The cold up here was incredible. Margaret’s feet were on their way to numb. She had to sit, back against the ferocious wind, to take her crampons off in order to get her wind pants on over the top of all the other layers she was already wearing. Arlene crouched next to her. They tried to force down some food even though the altitude had silenced their appetites; they needed the calories to fuel their ascent. But everything they’d brought was frozen. Arlene nearly broke her tooth on a piece of Grace’s moose jerky. She put it inside her coat to thaw against her body. The water bottles were
...more
