A moment that changed me: I was desperate to get off the mountain – and that gut instinct saved my life

From the moment I started climbing the 7,000-metre peaks of the Pamir mountains in Tajikistan, something felt off. What followed will stay with me for ever I didn’t have a reason for my terrible feeling of dread – and that was part of the problem. From the moment I arrived in Tajikistan with my boyfriend, Tim, to climb two 7,000-metre (23,000ft) peaks, something felt off. It wasn’t a fear I could name: it was more like a constant, unnerving low hum. A helicopter dropped us off – landing on a ...

By Lucy Shepherd