As I stood at the foot of the 300m unnamed gully on Cerro Buitre in the eastern Sierra Nevada I received a phone call detailing the tragic news. A close friend of mine had passed away in sudden and unexpected circumstances. Shocking and terrible news. Wiping away the tears of anger, frustration and sadness, I started up the steep initial snow slopes.
The gully demanded concentration as the snow was not that good. Care had to be taken on each step. Climbing up through that stark, dramatic, but ultimately impressive and beautiful mountain scenery, I thought many times about my friend. Of how fragile a grip we all have on this earth and how quickly that life may be taken away. Of the need to live each day to the full, which of course on this particular day we were doing.
The photo shows us smiling. We are smiling at the safe and successful completion of a climb between mountain companions. A shared experience that will live long in the memory. The reality the photo doesn't show is the sad and heavy heart that lies beneath that smiling exterior.
We named that gully in my lost friends memory. RIP mate.
Richard and Dex
Very thin snow cover in the gullies
The initial section of the gully
Dexter Heath
Soft snow near the top
Dex on the upper section
Near the top
Hitting the rock and spiky bush at the top