Mountain Proposal
Thursday 19th March 2009
Have you ever been scared? I mean really scared? Like the kind of scared you'd be if you thought you were about to die? Well I have.
Clinging to the side of Ben Nevis, attached only by a bit of rope, I felt complete and utter terror. The wind howled across the 1,000ft drop, and the fog was so thick, I could barely see my own hands.
'Help!' I shouted, but my trembling voice was drowned out by the wind.
'Be strong,' I heard my boyfriend, Stefan Senk, 29, shout through the blanket of fog. 'I wish I could see you, give you a hug.'
Him and me both.
'At least I know you're near me,' I called back, still in disbelief.
How on earth had we ended up like this?
Stefan and I had met six years earlier, at a University of Nottingham canoeing club. We loved going climbing too, so when Stefan suggested tackling Ben Nevis, I thought it was
a great idea. The plan was to climb up the steeper route, then walk down the tourist trail on the other side.
'There are three routes we could take,' Stefan explained in the weeks before the climb. 'I think we should do the easy one.'
We spent ages doing our research, and we knew how important it was to be prepared. So the day before our climb, we packed our rucksacks with food and water and listened to the weather forecast.
'Couldn't be a better forecast,' I grinned excitedly.
But when we set off at 7am, we soon realised the climb would be harder than we thought. We fell behind schedule, so by half past three, we were only halfway up. By 8pm, dark clouds had moved in.
'We really need to keep going,' Stefan insisted.
But within an hour, thick fog had descended. It was hard to even see each other, let alone where we were going. And to make matters worse, there was no reception on our mobile.
'We can't go on,' Stefan admitted. 'We need to find somewhere to sit out the night so we can carry on climbing tomorrow morning.'
Panic hit me. We were trapped on the side of a mountain, completely alone, for the whole night.
Somehow, we found a ledge we could fit onto. We were about 2,000ft up the mountain, but next to us was a 1,000ft drop. To stop us from falling over the edge, Stefan harnessed us to the side of the mountain. By now, the white clouds were so thick, it felt like we were blind.
I was so terrified that I threw up for good measure.
'Are we going to die?' I sobbed.
'I don't know,' Stefan replied. 'Put your feet in your rucksack to keep them warm. We mustn't get hypothermia.'
As I fumbled round trying to get my feet into my rucksack, I heard his voice again.
'I love you, Beth,' he said. 'If we get out of this, will you marry me?'
Suddenly, I wasn't crying out of fear, but happiness. We'd been together six years and we'd talked about getting engaged one day, but I hadn't imagined Stefan popping the question yet. Or under these circumstances.
'Yes,' I replied. 'I'll marry you!'
As my freezing cold hand gripped his, we sat there in the dark, too scared to move a muscle, until finally, the light burst through the fog.
'We need to find somewhere with reception for the phone,' I said.
Carefully, we hobbled around the mountainside, holding the phone high until we got reception.
'It's no good,' Stefan said angrily. 'The reception's not good enough and the battery's running out.'
'Quick,' I said. 'Let me send a text.'
Heart racing, I tapped away a text to my mum, Norma, 54.
We're trapped on Ben Nevis. Send help.
Had she got the message? Would she have her phone switched on? Thankfully, she must have done, because five hours later, we saw seven mountain rescuers scaling up the cliff towards us.
'Thank goodness,' I gulped, crying tears of relief.
They harnessed everyone together, and we carried on to the top, where the helicopter
was waiting. Stefan and I clung onto each other as we climbed into the helicopter.
'Did you mean what you said last night?' I whispered.
'Yes,' he smiled. 'I love you and want to marry you.'
Despite the drama, we didn't need to go to hospital. And as for the proposal?
After the shock we'd given our families, we decided it was best to wait for a couple of weeks before we dropped the engagement bombshell. Thankfully, they thought it was a great idea.
I still have nightmares about our ordeal, though.
I thought we would die on that mountain, but thanks to Stefan, now, I've got a wedding to take my mind off the bad memories.