Trudging nose to butt up the ropes that had been fixed to the steep slope, Panuru and I were wedged between strangers above us and below us. The day before, at Camp III, our team had been part of a small group. But when we woke up this morning, we were stunned to see an endless line of climbers passing near our tents.
Now, bumper to bumper at 27,000 feet, we were forced to move at exactly the same speed as everyone else, regardless of strength or ability. In the swirling darkness before midnight, I gazed up at the string of lights, climbers’ headlamps, rising into the black sky. Above me were more than a hundred slow-moving climbers. In one rocky section at least 20 people were attached to a single ratty rope anchored by a single badly bent picket pounded into the ice. If the picket popped, the rope or carabiner would instantly snap from the weight of two dozen falling climbers, and they would all cartwheel down the face to their death.
At this rate, the next new record will speak of the man who did NOT climb Mount Everest.
(via prempanix)
We climbed this unknown couloir in search of a fun rappel. All we found was scary rock/ice fall and mixed climbing. #skimountaineering #indianpeaks #couloir #climbing
(Source: pleasedontfeedthelightweights)
(Source: rockliners, via avoidingthetouch)
