MOUNTAIN LIFE - Coast Mountains | Fall Winter 2018

FALL/WINTER 2018 MLCM 109 words and photography :: Kieran Brownie The alpine bowl cradles the still air, cooling and condensing its parts into a swirl of milky- thick cloud. A forceful bark emanates from somewhere overhead. Through the lens I spot Marc-André in the middle of Ledge Mountain’s north face, slowly picking at a steep section of dark stone. Below I see Brette, her shoulders hunched against the cold. Winter climbing, what a thing. We’d risen early, the three of us; a bumpy drive delivering us to the coastal snowline. A cold arctic air mass had settled in overnight, good for walking, good for climbing. We pressed upward without speaking, forging ahead to the chosen route, our path to suffering and hopefully success. We stopped only once on the approach, kneeling to drink unfiltered from a still-flowing stream—out of respect as much as anything. Difficult winter climbing takes time. One must be patient: patient with one’s self because it’s important not to rush into potentially dangerous situations; patient with conditions because timing is everything; and patient with partners because a rope team must be unwavering in its intent and focus. Things can get challenging, they will be frightening, and danger swirls constantly with the snow and the clouds. In the belay cave, now joined by Brette, I peer out into nothingness as swearing echoes down from above, then debris, then silence—intervals of time marked only by the passing of the rope as Marc-André chips his way up an oblique groove choked with rotten snow. I pendulum my legs and swing my arms in wide circles, using centrifugal force to push warm blood into my frozen extremities. Above, we hear Marc-André, “Secure.” FOR EVERY DAWN INSIGHT