We had hiked 15 miles over 8 hours but that was of little concern. Getting to the summit before dark became our priority.

Traversing down and across the boulders took longer than we had expected. There were a few slabs that we could run across and some sections of trail that we could walk but most of it involved hopping from one small boulder to the next, many of which were loose. The traverse led to a climb that slowed us to a crawl. Larger boulders provided a secure footing but there was no easy way up. Getting down would be just as difficult. We wanted to be off this slope before dark. Reaching the summit seemed out of the question but we didn't carry our skis and boots 17 miles for nothing.

We reached Dome Glacier around 5pm. Stopping for water refreshed our bodies. Seeing the summit refreshed our minds. The glacier turned flat so we picked up the pace. Tennis shoes helped us keep it. We passed two climbers descending with ropes, crampons, ice axe, you name it. They said that the main summit wasn't too far (they thought they were behind). We set up camp next to theirs so they kept an eye on us during what was to come. At that point we didn't have a plan.

We eventually reached the turning point. Go left and climb (perhaps ski) the Main Summit or go right and ski (perhaps climb) the SW Summit. We had enough time to do one but not enough to do both. The Hummels preferred to climb the Main but I convinced them to ski the SW. I knew that I'd be back to climb the Main but there was no way that I'd be back to ski the SW. Especially in late summer.

We switched to ski boots and crampons and headed right.

There were several problems with the face we were about to climb. First, the large bergschrund guarding its base. Second, the dark patches of glacier ice threatening its entirety. Those two were obvious. The rest we didn't discover until it was too late.

The bergschrund crossing was more difficult than it looked. New snow made it deceptively easy so we continued. The slope here was 40 degrees. We didn't have a rope although it wouldn't have done much good without ice screws. The base was solid ice. Most of it was covered with a couple inches of corn so we were confident that we could ski it.

As the slope turned from 40 to 55 my confidence faded. I looked down at Josh and said "we can't ski this." He agreed. Jason had disappeared beneath the cresting horizon. I didn't have an ice axe so my best bet was to continue. I clawed my way up the remaining slope using two self-arrest grips. The slope eased from 50 to 40 degrees but my panic remained. When I reached the top I discovered a problem -- there was a large gap between the snow and the rock. I traversed a short section and climbed inside the moat where I made a sketchy hop onto the rock. The ridge was another 30ft above me so I took off my crampons and ditched my pack and poles. A short 5^th class scramble led to another problem -- the opposite side was a vertical cliff. I reminded myself of the ski and there were some 4^th class ledges near the ridge so I continued. A couple hundred feet higher I discovered the biggest problem of them all -- there was no way out.

I was hoping to traverse to the Main Summit and descend the standard route but a knife-edge ridge and a 5.5 crack pitch stood in my way. With no rope and glunky boots and skis, any 5^th class climbing was out of the question.

The downclimb was as bad as I care to imagine. My panic continued until I reached the moat. Josh nearly stumbled into its darkened depths. Jason was a little ways behind. My mind was all over the place.

I've climbed and skied some pretty crazy stuff but I've never felt that desperate or scared. If there had been a way around I would have taken it. Unfortunately, there wasn't. I've never reconsidered a ski that I was able to climb. My confidence was broken.

I did my best to explain our situation to the Hummels. It took a lot of convincing but we agreed to descend the face that we climbed up. Downclimbing the face would have taken hours. It was 7pm so we decided to ski. A 500ft slide into a bergschrund gave us a better chance at survival than a 1000ft tumble onto rock although I tried not to think about those things.

Anxiety stuck. I put on my skis and left the relative safety of the moat. The exit was kinda sketchy. I imagine that it was 60 degrees. The face was a more comfortable 40. I looked back at Josh and said "we can do this." He questioned. Jason was still climbing into the moat. I must have waited a good 15 minutes before Jason was ready to go. Josh stood by until the last possible second. I had set up for a photo but Josh refused to go further than 5ft in front of me. He said that he had skied this type of snow before and that it wouldn't hold. I disagreed and took the lead.

I led a fairly comfortable traverse back to our tracks and stopped beneath a crevasse on the south side of the face. The slope had turned to 45 degrees but I managed to wait there and even took a photo as the Hummels made their way across. Ice poked through in a few sections but there was plenty of corn to give our edges grip. Jason made a jump turn and traversed to the middle of the face. He hesitated a moment then starting cranking turns down the 50+ degree face. The barrier was shattered and my confidence was fixed. Josh and I followed.

I wasn't sure that I would turn but I was glad that I did. We made it down the face in no-time. Josh and I followed our tracks across the bergschrund while Jason continued down hoping that there would be another way across. He busted a move and it was over.

We had less than an hour of daylight remaining so we hurried our way across the flat glacier. There were a few uphills but we managed to make it to the rock descent before dark. We took off our skis and hobbled down the boulders with a mix of sunset and moonlight. The slabs at the base provided the comfort that we needed. We switched to tennis shoes and continued the traverse back to camp. Most of it was slightly uphill. All of it was visible thanks to the generous moonlight. We made it back to camp around 10pm.

Dinner was well overdue. So was a rest. We ate, drank and slept.

I was not looking forward to the hike out. We had hiked, climbed and skied nearly 25 miles the first day and had 15 miles left for the second. I'm glad that the weather was good because my mind couldn't have taken any more abuse.

The first was bad but the second was worse. We packed up and left camp around 9am. It didn't take long for my knees to start hurting. The pain went away until we reached the bushes. Then, my whole body began to hurt as I ducked, twisted and jumped every other step. Finally, we arrived at Six Mile Camp. I'm not sure why they call it that but let me remind you of the difference between 6 miles and 6.6 miles. 6 miles takes 2 hours to hike. 6.6 miles takes over 2 hours. I dreaded each and every additional minute.

This is a ski that you recommend to your worst enemies but it's good to be shared among friends.

My promise was broken so it's time for another… I'll at least wait until next spring.

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