This time, Mat and I set our climbing destination as Mount Baker in Washington. According to the weather forecast (预报), it was to be clear skies that day. We left the foot of the mountain at 6 p.m., aiming to reach the top at sunrise. As we traveled for four hours, the weather turned to a mix of rolling ice and rain. Shouting over the wind, we discussed turning around. But I thought back to the forecast I had checked just before leaving and believed the weather would clear up at any minute.
It didn’t. We pushed our own way through the deepening snow. At some points, the snow was up to our upper legs. We were further behind schedule with each step.
“I’ve made it to the top,” I shouted loudly to Mat over my radio. He was only 7 meters away on the other end of the rope but unable to see or hear me through the heavy snow. He joined me at the top for 20 seconds — the temperature was well below zero — before we began the 4,000-foot journey downhill.
We then reached the edge of the mountain after 5 hours (it takes about an hour and a half in good weather), unroped, and removed some of our climbing equipment, happy to be on the mountain without much difficulty ahead. And in that moment of relief, I slipped (滑倒).
Standing on a seemingly good block of snow, I started to slide. I did a textbook self-stop with my ice ax (冰镐), but the snow had started to melt (融化), and I couldn’t get any hold on anything. I slid for about 15 meters, all the while thinking I’d soon come to a stop. A few seconds later I hit a rock and got thrown into the air. A huge crack on the ground came into view below me. Then, in an instant, I felt like I was being pushed with great force onto its rock bottom 9 meters down.
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At least I stopped, I thought.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After 30 minutes Mat arrived on a nearby rock and found me.
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