Belay shoulder, and arms I could muster, I literally cramponed backwards up the crack, praying that the cornice would remain attached to the rock. My progress although slow was steady. As Tenzing paid out the rope, I inched my way upwards until I could reach over the top of the rock and drag myself out of the crack on to a wide ledge. .
For a few moments I lay regaining my breath, and for the first time really felt the fierce determination that nothing now could stop us reaching the top. I took a firm stance on the ledge and signalled to Tenzing to come on up. As I heaved hard on the rope, Tenzing wriggled his way up the crack, and finally collapsed at the top like a giant fish when it has just been hauled from the sea after a terrible struggle. .
The ridge continued as before: giant cornices on the right; steep rock sloped on the left. The ridge curved away to the right and we have no idea where the top was. As I cut around the back of one hump, another higher one would swing into view. Time was passing and the ridge seemed never-ending.
Ice Hammer Crampon Ice axe 12th - - Page . Our original zest had now quite gone, and it was turning more into a grim struggle. I then realized that the ridge ahead, instead of rising, now dropped sharply away. I looked upwards to see a narrow snow ridge running up to a snowy summit.
A few more whacks of the ice-axe in the firm snow and we stood on top. . My first feelings were of relief– relief that there were no more steps to cut, no more ridges to traverse , and no more humps to tantalize us with hopes of success. I looked at Tenzing.
In spite of the balaclava helmet, goggles, and oxygen mask – all encrusted with long icicles–that concealed his face, there was no disguising his grin of delight as he looked all around him. We shook hands, and