Monte Montepare
speaker
28 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard Dec 2024
Monte Montepare’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
We went into problem solving mode and I told her I thought that I could climb up a ways but I didn't know how to get past the overhanging lip of snow at the top of the crack. It's hard to get past the snowy lip even if you're roped in and you fall into a crevasse. By punching through you create this overhang that you have to somehow get over.
And Elizabeth's eyes lit up and she said, if you can get up here, I can get you past that lip. And then she disappeared.
By the time I started climbing, I had been in this crevasse for at least 20 minutes and I'm cold and I'm stiff and it was narrow enough that I could touch each wall and I start pushing and pulling on the walls with my hand and using smaller cracks as hand holds, improving tiny ledges with my ski pole and I climb up five feet and 10 feet and then I look down and I do not like what I see.
This snow I had landed on looks like cotton candy, and there's darkness through the holes, and any time that I knock an ice crystal through them, I cannot hear it hit the bottom. I climb up five more feet until I'm finally right below the snow, a place that I can't go any further by myself. And I establish this icy stance and the reality of the situation hits me really hard.
I have just turned a relaxing weekend in the wilderness into a life or death situation. And I'm terrified. And just then, I hear the flap of fabric and a flash of color. And the first of four brightly colored brand new Arc'teryx rain jackets. Tied sleeve to sleeve is lowered down in front of me. And I had never been so happy my clients had brand new rain gear.
And I grab a hold of what is at least a $3,000 robe. And Elizabeth and those New Yorkers pulled me past the lip and into the sunshine. And when I got there, I was embarrassed. But they tried to soothe me. They said things like, we're just really impressed that you climbed out of there. And you know everyone makes mistakes. They even swore themselves to secrecy to hide my shame.
Which I hope they told some people because that is one doozy of a first time camping tale. I myself didn't tell anybody for years I was so ashamed of this incident. But these days I own that guide service and I tell all the new guides this story under the heading, the glacier does not care how full your beard is.
Because the truth is we all do make mistakes and the real shame is not being able to admit them and share them with others so that we can all learn. Thank you.
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