No Belays

Bill Crouse sits at a "belay" on the corniced ridge. In fact, there were no belays. There was breakable crust overlying bottomless depth hoar. All protection was useless, like trying to place a deadman in styrofoam pellets. The belay plan: "If I fall, you jump off the other side of the ridge..." The summit of Mount Hungtinton rises in the background. (If you expand the photo, look at the spindrift whipping off the summit of Mount Huntington.) Denali National Park, Alaska, USA.