Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2007/January 2008 | Page 29

INTERVIEW
have eaten us. Maybe Raymond’s
snoring put them off !” Roddy grins.
His gun was his constant bed-mate.
Inevitably there were long times
of tedium “Then your mind starts
playing tricks. I was sure a British
Airways plane was about to touch
down, I could see its logo, I tried
touching it with my ski-pole.”
And times when fear almost takes
hold. “At the Pole you radio to be
picked up, and you have to build
a runway. Then the wind changed
direction and we had to build it all
over again. Food and fuel were low.
When the Twin Otter finally landed
it broke a ski. We were told another
one wasn’t coming tonight. Then you
start thinking ‘Actually no-one really
has to come and pick us up … “
Overcoming the physical and mental
hardships are the tales he takes to
the schools. But what the children
really want to know about, Roddy
says, is how you manage to go to
the loo. “The answer is on a good
day it takes 30 seconds from start
to finish, but if it’s too cold your
body can’t do it.” And he mentions
one unfortunate man whose zip got
stuck and the result was frostbite.
The sheer privations of the extreme
experience are poignantly illustrated
by Roddy’s daughter’s reaction to his
home-coming. “She didn’t recognise me
and burst into tears. Then she told me
I stank!” The reek of the body hangs
around for a couple of weeks, he says.
Even the dog ran straight back in the
house when he got home from Everest.
And once it’s all over, in that fight
between mind and body, the body
seeks revenge. It took Roddy five
weeks to recover from his trip.
For all the tales of daring, and with
his easy and understated manner,
you can see how he can inspire the
children to whom he speaks to go
that extra mile, in whatever way
they can. “I let them try on my kit
after I’ve told them all about it.
Then I say “Who wants to go up
Everest?” And lots of hands go up.
“It may give them another
chance in life.”

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Photo Above: Wilderness: the cold light of day

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