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CHEATING DEATH
Climbing: On the edge, pushing limits. Higher and higher, my world is air and a slippery ridge of ice covered rock. My head swims in exposure, as my vertical dance takes me closer...
Snow: Deep and heavy, never ending, mile after mile after mile. Thick as quick sand embracing my legs. Each exhausting step cements me further into the mountainside. Think light, sink less. If only I could fly…
The summit: A brief victory in a hostile place. Late in the day, dark and cold. So far from home, so far from the life I know…
The wind: Screaming, suffocating, unforgiving. Ears stinging, eyes tearing. Not a good day to die. Not a good day to die…
Descending: Hour after hour after hour. Joints aching, lungs burning as I stumble past each tombstone of rock. They are watching me, searching for my weaknesses. I will not stop. I will not give up...
Hypothermia: Cold...Cold…
No trail, no light. Pushed on only by the memory of what was; home, family, friends. A sense of life’s true meaning; to live, to learn, to love. The mountain gave more than it took…
“Hypothermic and exhausted, Michael and his wife Serenity pushed on through severe conditions to a successful ascent of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range during the winter of 1996. Due to high winds and frequent storms, the ice filled gullies of the White Mountains provide a suitable training ground for the world’s greater mountain ranges.”
Climbing: On the edge, pushing limits. Higher and higher, my world is air and a slippery ridge of ice covered rock. My head swims in exposure, as my vertical dance takes me closer...
Snow: Deep and heavy, never ending, mile after mile after mile. Thick as quick sand embracing my legs. Each exhausting step cements me further into the mountainside. Think light, sink less. If only I could fly…
The summit: A brief victory in a hostile place. Late in the day, dark and cold. So far from home, so far from the life I know…
The wind: Screaming, suffocating, unforgiving. Ears stinging, eyes tearing. Not a good day to die. Not a good day to die…
Descending: Hour after hour after hour. Joints aching, lungs burning as I stumble past each tombstone of rock. They are watching me, searching for my weaknesses. I will not stop. I will not give up...
Hypothermia: Cold...Cold…
No trail, no light. Pushed on only by the memory of what was; home, family, friends. A sense of life’s true meaning; to live, to learn, to love. The mountain gave more than it took…
“Hypothermic and exhausted, Michael and his wife Serenity pushed on through severe conditions to a successful ascent of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range during the winter of 1996. Due to high winds and frequent storms, the ice filled gullies of the White Mountains provide a suitable training ground for the world’s greater mountain ranges.”