From Welsford to Nepal

(Here's another column from 15 years ago. I can't remember how Steve, Don and Jonathan made out on that climb. I met up with Steve Adamson last winter on an ice climbing adventure. I know the family is still involved with climbing. Enjoy this look back to Onctober, 1992.)

It's a long way from the 600 foot top of Bald Peak in Welsford to the 24,000 foot summit of Mount Pumori, standing next to Everest in Nepal. But right now three generations of a New Brunswick family are making the trip. Steve Adamson of Welsford is leading a climbing expedition to this Himalayan peak. Joining him on the climb are his 6 year old son Jonathan and his father Don. Fifty years may separate them but it doesn't matter for this climbing family. They left for Pumori in mid September.

It's a sunny, early summer day in Welsford. Steve, Don, Jonathan and a group of their friends are picnicking on Bald Peak and rock climbing. They use the cliff on the top of Mount Douglas to practice their climbing technique. Steve's been coming up here for years. Six year old Jonathan has been climbing since he was two and he can scramble up the rock face with little effort. He'll be accompanying his father and grand dad to base camp at 16,000 feet. That means a three week trek through the lowlands of Nepal, 10 to 15 miles a day carrying a pack. Jonathan is looking forward to it.

So is his grampa Don from Rothesay. It's his third mountaineering expedition. "My goal is to get Steve to the top even if I have to push him up there myself." Don says with a laugh. "I'll go
to base camp and see what happens after that. It would be nice to get to the top but I'm not banking on that."

Steve is hoping to reach the summit this time. It's his fourth climb and he's gathered together a team of experienced climbers. On his expedition to 26,000 foot Anapurna, Steve came face to face with the dangers of mountaineering. He was caught between a rock face and a crevice when a rock fall started rumbling down from way up the mountain. "The rock fall lasted about 15 minutes and there were boulders literally the size of houses just bouncing around me and
there was nothing I could do." said Steve. "You just hope your luck holds out. My luck ran out a little bit but it still held in the end."

On that same trip Steve was also caught in an avalanche. You learn a lot from experiences like that. "What it teaches you is things like taxes and constitutional debates are pretty insignificant when you're out in a snow storm just struggling to stay alive and where you can be snuffed out in seconds by an avalanche." Steve said thoughtfully. "It really puts everything in perspective."

Don was along with his son on that Anapurna trip and although they failed to reach the summit they did successfully climb a lesser peak together. It was a high point for both of them. Dons biggest concern about this trek is altitude sickness and the giant leeches they may encounter on their hike to base camp. "The monsoons tend to bring them out." he says, "They drop out of the trees and land on you. If we survive the leeches we've got it made." Steve says he knows a technique to avoid the leeches. "You travel in single file so the person at the end gets most of the leeches and being the expedition leader I'll be at the front of course." Steve says with a
laugh. "And being the oldest I'll be at the back." complains Don. "See how the strategy for this expedition is already forming."

All kidding aside, climbing this mountain is a quest filled with danger and adventure. Steve says he does it simply because it's fun. He can't think of a more enjoyable thing to do. And if he can reach the summit it's a bonus. "When you get to the top of a mountain you didn't conquer the mountain by any means, you were just lucky enough to be allowed to climb to it's top." Steve says, "It and nature are still in charge."

Right now the Adamson's are on the other side of the world making their way up the mountain and facing who knows what kind of conditions. But on that summer day on Bald Peak the sun was shining. There were no avalanches to worry about. Mount Pumori was far, far away. But it's snow packed summit loomed nearby, in the thoughts of three generations of the Adamson family.