From the moment I started climbing the 7,000-metre peaks of the Pamir mountains in Tajikistan, something felt off. What followed will stay with me for ever
I didn’t have a reason for my terrible feeling of dread – and that was part of the problem. From the moment I arrived in Tajikistan with my boyfriend, Tim, to climb two 7,000-metre (23,000ft) peaks, something felt off. It wasn’t a fear I could name: it was more like a constant, unnerving low hum.
A helicopter dropped us off – landing on a jagged glacier that was to be our base camp and act as a refuge from avalanches from the towering peaks that surrounded it. The helicopter flew far too low, skimming the glacier ice that looked sharp enough to tear it open. You could see it from the helicopter because there was a gaping hole in the back – a part was missing because it was so old.
Once the helicopter left, we were alone with a handful of other climbers, to be collected a month later. It was 2018, and Tim and I had organised our expedition independently, something I do for most of my adventures. Doing it ourselves meant greater responsibility, but it also kept costs low. The Pamir mountains are not as well known as the Andes or Himalayas, but they are very remote and ticked all the boxes of what we look for in a climb.
