Photo above Sandy Telfer on Clachaig Gully.

1978

We sometimes struggled with the words in guidebooks. When we were at school Norman MacPherson and I climbed Fourth Wall on Cir Mhor, ‘Climb cracks and grooves to a rock plinth’. We finished the route and a couple of years later I found out what a plinth was.

Three years after Fourth Wall Stephen Kennedy and I did Integrity on Skye. ‘Climb to the glacis’, I still don’t know what a glacis is.

Another day we were on the Buachaille, Billy Hood and I were starting up Spillikin Route, Sandy Telfer and Stephen Kennedy were out of sight to the right on Hangover.

The guidebook read ‘Above the ledge the cliff beetles’. As I was leading Billy was joking, “How will you know when it beetles?” Then there was a huge rock fall to the right and I cursed, “Why are people so clumsy, you can always avoid sending down rocks”.

Stephen soon appeared and told us Sandy had fallen.

We went round the corner and he was lying there with the rope still above him through his runners: he was a mess.

He had climbed the first pitch and put a sling round a block for a belay, but the block wasn’t attached and he fell back with the block (the rock fall we had witnessed). He had placed a couple of runners half way up the pitch, so by the time he smashed into horizontal rhyolite after his 120-foot flight he was on rope stretch.

One of his feet was in front of his leg were it should have been, the other foot was hanging to the side of his leg and he looked as if he was in agony.

I told the others I was going for help, I kept my rock boots on dumped my harness grabbed my pullover and started running. I went across to Curved Ridge then down past the Waterslide to Jacksonville.

The others kept Sandy informed of my progress (he was in danger of bleeding to death so they stuffed a t-shirt up his back side). I ran most of the way, slowing to a brisk walk a couple of times to get my breath back, I felt that I hadn’t let anyone down, adrenaline must have helped with my speed.

After Jacksonville everything slowed down. There was a couple relaxing at the burn, I explained what had happened and said I needed a lift to the Kingshouse Hotel, but they didn’t reply. After pleading a few times I finally got a lift, I had wasted ten minutes of their precious time.

The rescue team assembled at Coupall Bridge. Ian Nicolson was just about to start mixing cement when he got the call out so turned up in his wellies. I heard Hamish MacInnes on the radio “Casualty has possible broken ankle”. I told some of the team there was no ‘possible’ about the broken ankle.

The team started walking up to Central Buttress with me following in my rock boots. A helicopter then appeared and took Sandy away.

He had 18 fractures in his foot, 3 broken bones in his back and 3 broken fingers; he went through operations in Fort William and Glasgow hospitals. His career as a professional footballer ended that day, but he was back playing competitive football within a year of the fall.

Thanks to Billy, Stephen and Sandy for keeping me right with the facts.