Friendly John

We left base camp on Thursday with heavy hearts. We were leaving behind a fellow Brit who had been ill for several days with what we thought was an altitude related illness. We left him with a get well note and Carole had crocheted a hat for his 2 year old daughter as he was due to leave by donkey the next day. We had become close to Friendly John since meeting him at the airport because of his enthusiasm and vitality. On Friday morning we received the appalling news by radio that Friendly John had died during the night. 3 climbers had attempted to revive him for 2 hours with CPR without success. He was 39. Mustagata is a remote, uncommercial mountain. Unlike its famous neighbours, like Everest, there are no medical facilities or helicopter evacuations. After a long discussion we decided to continue with the climb to Camp 2 but our thoughts never strayed far from Friendly John's wife and young family.