Beep-Beep...Beep-Beep...Beep-Beep....
The sound of the alarm on my altimeter watch jars me from sleep. It's 2:10 AM. I hit the button to silence the alarm. Unfortunately there is no snooze on my watch so I have to wake up now--there's no putting it off.
Though past experiences in the mountains have taught me that looking at the weather through bleary eyes in the middle of the night does little good in helping you predict what the day will bring, I still do it out of habit. So, I unzip my bag and the door of the tent to take a look at the conditions outside before forcing Angela to come to.
Outside it's dark--something we haven't seen much of in Canada. I turn my gaze skyward hoping to see brilliant stars twinkling down on me and maybe the aurora borealis, but instead I'm greeted by thick cloud cover.
"Ah, just the signal I need to go back to sleep!" I think inside of my sleepy mind.
Then my newly acquired mantra runs through my mind, "Put yourself in a position to be lucky."
I know it will be four or five hours before we'll really be in the position where we have to consider continuing the climb or bailing, and that despite what the weather might look like now, we should get up and start preparing to climb. But so early in the morning several doubtful voices pipe up inside my head. It was easy to say yesterday that we were going to climb the Northeast Ridge of Bugaboo Spire today. But now that today is here we have to actually do it--not just say it. There are many reasons to go back to bed and give in to my fears. The questionable weather. Our lack of first hand knowledge of the descent route. Our lack of speed and confidence on snow. The unfortunate death of a fellow climber just two days before.
I repeat my mantra, "Put yourself in a position to be lucky." I cannot tell if it has any effect on the chorus of voices in my head, but I know what I must do.
I crawl back through the vestibule and into the tent. Angela stirs from her shallow sleep and inquires about the weather.
I respond quite simply, "It's time to get up."
The rest of the story....
Best 5.4 on the Planet--Almost
Mental Recovery--Climbing Eastpost Spire
