TWO Cumbrian climbers who set out to summit Annapurna II last month have returned home with a mighty tale to tell.

Jamie Annetts, of Staveley, and Matt Stapely, Penrith, planned to reach the top of the 7,937 metre peak unsupported and without bottled oxygen - but the mountain had other ideas.

After three weeks of everything going to plan - high winds, freezing temperatures and ultimately a medical emergency forced the pair to make a retreat.

“We had planned a siege tactic to conquer Annapurna II - to move fast and light on the ridge to the summit but nature had other plans,” explained Jamie, director of ExpedAdventure in Staveley.

“At base camp we heard six avalanches a day, there were massive explosions as they fell. The wind reached speeds of 160km per hour and it was way colder than you can imagine.

“So few people have been up Annapurna II that there is a limited amount of information available and we found that all the research we had done before the climb was out of date because of the way nature changes our mountain environments. The glacier had retreated a mile further than had been described and we had to reach the end of it to start the ice climb. Here we found ourselves tackling ex-glacier scree which was rock hard ice, no snow.

“We were expecting a snow ridge and we found a hanging glacier which felt more than vertical, so the terrain was way harder than previous expeditions had described.”

Only 15 people have stood on the summit of Annapurna II, with the first ascent made by fellow Cumbrian climbing legend Sir Chris Bonington 56 years ago. The mountain range is described as one of the most dangerous in the world and has the chilling title of being the deadliest mountain, as it claims the lives of 40 per cent of people who climb it.

At 6,200 metres, having reached camp two, something was not right, explained Jamie. “I have been a lot higher, but I have never physically worked as hard. We were carrying 25kg and there wasn’t enough time to recover, to rest.

"I only had one symptom of altitude mountain sickness and that was that I didn’t sleep that night. When we got up after a freezing night in the tent, I felt totally zonked. Matt led the climbing and on the walking sections I was breaking through snow that was chest deep."

“At this point I would take five steps and then stop to cough. The wind was howling, we couldn’t move fast enough to keep warm."

The pair made it to their next camp in a cave and at this point Jamie's breathing was 30 to 40 breaths a minute. They contacted the Remote Medical Service and Jamie took the drugs they recommended and their advice to descend 500 metres as quickly as possible.

“The descent was very hard, it was steep and icy with avalanche risks on either side of us," said Jamie. "That night was the worst, we were a long way from help and we knew we still had a long way to get back to civilisation.

“We abseiled down the face and at 5,100 metres it was like someone flicked a light switch in my head. I felt much better. That day we got down to 3,200 metres, carrying the heaviest bag of my life - 35kg - we had no porters because we were leaving earlier than we planned. We had to walk about 15km carrying everything we brought for the expedition."

Back at home Jamie reflected on what he has learnt from the experience: “We were forced to make our attempt too early in our planned programme because of the weather conditions. We went up anticipating everything that could go wrong and we had control measures in place. When things didn’t go to plan, we dealt with it and we got back down in one piece.”