:03:18
It was an isolated spot, a 2
- days walk from a road.
:03:22
The mountains all around seemed very big,
:03:24
compared to the mountains
I'd seen in the Alps.
:03:36
We eventually reached a spot,
on the approach to Siula Grande.
:03:39
You couldn't really take the
donkeys any further than this point.
:03:44
I guess it would be 7-8 km from
the bottom of the mountains.
:03:55
We knew Siula Grande was at
the back, but we didn't see it.
:04:04
We'd met this lad called Richard Hawking
in Lima. He'd been travelling on his own.
:04:09
And I think we said, "Why don't
you just join us on our trip?"
:04:12
I think he said that he didn't
know anything about mountaineering.
:04:16
I didn't really know
what pot of brew I was in.
:04:19
or quite, what I was
letting myself in for.
:04:22
We wanted Richard because
when we were on the mountain,
:04:25
if he were at base camp he
could look after our kit.
:04:28
I got to know Simon quite well.
:04:31
I don't know whether it was
because of his personality,
:04:34
or whether it was because he
was more forgiving towards me,
:04:38
being a non-climber
in that environment.
:04:41
But I found it very
hard to get to know Joe.
:04:47
I was much more ambitious
about doing it than Simon was.
:04:54
Siula Grande meant a lot.
:04:57
We knew, a number of
expeditions had failed on it.