Daughter to climb Ben Hope in memory of climber father on anniversary of his and friend's death on the mountain
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It will be the most poignant of ascents.
The eldest daughter of a famous climber who died on a Sutherland peak with a fellow legendary mountaineer is to attempt scale the same hill that claimed them this week to raise money in her father's memory.
Even more emotionally, Adele Perry, 24, will also make the trek on the first anniversary of the tragedy.
Father-of-three Steve Perry, 47, who lived at Dalcross near Inverness, was killed in February last year with Andy Nisbet, 65.
They got into severe difficulty on 3041-ft high Ben Hope in Sutherland.
Steve initially survived the fall and managed to make a call for help by mobile phone.
Their bodies were recovered after a two day operation involving nearly 50 members of mountain rescue teams and two Coastguard helicopters.
Now Adele will on Wednesday - the first anniversary of the tragedy – try and climb Ben Hope in memory of her father.
She is also raising money for two of the mountain rescue teams that risked their lives to try and save the pair.
Adele, an auxiliary veterinary nurse, has already doubled her initial target of £500 and hopes to raise much more.
"I know it will be hard and emotional and I will be thinking of my dad every step of the way," said Adele who lives at Littleborough in Greater Manchester.
"I hope I can reach the summit but I will do my best. The weather may also play a part. All I can do is try.
"I am raising money for the Assynt MRT and Dundonnell MRT because both of these mountain rescue teams risked their lives to try and save my dad and Andy. I can never thank them enough for what they did. Some of the team will be with me - which is fantastic.
"I just felt I wanted to give something back and to make my dad proud."
Adele said her thoughts would also be with Andy, who had shared so much with her father.
"They were into winter climbing routes on Ben Hope and had waited for weeks for the weather to be right to establish this new route. I am glad they had done what they had set out to do and finished the route," she said.
"I did not know Andy, but I know he and dad became great friends and my dad told me lots of stories about him - and of them climbing together. They were very close - Andy was my dad's best mate.
"I am not a climber and I have not done a Munro - but I did climb Snowdon (Wales's highest mountain at 3560 ft) with my dad when I was six years old.
"I used to do hillwalking with him when I was younger. He was such an inspiration to me. Dad achieved so much but remained a very humble man.
"I loved him to bits. I am doing this to keep his memory alive and say thanks to those who risked their lives to save my dad and Andy.
"Dad lived for climbing - it was his life. The only comfort I can take was that he died doing something he loved so much. He lived for the moment - and he had many great moments - to get the most out of life because he said you never knew when it would end."
In the winter of 2005/06, Steve became the first person to complete a continuous unsupported winter round of Scotland's Munros entirely on foot.
He was also the first person to have finished two continuous Munro rounds, having also walked Land's End to John O'Groats via every mainland 3,000 foot mountain in between, in a seven-and-a-half-month trek in 2003.
Adele said her walk on Wednesday will be especially poignant "because it was also the last mountain that dad finished his Munro round on".
Andy, who lived in Boat of Garten, was a former Scottish Mountaineering Club president and received the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture
in 2014. He helped establish 1000 winter climbing routes.
Steve was also a passionate Scottish winter - and summer - devotee, with many new ascents to his credit.
A tribute on UKC clibing website said: "In recent years he and Andy had established a strong new routeing partnership. They were driving forces in the late development of Ben Hope, a mountain largely neglected until recent seasons."
Andy's appearance and climbing style earned him the nicknames "Honey Monster" and "The Droid".
To donate to Adele's walk
Dundonnell MRT - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/adele-perry2
Assynt MRT - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/adele-perry1
