The early morning wind catches the edge of a cornice, swirling bits of crystalline snow down-glacier. The sky is still a deep violet blue, the mountains outlined in the pastel palette of dawn. I’ve been climbing steadily for nearly five hours by the light of a Petzl headlamp and the promise of sun is a welcome sight. Pausing for a moment, I secure my ice axe and reach deep inside my jacket. Food can wait, water is secondary. I need to capture this moment, this mountain waking up.

I steady the camera, holding my breath to keep the vapor trail from wrecking the shot. This is the Journey, the upward ascent, the time between yesterday and tomorrow.


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This is my journey. As a mountaineer, freelance writer and photographer, my specialty is capturing progress.

Ti Conkle

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