Lissie felt the sharp claws on the crampons hanging from her pack. The picks hung from her other side. Cora had already put hers on and was experimenting with kicking them into the ice. She sounded cheerful. “I’ve read about this in two different books. There are only two things that we have to remember.”
“Do you mean to say that there are only two things that you remember from the books?” Alexander was tightening the ratchet on the crampon’s attachment.
“They weren’t instructional books, they were journals from explorers. Fascinating stuff. But it shouldn’t matter.” She stuck her bottom out dramatically. “You must pull yourself well away from the ice, like this. So you can see where you’re kicking.” She raised a foot. “Then watch where you kick, until you get more than one claw into the ice. The other thing to practice is to keep your foot flat as you kick.” She was waving her foot in the air. “If your foot tip sinks, the claws do not make contact.” She kicked the ice with a toe, demonstrating the claws facing the wrong direction. Lissie noticed Alexander was watching with rapt attention and trying not to laugh.
Riley asked, “What about the picks?” She had one in each hand and a big grin on her face as she threw one into the ice. It stuck. “These are vicious hand axes—”
Cora interrupted her, “You can’t hold them like an axe. It said in the book to hold them loosely, and swing down. If you swing too hard, the ice shatters.” Cora demonstrated, and a chunk of ice fell off the wall. “They said that you might have to swing a few times to get a good setting.”
Lissie went back to strapping on the crampons. “I would like to practice for a bit where I’m near the ground.”
Cora said, “That’s a good idea. We need to find who is the strongest climber to find the path up. We can use the same footholds.”
They all spent some time splayed against the ice, a few feet up. Except Riley, who would kick, and then let out a whoop, and keep going. She would jump down after she made it up ten feet or so, in an explosion of snow. “This is really fun. Alright, Alexander, tie yourself to me.”
Alexander tied himself to Riley and to Cora. Lissie knew she would be the last in line. Cora tied herself to a loop on Lissie’s belt. She jerked it hard, and it cinched. Riley started climbing. Here we go. Lissie steeled herself for the easy part and kicked her boot in where Cora had just stepped above her.
Raise foot. Hold flat. Look for the shelf. Kick. Step up. Raise pick high. Swing down. Test.
Cora’s voice from above her, “It’s not so bad. As long as I don’t look past my feet.”
Lissie looked down. Her head swam. She looked back at her pick.
Lissie could almost hear Riley’s voice, but the wind drowned it out. She caught the word ‘overhang’ from Alexander, and then Cora shouted down, “Riley says there is a rock overhanging above us. We are going to have to turn across the face.”
“How do I go sideways? You said to hold the pick straight.”
“Watch me. Take your arm at an angle, but straight.”
Lissie blinked back tears brought on by the wind and snow. Every impact of the picks, every kick from the people’s boots above her, threw a shower of ice chips. She was terrified to look away. Lissie squinted up at Cora, and then swung her pick out to her right. It sank into the ice.
“Okay, now what do I do with my foot?” The rope grew taught as Cora took another step up the face, away from her. Lissie kicked out, trying to see past the shower of ice. Her foot bounced. She cringed. She kicked again. Her left foot rolled. She raised her right foot and kicked out in panic. The ice broke under her, and she took a step into nothing.
Lissie was hanging by her left arm. She looked down. She shouldn’t have looked down. The left pick broke away in a shower of ice.
She was hanging from the rope. Cora screamed.
Lissie looked up and Cora’s crampons were twisting under her, ice was falling from underneath her. Lissie swung a full arc to the side, pulling Cora with her. She is going to fall. They are all going to fall. Lissie looked at the rope in front of her, the knot, the pick still in her right hand. She thought of fire. A puff of smoke and the world fell upwards.