Crevasse | Teen Ink

Crevasse

January 10, 2017
By Jnoon BRONZE, Newmarket, New Hampshire
Jnoon BRONZE, Newmarket, New Hampshire
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

“John! John! Pick up John! it’s Ryan! I'm stuck above camp four!” The radio crackles with no response. “John! I can't see more than two feet! I can't find camp!” The radio crackles with a little more life.
“Ryan! Get yourself down! This storm is real bad, we all turned around hours ago.” The radio blows out with a loud crackle and shuts off. It comes back on with a sputter, “Head down now! it's only getting worse.” The radio crackles one last time and shuts down for good. 
One step at a time, I hope I'm going the right way. I lose my thought as the wind knocks me off my feet. I tumble down a slope screaming. My knee smashes on a slab of ice and feels like fire. My throat burns as I yell louder and start to cough up blood. I roll and slide helplessly down to a stop, pawing at the blood red snow covering my face. My clothes are packed with snow and ice, freezing me to the bone. I lay there like a block of ice, unable to move.
This snow is deep, one step and I sink to my waist. I push forward, the snow gives out. Falling down through the snow, I can't stop myself. I break through the bottom and tumble downward. The air rushes past me, and I think of the one thing my first guide had ever told me.
“Know when to turn around,” his voice in my head. I had so many chances to go down. I thought I was being strong to push on, but really, the others were strong to turn back.
Hitting the ground with a thud, my body freezes up. I'm blacking out, I close my eyes. Then slowly they open again, alive.


The author's comments:

        This writing was inspired by how you have to be safe while climbing no matter how bad you want to summit. It also shows how they split up and did not work as a climbing team, leading to disaster.


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