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SIA ambassador climbs mountain following same route as his grandfather
Brothers Niall and Finn McCann have summited Qattaujannguaq, also known as Mount Asgard on Canada’s Baffin Island in the Arctic circle, fulfilling a dream two decades in the making.
The pair climbed the iconic mountain after a gruelling 15-hour push. They were retracing the path explored during an expedition led by their grandfather, Patrick Douglas Baird.
Niall 43 said: This has been 20 years in the making, everything was training for this and then in 2016 I sustained a spinal cord injury and it looked like that dream would become unrealised.
Despite this Niall has regained his mobility, but with permanent damage to his spinal cord that still affects his movement, balance and bowel and bladder function. He recently announced he has become an ambassador for the Spinal Injuries Association to support others like him with spinal cord injury across the UK.
Arriving back at his home yesterday in Basseleg he said: “I am still tired but feeling immensely contented. My balance and strength aren’t good since my spinal cord injury but I made it to the top of Mt Asgard to honour my grandfather who named it and that is something special for me and my family”
This whole trip took weeks and having to operate at a high level for that time at a massive calorie deficit was tough.
While the conditions are tough for anyone, for Niall there are additional challenges. “My calves don’t work and an enormous amount of your walking strength comes from your calves. No nervous activity reaches the backs of my legs, so the fronts of my shins have grown very strong and they do all of the work that my calves, my hamstrings and my glutes would have been doing.”
This became a real concern when on the way to the mountain they encountered what Niall describes a violent raging torrent of water which they needed to cross. “The way my brother described it was like listening to an underwater landslide. It was shooting over the cliff edge like a crazy waterspout and then flying down the mountainside, it was like the sound of drums with all these rocks being pummelled under the water.” The pair were really panicking because they knew they had to cross that river soon to get the right weather window to the mountain.
Finally, after 28 hours, the water levels had come down a bit and they crossed with all their gear. They were each carrying a huge 45 kilogrammes of gear on their backs and the strength of the torrent ripped off one of Niall’s shoes. “If you’d fallen while carrying a very heavy bag, there was a real risk of either drowning or being swept away to much worse water downstream. With my spinal cord injury, my balance isn’t brilliant and so I had to concentrate very hard: one wobble and the consequences could have been fatal.”
Despite this, Niall and his brother made the summit after a gruelling climb. They spent a magical 10 hours bivouacked on the summit, soaking in 360˚ views of jagged peaks and glaciers before their 11-hour descent back to camp.
It was wonderfully emotional and standing on top of the mountain our grandfather climbed was surreal and deeply happy.
Niall who is married with a 6-year-old daughter said; “We were in touch via our satellite devices the whole time and the family are obviously very proud, but I think most importantly, they’re just happy that we’re back safe and sound.”
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