This was swiftly followed by the thunder and dust cloud of yet another vast

This was swiftly followed by the thunder and dust cloud of yet another vast rock fall. In one of mountaineering’s biggest mass rescues, more than 70 climbers had to be hoisted from the slopes of the Matterhorn.A ban on climbing the mountain was instigated for the first time in history as rock falls battered its broken flanks. “I have never seen so much rock falling at one time.” An almost continuous rain of boulders ricocheted past them as they cowered under an overhang. Climbers have been advised to steer clear.Such warnings are becoming ominously familiar in the Alps nowadays. Two years ago Victor Saunders, one of Britain’s leading climbers, and his companion, Craig Higgins, had reached a point halfway up the Matterhorn’s Hornli ridge when their climb turned into a nightmare.”An enormous avalanche hurtled down the mountain’s east face,” said Saunders. A fortnight earlier, two climbers on the Quartz Ledge escape route from the top of the north face had been alarmed to discover that a gaping crack had split open along the length of the ledge. It was the first sign that the Bonatti Pillar in its entirety was soon to disappear, alongside the famous Harlin Route on the west face and large chunks of the American Direct.The collapse occurred above the previous 1997 fall Fifty years of iconic climbs had disappeared without trace More surprisingly still, no one was killed.

I lowered myself gingerly back on to the rope.”Oh God,” I whispered.”What?”"The peg’s buggered. It’s coming out.”"Christ! Where’s the gear? Let’s put something in.”"It’s gone The hardware, boots, everything It went with the ledge.”Ian was silent I looked at the flake where the handrail had been tied off Tiny pebbles and dust trickled from its sheared-off base Both attachment points could go at any moment. Where was Ian? I remembered that sudden yelp during the fall. Had he gone with it?”By ‘eck!” I heard Ian’s broad Lancastrian voice beside me I poked my head out from my bag and glanced at Ian. His head lolled on to his shoulder and his torch reflected a sodium yellow light off the surrounding rock walls. There was blood on his neck.We hung side by side on the tightly stretched rope and swore.

With the help of our torches we were horrified to find that our ropes had gone We looked at each other and giggled nervously. Two thousand feet up and no ropes! The handrail shifted suddenly, causing us both to squeak with fright, hearts hammering at the thought of falling again.I turned and shone my torch on the handrail It looked odd I twisted round, grabbed the rope It shifted again and the peg moved. It must have taken only a fraction of a second but it seemed to last forever.We bounced on the springy stretch of rope The handrail had held I swung gently on the rope with my arms pinned to my sides. I had held the fall on my armpits and for a confused moment I desperately tried to remember whether I had clipped myself to the handrail.In the sudden darkness, with the sounds of falling rock echoing up from the depths, I was momentarily disorientated.