Day 6 - We are on the glacier and it is absolutely magnificent...

Today we moved to full skins on our skis to get better traction for the climb up the glacier. We also began double hauling our gear, meaning we take half the gear up to a certain point, stash it, go back down and grab the other half. This makes it a bit more manageable to drag the heavy sleds up the steep terrain. We did this 3 times for what ended up being about a 9 hour day.

Being on the glacier now is indescribable. It is very different looking at it while standing on top of it versus looking at it from the air. You start to see how small we are compared to the towering might of everything around us. Even as I type this, I can hear avalanches in the distance. It is epic.

It is humbling and awe inspiring to be surrounded by these monstrous seracs and massive crevasses all around us.

There was a moment today when we came up an incline and the full scope of the glacier came in to sight. It reminded me of the time when I first saw the light after 7 days in darkness. It blew me away...

On one of the shifts, I was struggling and I thought of the men Victor Frankl wrote about who would walk around the concentration camps comforting others and giving away their last piece of bread. That level of courage and compassion is unreal. Not that what I'm doing is even 0.0001% of that, but the spirit of those men brought me strength when I needed it.

My usual go to in such moments is to navigate the battle with the mind. Which is what I did, but that's not always the answer. On the next break when I ate a bunch of food, the shift after that I was cruising up the hill again smiling. Turns out food and water give you energy. Crazy! Who would have thought :)

Lesson learned to be a bit smarter about that the next time :) 

For now, I am resting up in preparation for another hard day of climbing tomorrow and I am at peace.

Today I experienced some of my best moments ever in nature.

We are now one of 26 people to ski up this glacier and 54 to set foot on it. I could not be more grateful I get to experience all of this. The struggle is a worthy price to pay for such a hidden treasure.