Have You Ever Known Beyond Doubt You Were About To Die?

Lessons one learns both in the moment and across the years

Alpine climbing is an unforgettable experience, and not for the faint of heart (Outside Online)

When one survives having seen certain death approaching, the memories of the experience tend to become hard-wired in one’s brain. Here’s my story, and I encourage readers to leave their own experiences, that we all may share the lessons learned along the way.

Back in the mid-80’s and early on in my Navy career, I was part of an alpine climbing group in Washington state. One weekend we summited Mount Ellinor, one of the shorter peaks in the Olympic Mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula west of Seattle, and we were transiting over to Mount Washington. It was an early summer day, the sky was clear, and there was little wind — perfect climbing weather. Alpine climbing is inherently dangerous, but we had all been well-trained and we thought we were aware of the dangers.

On a side note, one should understand the difference between rock climbing and alpine climbing:

Rock climbing on Half Dome in Yosemite Park in California, as compared to alpine climbing up Mount Rainier in Washington State. Why climb either one? Because it’s there.

Rock climbing seems more dangerous, but as long as one has the right equipment and training, it’s relatively safe — you can almost always see the danger…