You take the high road and I'll just slide down the side of this mountain, if it's all the same
It was a cold and blustery day and we'd been walking for hours. Reaching the peak left us with a huge sense of achievement and pride, but the wind threatened to blow us off again, so it was decided that we'd not hang about longer than necessary.

We sauntered down for a bit when our guide, a Scotsman who'd spent much of his 60 odd years clambering over the mountains of his beloved country, pointed to a drop off in the distance and challenged us to a race, before setting off at a speed that bewildered his far younger companions.

We charged after him and were still some way behind when he leapt over the edge and seemed to plummet to a certain and bloodied death. It was only when we reached the edge ourselves that we could see him sliding joyfully on his back and hear the playful cheer that was coming from his mouth.

We all did the same without a moments hesitation, and a chorus of "Weeeeeeee" was carried away on the breeze.

Somehow I managed to take a different route from the rest of the gang and it wasn't long before I noticed a very cold looking pond racing towards me at a frightening rate. I was enjoying myself too much to arrest my descent straight away, but I tightened my grip on my ice axe and took solace from its presence in my gloved hands.

Once I felt I was close enough to the freezing puddle of shivery death that awaited me, I rolled onto my stomach and thrust my axe into the snow above my head. It slipped immediately from my icy gloves and disappeared from my reach before I'd even realised I wasn't holding it any more.

Quite suddenly I was within drowning distance of the pond, out of earshot from my friends and flailing uselessly at the snow, which seemed to mockingly crumble in my hands as I grabbed handfuls of it, while my feet kicked stupidly at the ground.

A final, determined kick at the ground finally allowed me to lodge my foot in the snow and I stopped a few feet short of the pond.

I almost did a little cry to myself, before remembering that my mates would take the piss endlessly had they found me not only with my jacket full of snow and my ice axe lodged somewhere back up the mountain, but sobbing like a small child who'd just tripped and hurt their knee a bit.
( Moey, Fri 13 Feb 2009, 17:45, 1 reply)

Click!
now thats good!!!
( SpankyHanky, Sat 14 Feb 2009, 19:31, closed)