Mountain Clients

On the 30 November, 2002, I received an email from Bill O´Conner (BMG): ”Let me pick you up on just two points: OTT is not a member of the BMG. Was not, as the company no longer exists, folding after loosing Michael Mathews in May, 199.” My comment was merely: OTT/IGO 8000/BMG/IFMGA . OTT a founded member of – IGO 8000 which they were). (Second point) ´Eiger Accident: the guide in charge of the clients who died on the Eiger was in fact an ex-Royal Marine and an unqualified (being employed by a BMG guide on behalf of  the Survival Club) guide, like yourself (and Mal Duff who had few peers). The only member of the BMG (John Barry)  a qualified guide (also an ex-Marine) was in fact  not on the mountain at the time of the accident having turned back, several days before with some of his clients (including his son – Tank) during the ascent because he was unhappy about conditions and weather and the state of some of the clients (unacclimatised as they were). In this case the unqualified ex-Royal Marine, there were two of them, continued on; were allowed to continue by their employer, John Barry and were descending ahead of his clients unroped (!!) when the accident happened. But the important thing to point out is that in both cases no qualified guides were involved in the accident.”  “The BMG guide in question was not even on the mountain when the fatal accident occurred having left the mountain days earlier with his clients.” To the contrary (this is contrary to the Swiss police accident report)

Yes, the BMG guide did leave the mountain with – a number of clients including his own -son. But, he came back to the mountain via helicopter and joined the  groups for their final descent on that fatal  morning. The BMG guide was not only on the mountain.? He witnessed the rope decending  just before the fatal slip – guide first (or as Mr O´Conner now points out – unroped from their guide), he also witnessed the fall: “Í turned Alison´s head away so that she would not see the entire fall…” They were that close.

According to The Mail on Sunday (1994) Investigative Journalist, Nick Fielding.  The lead, BMG guide, sanctioned the leading of two of the three ropes on that fatal day by, as Mr O´Conner put´s it: by unqualified guides. Graham Davies, the father of Phil Davies who died, kept asking me, six years after the accident, how it was possible for the guide to become unroped from his clients (he had been told that Jan Rowe became unattached from the rope during the fall) as the rope did not break. ‘Did the rope come over his head?,’ he asked. ‘Did he come out of his harness.’? And I was trying to show him how it is possible to come out of a sit-harness. When all along, Mr Davies was being mislead into not knowing the truth, that his son´s rope was not tied to a guide ´qualified or otherwise. The answer is now all too clear. The BMG guide would have been aware that the fatal party was unrope from – any guide, and yet failed to inform Mr Davies of this when he visited the lead guide at his North Wales home. Mr Davies, gave me a six page copy of the conversation that took place. 

What is plainly obvious, from Mr O´Conner´s email, there are two types of – unqualified guides in Europe. The unqualified guides who work – for BMG guides (working for gain in Europe) and unqualified guides, who have to be put out of business at all costs… There are apparently, (untouchable) unqualified guides, good friends of BMG guides, and those unqualified guides who were warned that full publicity would be given to any problems that they have… Mr O´Conner went on.´The BMG member unlike the unqualified ex Royal Marines had to face a disciplinary committee of the guides association. It was felt that he should have had more input into the actions of the unqualified ex Marines. He lost his licence (no he did not) and after a number of years of not being allowed to work as a guides (?) had to retrain and re qualify (not true). The unqualified self appointed guides (like those unqualified, self appointed British climbers/guides who started ISM at Leysin, in Switzerland under the very nose of Swiss authority – page 113 in Dougal Houston’s ‘The Philosophy of Risk’, set’s it out quite nicely) simply carried on. They came before no disciplinary committee (or Fatal Accident Inquiry), no one questioned their actions they continued to practice (with no publicity from the BMC the sports Governing Body) without reference to others or agreed standards (agreed by whom – certainly not me).” Like the catalogue of errors from start to finish during the 1992 – Eiger Sanction. The 1994 Mail on Sunday article by Nick fielding, is seen in full in the: Eiger Sanction page in this web-site.