ALASKA
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| "High on Ice: Climbing the Matanuska Glacier" in MENZ no. 26 text + photos by Stephen Ausherman |
excerpt:
Odd feeling, clinging to a frozen wall 50 feet above a crystalline
stream full of shale and serpentine. What feels worse is when the
wall shudders with a resounding report not unlike a nearby car
crash. The glacier is shifting. It thuds against my chest with the
force of a bass amplifier, and I’m wondering if that will affect
the ice screws that are holding the rope that is tethered to my
harness.
I concentrate on moving one limb at a time. Reach left arm up.
Sink ax into ice. Reach right arm up. Sink ax into ice. Step up
left foot. Kick in crampon. Step up right foot. Kick in crampon.
I’m getting the rhythm of it: stretch, swing, stretch, swing, kick,
kick, stand. Problem is, I can’t trust that a mere half-inch of
steel stuck in brittle water will support my weight. So I kick and
chop into the glace with far too much force and end up with
crushed ice. And suddenly, I’m falling.
Somebody told me that ice climbing is easier than rock climbing.
Somebody lied. ...
Odd feeling, clinging to a frozen wall 50 feet above a crystalline
stream full of shale and serpentine. What feels worse is when the
wall shudders with a resounding report not unlike a nearby car
crash. The glacier is shifting. It thuds against my chest with the
force of a bass amplifier, and I’m wondering if that will affect
the ice screws that are holding the rope that is tethered to my
harness.
I concentrate on moving one limb at a time. Reach left arm up.
Sink ax into ice. Reach right arm up. Sink ax into ice. Step up
left foot. Kick in crampon. Step up right foot. Kick in crampon.
I’m getting the rhythm of it: stretch, swing, stretch, swing, kick,
kick, stand. Problem is, I can’t trust that a mere half-inch of
steel stuck in brittle water will support my weight. So I kick and
chop into the glace with far too much force and end up with
crushed ice. And suddenly, I’m falling.
Somebody told me that ice climbing is easier than rock climbing.
Somebody lied. ...
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