A Highland mountaineer, who spent weeks searching for two friends who disappeared in the Himalayas more than 30 years ago, has written a new book which relates how he found his faith after surviving a near-death experience.
Steve Aisthorpe, 57, was a member of an expedition to Pumori on the Nepal-Tibet border with Kristinn Rúnarsson and Thorsteinn Gudjonsson who were last seen alive at a height of 21,650ft on October 18, 1988.
Their remains were eventually discovered in 2018 by an American mountaineer on a glacier below the climb route, which suggests they fell into a crevasse.
Mr Aisthorpe, a mission development worker for the Church of Scotland, now believes that his friends, who were both just 27, had either reached, or almost reached, the ridge at the top of the face when disaster struck their mission.
In the intervening years, they were slowly moved down the mountain by a retreating glacier. Their bodies were brought back to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, by a group of local climbers and a cremation service was attended by relatives of the men who took their ashes home to Iceland.
Mr Aisthorpe of Kincraig, near Aviemore, who was 26 at the time of the tragedy, spoke movingly about how faith had bolstered his spirits throughout the ordeal and revealed how, on another occasion, he prayed to God for help when he lost his strength near the top of a cliff in Norway as the light began to fade.
And now, he has written Rewilding the Church and spoken about his diverse experiences in the latest episode of It’s a Fair Question with Rt Rev Dr Martin Fair, Moderator of the General Assembly.
He met the two Icelandic climbers when they were all planning various expeditions in Nepal. Even more, more than three decades later, he still keeps in touch with their families and there is a bind between them which will never be broken.
He said: “The discovery of the remains of Thorsteinn and Kristinn, after so many years, inevitably brought many emotions to the surface for all who knew and loved these wonderful guys. But it has also brought people together and I pray it will help with greater closure and, in time, peace.
“My diary of the expedition reminds me of how, as someone who had only recently embraced the Christian faith, I found comfort and guidance as I turned to God.”
Pumori, which is nearly 23,500ft high, is one of Mount Everest’s more challenging neighbours and attracts many climbers every year.
The four-man expedition, which included Jon Geirsson, established a base camp, 17,388ft below a glacial lake west of Kala Patthar.
During a 12-day period, the group set up a high camp on the upper Changri Shar glacier and it was during this time that Mr Geirsson fell ill and decided to return home.
Mr Aisthorpe had also begun to suffer from gastric flu and on October 16, 1988, descended to the village of Pheriche to consult a doctor.
He was told it would take a week for him to recover, so he sent a message back to the high camp suggesting that Mr Thorsteinn and Mr Kristinn “should feel free” to make a summit attempt without him.
But when they set off on their ill-fated trek, they were never seen alive again.
Recalling the tragic episode, Mr Aisthorpe said: “I have never felt as alone as the day I arrived back at our high camp.
“As I worked my way upwards, I desperately hoped that Kristinn and Torsteinn had descended safely and were now lying in their sleeping bags in the tiny red tent camp.
“As it came into view, I called out at the top of my voice – and my calls echoed from the rocks and ice before fading.
“But the silence was palpable.
“Even as I finally reached and then unzipped the tent, I was still nurturing a hope that the boys would be lying there, comatose, and sleeping off the climb of their lives.
“But it was empty and as I scanned our route up the steep face above, nothing moved.
“It was then that my guts started to twist and a cold sweat began.”
Mr Aisthorpe summoned help and a search was finally launched five days after the men were last seen.
But there was no sign of them, no sliver of hope of a positive outcome and the mystery of what had happened to them lasted for decades.
He explained: “Back in 1988, there were very few helicopters in Nepal and those that existed were not capable of the kinds of searches and rescues that take place in the Himalayas these days.
“I was onboard and we soared above the site of our high camp and gradually began to scrutinise the lower part of our route.
“Looking down into the deep crevasse that guarded the base of the west face, I had expected to see a flash of red or yellow Goretex, but there was just nothing.
“A couple of weeks later, I left the area, convinced that Kristinn and Torsteinn must have fallen somewhere high on the face, and their remains had been swallowed by the cavernous crevasse below.
“This was what I explained to their families and friends on a visit to Reykjavík shortly after my return from Nepal.”
The tragedy did not put Mr Aisthorpe off Nepal or dampen his passion for mountaineering. On the contrary, he has made a commitment to return to the country every spring and autumn to act as a guide on some of the smaller peaks.
Such plans might be impossible during the current Covid-19 lockdown. But he has never forgotten about his comrades who died all those years ago.
Rewilding the Church is published by the St Andrew Press. Mr Aisthorpe’s conversation with Rt Rev Dr Fair can be heard at www.churchofscotland.org.uk
