over.

All three boys were lying on the scree below and on the eastern side of the Nose. They were still roped. They had fallen two or three hundred feet and death must have been instantaneous. A watch had stopped at 5.45. If this stopped on impact, they fell nearly two hours after they were last seen. It was probable that they were trying to descend the cliff when one slipped, pulling the others after him.

These are the times that a professional rescuer hates his job. He expects no material reward, but he must have some incentive to justify the danger and discomfort of his work. Someone must recover bodies, but for all the spiritual reward he derives from it, he might as well be the driver of a hearse.

Despite the dangerous nature of their job, no team member has been killed or seriously injured on a rescue. Bur the Service has lost several men in training. A member of Kinloss team, Alan Grout, was killed on Garbh Bheinn of Ardgour on a rock-climbing exercise in the early fifties. Valley lost Gwyndaf ('Taff') Thomas in 1952, this team's first tragedy, which I have already described , and at Whitsun 1960 an eighteen year old member of St Athan, Mick Aspain, was killed by lightning on Aran Fawddwy in central Wales. In the last accident several other members of that team were injured. A party from Leuchars was swept down Ben lui in an avalanche but survived, and others have been thrown out of trucks, fallen down gullies, and suffered from frostbite with less serious consequences.

But in June 1957, a very popular member of the Valley team, a man called Alan Smith who came from Aberdeen, suffered what was probably the worst ordeal.

Lees was on leave at the time and Corporal Morris was in charge of the team.

Andrews and Smith were dong North Buttress Route, a moderate climb on the east face of Tryfan. Smith had very little experience and Andrews led the first few pitches of the route. After this it deteriorated until it becomes almost a scramble: the kind of place one would allow a novice to lead for the first time. Smith led here. He ran out most of the rope over easy ledges and short walls and then called down that he was belaying.

Andrews was waiting the customary few moments before expecting a call to come on, when suddenly the quiet afternoon was shattered by the crash of falling rocks and by Smith screaming. Andrews raced up the pitch and found him lying on the grass ledge about forty or fifty feet above. One leg was smashed to pulp. (Afterwards they learnt that, as he belayed, the rock he was sitting on had come away. He fell only about fifteen feet, but the first rock set another moving, and this came down after him and fell on his leg. It weighed about a ton).

There were at least three medical people climbing on the east face, one of whom, the Kangchenjunga climber, John Clegg, took charge. No one had any morphia, although the injury was so grave it is doubtful if it would have had any effect.

Andrews ran down to the mountain rescue post at Idwal and telephoned Air Traffic Control at Valley.

The Air Sea Rescue helicopter was sent out, but in the face of aerial turbulence the pilot decided Smith would have a smoother, if Continue to Page 9