Quoted By:
Share your most impactful outdoor experiences. Moments or journeys that changed you.
I'll start:
I was climbing in a steep snow gully in the mountains alone. About midway up I heard the snow begin to calve from the slope above me. This deep slow crack above and then the fierce rushing of my blood, my vision narrowing, and then widening and then a yawning silence. Alone and without a rope I didn't trust the snow enough to let me downclimb. I stayed still for minutes getting hold of myself and finally I traversed over slowly and did some desperate dry tooling up a rock band. With every successful move I stared at the next with no idea of how I'd do it but I kept managing and I slowly clawed my way up the bare rock, crampons skittering, wedging myself into any openings I could find. It was so cold and the air was so still but I felt warm in the solar oven of the gully. When I finally reached the top of the gully and arrived onto the gentle shoulders of the mountain I saw that there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Pale blue forever and soft white slopes and as I looked around for a way down I saw a white beacon in the distance. I followed it for a couple of miles of featureless white terrain and I cried like a bitch when I saw that it was perched above my descent route. A shimmering column of ice crystals. It felt like God had grabbed me by the arm.
I took a picture of the light formation. I don't know what the phenomenon is called but it shook me.
Anyone have any similar stories to share?
