Having extra time allowed Ben to set up for a few photos. He didn’t want to take many, but Josh and I convinced him that it would be worth it. The weather was already beginning to deteriorate so taking his pack and gloves off was a very unpleasant experience. The wind started to pick up and the sky became a mix of powder and overcast. It was an eerie feeling but it confirmed our decision to turn around at the crater.

We now had the freedom to enjoy our turns. During the first few thousand feet we hardly stopped. The wind threatened to blow all our good snow away. Down further, in the bowl above Ingraham Flats, we discovered a pocket of good stuff that had managed to be untouched by the wind. We were obliged. Even though we downhilled as much as we teled, we enjoyed each and every turn as if they were our last.

On the lower slopes, remembering the icy climb up Cathedral Gap, we decided that it would be best to ski Cadaver Gap. We weren’t too sure about the snow so I volunteered to be the probe. I traversed out and found the snow to be hard, which was good. During the early 1980’s, the worst climbing accident in American history took place here when 11 people were swept into a crevasse by an avalanche. I asked Ben to take a photo looking out between the gap. It wasn’t long before he was set up and it wasn’t much longer before I found myself at the bottom. I was happy when I got to the bottom because I had always wanted to ski Cadaver Gap. Now I had, and it felt great.

A few minutes later we all met up at Camp Muir. From there, Josh and I skied down as fast as we could. There was still two inches of snow on top of ice. We had a blast. Skiing from the summit crater back to camp at the top of Pan Point took us only an hour and fifteen minutes. Not bad. We wanted to get off of the mountain before dark so we tore down camp as fast as we could, but as we were about to leave we saw a weird what should-you-ma-call-it in the sky. Ben took a photo of it and I took a photo of his cave. Soon we shouldered our packs for the final time. Josh and I were at the car in a matter of minutes and Ben wasn’t too far behind.

It seems our distraction had now been satisfied. The million to one odds turned out to be in our favor, and yet, the lessons learned came at a price that could have been much steeper. In general, we were just glad to be alive. We packed our stuff into Ben’s Mazda and drove back home. That night I tried not to think about the climb, but my mind wouldn’t let go. I’ve had a lot of close calls and each time I realize how special life is. And so, raise your glass and make a toast. To life. To living. To our next adventure…

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