“Long 15 miles tomorrow with one of harder snowier passes. Heavy pack as just resupplied. And thunderstorms in forecast.” —Satellite message sent from Glacier Park

By Mary Anderson

First, don’t fall, but if you do, try to fall feet-first on your belly. Of course, this seldom happens.

Don’t focus on the shock of the fall, how much it hurts, or your fear of picking up speed as you approach the trees at the bottom of the mountain. Focus instead on your ice ax. Grab the spike so it does not impale your critical organs. And while you are sliding at a high rate of speed, focusing on the position of your hands on the ax, you must also focus on your feet. Do not, under any circumstances, allow your cramponed feet to hit the ground, unless you want to break your lower limbs in multiple places.

Dig the point of the ax pick into the ground. Fight against the weight of the thirty-five-pound pack on your back and flip yourself into the correct belly-down, head-uphill arrest position. Keep your face down, close to the snow, which you may be eating mouthfuls of at this point. Make sure not to let the adze cut your face or shoulder to pieces.

While digging that spike into the ground, raise your belly off the snow and rise slightly onto your knees. While kneeling, you may as well throw in a few desperate prayers to the patron saint of stopping falls.

When done correctly, you will come to a stop before going off the edge of the cliff.