There was an answering, “Help!” in a weak voice. He slowly lowered himself further down and after another ten feet he saw a body jammed against the cliff-face about ten feet below. As Stanier lowered himself further down, the cliff-face protruded out at a slight angle. He saw that the man was jammed to one side of the bulge and as he got closer Stanier could see that the rope tied around the man’s waist was wedged in a crack in the bulge. The man was obviously in pain. Working carefully across the cliff-face to the man, he saw that there was dried blood down one side of his face. Pausing, Stanier gave the agreed two tugs on the rope to signify that he had found a person.
Looking at the length of rope remaining, Flight Sergeant Bradley estimated that Corporal Stanier was about fifty feet down the cliff. The rest of the group looked at him and they seemed to nod in unison. No words were needed. They all knew that they would have to wait until they had Corporal Stanier back on the cliff-top before they could make the next move.
Corporal Stanier worked himself alongside the man and spoke to him. “We’ll get help to you as soon as we can. How many of you are there?
The man slowly turned his head and looked at Corporal Stanier. “Four of us. We were roped together. The edge gave way on two of us and we could not hold them. I was the last roped.”
“Okay. I understand. What group are you with?”
“Mancunian Mountaineering Club,” the man said weakly.
“Try not to move in any way,” Stanier said to him. “I’m going a little lower to see what I can see. Then I’ll go back up for help.” With that, Corporal Stanier lowered himself past the man and below the outcrop. He saw that the rope was taut and below, through the mist, he could just make out a limp body against the cliff-face. It was clear that as the rope had jammed, those below would have been slammed against the cliff. He had seen enough and gave the rope three tugs to be pulled back up to the cliff-top.
When Corporal Stanier appeared back up at the top there was a collective sigh of relief. They all knew the dangers. Pulling Stanier clear of the edge and into safety, Flight Sergeant Bradley said, “What’s the score?” Briefly Corporal Stanier told them the situation.
“Clearly, we are going to need stretchers and more ropes to get them to the top, plus a bigger first aid kit than we have with us.”
“Okay. Joe, let’s have a look at the map and give our estimated position to base along with the rest of the report.” The information was radioed back to base and Flight Sergeant Bradley told them to radio Flying Officer Crombie and let him know the situation. “Stan, I want you to go back down. Take some water and painkillers with you. Andy, get them out of the first aid kit you two have. Stan, could you put pitons in the rock face there?”
He got a nod and a yes from Stan.
Bradley continued, “I want you to use that spare rope to attach yourself to the rock-face beside the first injured person and let us bring the rope up to lower Andy down to you. Andy, you take this other spare rope and extra pitons with you. We can’t wait for help in this weather and we need to try getting the live ones back up here. When you get down there, you need to get a rope around the injured man and fixed to a piton. Then undo the rope that is jammed in the rock but first drive a piton in to tie it to. That way we won’t lose the others still hanging there. I suggest you put the injured man on your back, Andy, and have Stan get his arms over your shoulders and tie them around your waist, or something like that. We can haul the two of you up. Do you think that you both can do it between you?” Stan and Andy looked at each other, both thinking of the difficulties and risks. Then they both nodded at Bradley. “Right, Joe (to Joe ‘Tiny’ Morris), get a stove going for a quick brew-up for these two while we get prepared. They are going to need it. If you two are going to need to relieve yourselves then you’d better do it now. Have some chocolate and sultanas now and take some with you. You’re going to need the energy. Stan, after Andy is up with the man, you come up for a break.” There was a bustle of activity as the whole team worked together to get everything ready. By using Stan and Andy, he was keeping each team intact for whatever may arise.
Ten minutes later they were ready to go. Stan went down first, being lowered slowly as the mist was still heavy. One pull told them to stop lowering and they could hear a piton being driven in. Stan put a piton in first where they would put the injured man’s rope. Then he put another two in for himself. He then looped the spare rope through the pitons, tied it on to one and tied the other end around his waist. Then he loosened the main rope from himself and gave it a tug. It rapidly disappeared out of sight. Within five minutes, Stan heard Andy’s boots striking the cliff-face as he abseiled down in short leaps. Arriving beside Stan, Andy gave the rope one tug. “This is not going to be easy. I’ll need to go below him and work up on the
