Sitting in the hotel foyer in Longyearbyen, the morning our cruise was to depart I noticed an old couple with Quark labels on their packs. My thoughts were, gosh, how is that old man going to manage all the walking and climbing into zodiacs that is going to be happening on this cruise.
Well, once under sail it didn’t take long for me to find that my “old man” was no other than Michael Westmacott, one of the mountaineers who was part of Hilary’s party on the 1953 successful conquering of Everest. (Once back in Sydney I took a quick look again at Hilary’s book and he played a very important part in the expedition.)
What a wonderful man and he and his wife Sally made for the most entertaining company when we were able to sit with them at meal times. What a life. He is still very active in keeping a database of all climbers to the Everest region and when on trips ashore put a lot of us to shame when it came to walking and climbing. And the fact that he is now 84 years old, incredible.
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