Sleepless Mountain (4)

For those who don't climb mountains, it might be difficult to understand why we choose to start climbing at 3 AM, a time with poor visibility and when people are tired. Regarding this, those who haven't personally climbed a glacier cannot truly experience its dangers. Unlike other parts of the mountain, a glacier can be said to be alive. It changes constantly, and you must proceed with extreme caution, step by step. One wrong move could lead to a fall into a crevasse tens of feet deep. Even if you don't die on the spot, unless you can be quickly rescued by your companions, the cold moisture will rapidly drain your body heat, leading to death by hypothermia. If you're lucky enough to fall on a gentle slope, the least severe outcome is a sprain or fracture, while severe cases could result in a concussion or immediate death. Therefore, experienced mountaineers try to avoid lingering on glaciers for too long. They choose to climb during the cooler early morning hours. At this time, the glacier's movement is slowest, and the ice is relatively stable. This minimizes the variables that could lead to an accident. On this particular night, we turned off the lights and rested at 8 PM, to conserve energy for the next day's journey. As usual, it's hard to sleep soundly at high altitudes. However, since Mita and I had just returned from Kangchenjunga, our acclimatization at base camp was going well. So, we managed to get some broken sleep.