My elation at reaching Annapurna Base Camp when our chances had looked so slim, didn't last long. Before we knew it the weather had turned and we faced a battle back down to Machhapuchhre at 3700m. The clouds rolled in and visibility vanished. We set off back along our precarious snow ridge only to find the morning sun had done its worst. Our narrow but firm track on the surface was now a knee deep lottery of deepening snow, and time and again I fell through almost to my waist. We battled on as the weather deteriorated and I consoled myself with the knowledge that if the snow ledge gave way I would at least only face a rapid but probably not fatal slide to the valley far below. Then the snow ledge gave way. For a brief moment I was off down the slope and I didn't have my multi-coloured safety hat on. Fortunately, I had learned to appreciate the merits of big sticks whilst tracking rhinos in Chitwan and had acquired one up the mountain, just in case. I jammed it into the snow and prompty came to a halt as the snow i'd dislodged vanished into the mist below. The ever reliable Mansing grabbed me and pulled me back. Quite how he trudged through it all with 3 times the load I was carrying I will never know, but as the snow got deeper he got me down to Machhapuchhre, just about in one piece. We now faced a night at 3700m as we couldn't cross the avalanche area until after another cold night to freeze the slopes once again. "Luckily" for us it was cold, a painful -20 in fact. With most of my clothes now wet we huddled around a kerosene stove and watched the snow build up as high as our lodge. It was a grim and painful night as my dreams of beaches were interrupted by my body forgetting to breathe in the thin air, and the snow somehow falling inside my room. Another early morning dash and we hoped to clear the whole avalanche area and make it back down to sunshine for lunch. The new snowfall again made this tough going and it occurred to me that I hadn't as yet asked Mansing what to do if we saw an avalanche coming. Rather predictably, he replied "Run". Fortunately we didn't see one, and we did indeed get clear of the snow for lunch, the warmth of the sun now an incredibly welcome ally. All that was left now then, was to mock the poxy mountain and it's cold weather and we promptly jumped into the freezing meltwaters of the Modi Khola river to bask in our success.
I enjoyed this slap in Annapurna's face immensly, but felt it wasn't quite enough, so on arrival back in Pokhara I promptly strapped myself to an eccentric Frenchman and went paragliding above the mountains on my rest day. This initially consisted of jumping off a mountain and losing height rapidly as "Daviiid" shouted angrily at the cold air. Eventually though he found a thermal and were soon literally soaring with the eagles alongside the Annapurna range. It was an amazing flight with amazing views, and despite feeling sick the whole time, I may have found a new hobby, sorry mom. Eventually of course, the weather caught us out again and we had to ditch into a paddie field to be confronted by 20 very bemused villagers. I'm off to Everest now to do it all again, but not before i've bought another fleece...
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