It has been two days and this climb has been look back at how far you have come. Below you stretches a steep, wide slope winding lazily to and fro between sharp, rocky pinnacles all the way to ground level. Why, O why did you decide to do this on your own? People in groups bigger than a college fraternity have died on this mountain and you, armed with far less than the latest technology, think that you can do this solo? Apparently so. You still don’t want to turn back, do you? You always were a stubborn one to be sure.

Thus far it has been reletively easy. This hasn’t been much more than a subzero hike thus far, but soon you must begin the climb. The very thought worries you and for a moment, you regret your choice in coming here. Sure, you’ve climbed many-a-mountain in your time on this dirtball known as Earth but this is different. This is Everest, the tallest mountain on land. Sure, the height is miniscule compared to the mighty peaks of other planets such as Mars, or even those beneath the deep blue seas. In fact, from what you’ve read, Everest is about the same height as most of the surrounding mountain peaks, trumping them by only a few meters. Still, this place has meaning. It is one of Nature’s great marvels and a test of humankind’s own strength.

Sucking up your breath and gathering together all of your remaining willpower, you grab onto a chunk of frozen rock and pull yourself up, taking on this mountain as you do life: one step at a time; never looking too far into the future, lest you lose hope for a better tomorrow.

Another couple days of this, setting a slow pace for yourself, and you’ve reached the South Summit. That was the easy part compared to what’s next. The remainder of the mountain seems a sheer upward slope on one side and a steep set of steps on the other. Neither look particularly appetizing but then again nothing has looked particularly edible to you for the past couple of days.

With the thought of much-needed sustenance still fresh in mind, you set up camp, pull out your small, portable gas stove and extract a small box of matches from your heavy fleece jacket pocket. The cold is almost unbearable and the air is thinner than you’re particularly comfortable with. It’s a good thing you brought a couple tanks of oxygen with you or you’d be in a world of misery by now.

As you pitch your paper-thin tent and unroll your sleeping bag, you once again begin to regret your choice in coming here alone, but it’s too late to turn back now, isn’t it? You’re so close to the ultimate zenith of the world, yet at the same time still so very far away. It somewhat irks you just to look up at that daunting summit mocking you, laughing at your weakness. Is it really taunting you, or do you just need some anti-psychotics? A little sleep would do you a world of good, you figure. So, with that thought fresh in mind, you heat up some chicken noodle soup and force the steaming fluid down your throat while trying your very best not to throw it right back up before retiring to your tent for a few short hours of sleep.

You awaken again some time in the early morning, you surmise. The temperature is cold enough to kill you if you aren’t careful, so you get out of your tent and start your morning with some rigorous exercise to get your blood flowing. After about half an hour of this, you pack up your gear and set off. Your path takes a big yet subtle dip before the final tower of rock appears before you. You look for some way to complete your journey and it seems the gods have smiled upon you this day. Along the vast steps leading up the mountain, it seems that a vast fissure has appeared, cleaving the rock in two along many segments. The choice seems rather simple to you. The broken steps it is!

As you near the fissure, you hear a crack. You look up just in time to see a big chunk of an upper ledge form a fracture that spreads quite quickly. Although the chunk of ice and rock that seems to desire freedom from the rest of the mountain is not directly above you, it looks as though the resulting impact from its fall will severely affect the surrounding area, including the ground you stand on right now!

Thinking quickly, you pull out your trusty ice pick and begin to assault the fissure in the rock and ice like a madman, climbing up and up and fast as you possibly can. You reach the top of the first step just in time to see the huge slab of rock and ice crash down and slam into the area you had stood just moments before, tumbling down the steep slope in the direction of the South Summit and stopping about halfway.

Just as you are about to let out a sigh or relief, you find yourself gripped with an intense nausea and an uncontrollable nosebleed. The sky off in the distance looks angry and clouded. It’s probably a blizzard. Wasting no time, you quickly snap yourself out of a stupor and begin your final assault. By now you're on your second oxygen tank and things are looking silently curse your stubborn nature and continue with your vertigo trek.

You’re close to the mountains peak. You can taste the lack of air at the top. The icy wind blows faintly, whispering similar tales of endurance and triumph from the past, as well as the brisk kiss of Death bestowed upon those less fortunate. You are close. O, so close. Just a little further... only a few more steps and... There! You’ve made it!

What a spectacular sight it is! The view is breathtaking, although a storm now draws dangerously close to you. It now occurs to you that you’ll likely die very soon. If not from the sheer exhaustion of your journey, then certainly from the blizzard that is so very close to you now. You can even feel the first flakes of snow landing on your face.

As the blizzard begins to set in, you ever more feel tired and sleepy, much more so than normal. If only you could get just a few moments of rest...

You collapse upon the icy summit with a dull thud as a darkness grows over your vision. As sleep now claims you, the last thing you feel is the powerful rush of ice and snow blowing viciously through the sky. Ah, the wind in your hair...

Syrus Magistus - ©2007