By Nicola McAlley
“They spent a lot of time in the hills; that was the place where they wanted to be,” says Adele Perry of her dad Steve Perry and climbing partner Andy Nisbet.
They lost their lives on Ben Hope, the most northerly of the Munros, and a year to the day of that tragedy, Adele will scale that very mountain.
She has travelled from her home in Manchester and knows each step will be loaded with emotion.
“My dad was the best,” says Adele. “He was so humble in himself, he never really showed off about his accomplishments, of which there were many. He was just a great guy, and all round, sound.”
Both men were renowned and revered in the world of climbing. Among his many accolades, Andy had completed more than 1000 new Scottish winter routes and written multiple guidebooks.
Steve had completed many new ascents and was the first to achieve a continuous round of winter Munros, covering around 1500 miles and 284 mountains over 121 days.
The men were climbing one of their favourite mountains, Ben Hope in Sutherland in February 2019, when disaster struck. It’s thought they’d completed their route and fell while moving on the upper slopes.
Her climb will bring back a lot of memories for Adele, who will be joined by her partner Kiefer, friend Katie, her dog Nell and members of the Dundonnell and Assynt rescue teams.
She says: “We did Snowdon when I was six – I kept asking him if he could carry me up just because I was so young and he was like ‘No, you’ll walk it, you’ll walk it with me’.
“So we walked to the top and me and my mum got the train back down and he ran down and raced us – that’s the kind of guy he was.”
So far she’s raised around £800 for the rescue teams in her dad’s name.
Adele says: “I hope he’s proud, because that’s all I have ever wanted. I never got to tell him but he was my inspiration – how much he achieved.
“I’ll be thinking about that day. It’s going to be tough and it’s going to be emotional but I have just got to do it for him and for the rescue teams that went through all that trouble.
“It will be emotional but I am doing it for him.”
You can find Adele’s sponsor page here.
