I had totally forgotten that Adam also climbed Mount Saint Helens with us in the Spring of 2003. I dug, and found some old treasures!

Adam Langford climbing the South flank of Mt. St. Helens, before closure later that year. Mt. Adams rises in the distance.

Adam and I were the only skiiers - randoneé, of course, the only proper all-mountain skis - in a gang of unruly snowboarders. Naturally, we had to watch each other’s backs. Or, we would have been, had I not forgotten my skis at the shop in the whirlwind of leaving town.

After the laughter and merciless ribbing subsided, we all had a great climb. Adam bears the distinction of being the only climber I’ve been with that triggered an avalanche - above me, of course. He was traversing just below a summit cornice, and punched through the crust too many times with his feet. Heck, I was so far down at that point (trying to stay ahead of the riders) I wouldn’t have known until it was too late.

Fortunately, it was well into Spring, and the slab avy moved at an almost comically glacial pace. It crawled along, coming to a rest several hundred meters hence, its fury spent. Jason um, walked alongside and filmed it with his G3 camera; he’s got footy somewhere. Dodged that bullet! Yet another good laugh on a great day in the mountains.

Posted in Adventures, Photography