Mark Woodward - Ice Climb
It only took Ross 50 feet on the ice after he took the lead to find his first crevasse. When he found it, he was not pleased. Of course, I was thrilled. He fell right through the snow bridge and found himself in an awkward half-in, half-out position, one foot dangling in the abyss. Kyle and I heard no plea for assistance because his cry was camouflaged by ten adrenaline-fueled minutes of the most vulgar insults I, a military man, had ever heard. In retrospect, I am not sure what Ross was upset with. Was it the fact that he had been convinced to go climbing and learned everything he knew about crevasse rescue, glacier navigation, and ice climbing the night before, or was it the team's actions after we determined he was fine? Kyle and I started to laugh. We laughed hard. We took a risk, and this time he fell into a crevasse.

This trip gave me a great respect for Ross. He knew no ice craft, but he didn't care. He trusted Kyle and me to keep him alive, and he wanted to learn. So he did. He took the reins in the middle of a snow storm and led the team. Sure it was into a crevasse field, but that was my fault. I didn't see it either. He learned by doing, controlled what he could, and discovered that climbing comes down to acceptable risk and dealing with it, taking that step into the unknown.

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