The Big Day!

06 Jun 2007

I am feeling relieved and extremely happy as I’m in one piece!

The heli-drop was very successful, not to mention enjoyable.

The day started with an 8 a.m. pickup in Keith’s car. We drove over the boarder from France into Switzerland and parked in a lay-by as we got our kit together and waited for the helicopter to pick us up. There were 5 of us in total, Myself, Keith McIntosh, Neil McNab, James Vernon, and Georgia Merton. James and Georgia were going to be filming the event. Neil was the High Mountain Guide and Keith was my guide! We had to sit crouched as the heli dropped down.

It was very noisy and I was extremely nervous. It was as if the sound of the helicopter just made me realise what I was about to do. Because of the noise all my other senses were blinded. I had to rely on someone guiding me to the first step of the heli, ensuring our heads were down to keep safe from the propellers. I climbed in first and got comfortable for a 10 minute flight which flew us over a breathtaking mountainous terrain and at one point our pilot even flew us through a massive crevice. It was an amazing ride and Georgia sitting next to me described the journey to me so that I never missed a bit. The little sight I have remaining allowed me to see the darkness of the mountain walls as we flew near to them. We were dropped off on the Trient glacier.

We left our kit and walked up a little bank to a vantage point from where many peeks were visible. Neil described to me from this point the route we would be taking.

It was like being in another world, so quiet and surreal. Keith and I did a little sound check to ensure our walky-talkys were working. The Starcom1 walky-talky system meant that Keith could have a wire down his arm with a button he could press to talk into a wind-proof mic attached to his goggles. I had a set of headphones attached to the inside of my helmet so I could hear Keith very clear at even high speeds.