slowly hoisted her the couple of metres back towards the ledge. Shara reached forward, gripping on to the rock and taking her weight out of her harness, feeling disorientated by the lack of support.
Edging her way along once more, she rounded a corner of the cliff to see Luca, hanging in the seat of his harness, coiling in the slack rope. As their eyes met, a smile flashed across his face before he reached out one hand. For a moment, Shara’s eyes flitted from the rock to his outstretched fingers, gauging the distance. Then, with a sudden lunge, she grabbed on to his wrist. The movement was clumsy but he was able to switch his grip and hold her tight, drawing her towards him.
Shara clung to his shoulders, a wave of relief washing over her at the contact, at the sudden feeling of being secure. Before she had even looked down, he had clipped her into the same two anchor points as himself and was gently pushing her back into her harness.
‘You OK?’ he said softly. He’d seen the same wide-eyed look many times before.
Shara exhaled, pushing back strands of hair from her clammy face.
‘I had no idea it was going to be like this,’ she said. Then after a pause while she tried to steady her breathing, ‘This probably isn’t what you want to hear, but I really hate heights.’
Luca laughed out loud.
‘Fine time to tell me.’
Despite herself, Shara found herself smiling.
‘I know. I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t worry, you’re doing great,’ he said.
Shara shook her head slowly, her voice barely more than a whisper. ‘I’ve always been dreading this part of the journey.’
‘Part of the journey?’ Luca asked, turning to look at her. ‘What do you mean?’
She shook her head again.
‘I’m just going to be a lot happier when we reach the top, that’s all.’
After a moment, he nodded thoughtfully. ‘Well, it looks like the ledge gets broader up there and the going gets easier. We’re going to have to move fast, though, if we want to stay ahead of the weather.’
He gave another tug on the rope and, moments later, Bill’s face appeared round the edge of the cliff.
For another four hours they continued climbing. Bill and Luca took it in turns to lead, while Shara stayed in between. Bill remained silent for most of the climb, taking the sling full of hardware from Luca as they switched leads and pressing on up the ledge without another word. He climbed fast, pulling impatiently at the rope to Shara’s harness and forcing her to keep pace. But as the ledge became easier, she began to climb with more confidence. The crippling sense of fear she had felt at the beginning was now forgotten, replaced by a strange sense of exhilaration.
Finally, she came out on to the top of the cliff and staggered like a drunk over to where Luca stood, pulling the rope through a belay.
‘That was incredible,’ she said, flopping down on the flat rock.
Luca’s eyes switched from staring at the far mountains and he smiled down at her.
‘That was one hell of a first climb. You should be proud of yourself.’
Shara gave a tired but happy smile. Beyond where Luca stood, she could see the high summits of the mountains encircling them like an immense amphitheatre, their peaks stretching up thousands of metres into the sky. Glaciers streamed down from their summits, converging on the lower slopes. Not far from where they were, she could see the snub nose of the nearest one, rising up like a pitted barricade.
Moments later, Bill appeared above the cliff edge. He walked straight past where Shara was sitting and up to Luca.
‘Great climb, huh?’ Luca said, smiling.
Bill seemed not to have heard him. ‘We need to get moving to the shelter higher up,’ he said. ‘The wind’s picking up fast, like you said.’
Shara got to her feet and walked up to where they were standing. She had been so absorbed in the climb she hadn’t even noticed the changing weather. The ghostly clouds they had seen that morning now streamed across the sky, muting the afternoon light. They had obviously been climbing in the lee of the wind for all this time, but now they were exposed to its full force and she could feel it rip through her heavy jumper. Reaching into her pack, she put on the sheepskin jacket, using her leather belt to pull it tight around her body and buttoning it high up under her
