The Mountain Climber
Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve always had a knack for climbing things. I’d climb around the house, on my playset, and up trees. I have always been interested at looking at the world from a higher point of view, because the world has always spoken to me in different ways, whether it be from the top of the tree, or the top of the world.

My first experience climbing a mountain was when I was 10. My dad and I were out east in Maine in the city of Riley, climbing Mt. Carlo, a mountain standing 3,565 feet tall. We started out the three hour hike, up the rocky terrain, and the nature around me was beautiful consisting of pine trees, and animals, this is when I realized I had a huge love for the wilderness. When my dad and I finally reached the top, we looked over the city of Riley, and were astonished by the view of the small city on the outskirts of Maine.
“It truly is beautiful”, my dad exclaimed. He had the biggest love for nature I had ever seen out of anyone I knew, and he was climbing mountains ever since he was a young boy just like me. I guess that is where I got my inspiration and love of climbing mountains from.
“It sure is daddy, now, how do we get down?”, I asked as a little boy, curious in his times.
“I’ll show you son”, he walked over and grabbed two rappel ropes and we rappelled down the mountain, I was so scared, but it was the most fun I have ever had.
“Thanks for taking me today dad”, I said to my father as we got in the car and started our
ride home.
“You are welcome son, lets go get some food”.
I thought about all of this before I took my first step, with my long beard flowing in the wind. I thought about my dad, who had passed three years ago today, and I will do this all for him. I am 26 and I have been climbing everything you can imagine for 16 years now, but now I face my biggest goal, climbing Mount Everest. The K2 mountain is the highest mountain in the world in Himalaya, Karakoram standing at 28,251 feet tall. The hike to the peak of the mountain will take nine days and eight nights, and it will all be for my father. “I love you dad”, and thats when I took my first step in to the cold atmosphere to achieve my life long goal.

My goal was to go 3,139 feet per day, without any problems, but I know there are going to be problems along the way. In my crew there were five other members, two friends, and three guides to help us get up the jagid and gruesome terrain. Since I was the biggest standing at 6’4 and was the strongest I would be carrying the most weight.
It was a beautiful, warm spring day in April, our first day on our road to the top of the mountain. The birds were chirping and the smell of pine and nature was flowing through my nostrils. The trails at the beginning were very simple, lots of families would take these trails for a friendly, nature hike, but thats not what my crew was about. So, we started our journey, to be one of the few amount of people to climb this mountain.
On the third day in our nine day trip we reached the snow, since it was spring, the sun was still very warm, but the depth of the snow was unbearable. The snow ate through my skin causing frostbite on my fingertips, and my body was colder than it should be. We already battled through the heat, but now the transition to the cold was going to be a tough transition.
My first obstacle came on the 5th day, we were around 17,000 feet from sea level where my ears were starting to pop, and the wind was blowing at around 40 knots from the east. It was snowing like crazy, and around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, it hit us. An avalanche, it came down so fast and took us all by surprise. The snow covered my cheeks and burned through the skin because the snow was so cold. As the snow tumbled down upon us,and engulfed my body I could taste the snow come into my mouth, and it tasted as if I was eating salt. As the white snow covered me, I could hear the words coming out of my fathers mouth. He told me,“If you ever are in an avalanche lay down on your back and let the snow topple above you until the avalanche is done. Then when it is done, spit up and whatever way it goes dig the opposite way, because that is the way to the top for air.” So as the avalanche passed, I remembered what my father told me and got out of the snow blanket trapping me from continuing my journey, and started the search for my comrades.
“Hello!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, I could hear whistles coming from several locations, and I went to the noise and dug out four of the people in my crew, but there was one person we couldn’t find, a crew guide who was supposed to help us get to the top of the mountain. He was gone, under the snow, dead most likely, or struggling to get out of the snow coma. We left and tried not to think about the person that had been guiding us for the last 5 days.
We made it to the 10th day, we had 1,000 feet to the top of the mountain and the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day and I could hear planes flying as if they were right above me, but temperatures were over sixty below zero degrees fahrenheit. I made the last step to the highest point above sea level in the world, and I was so proud of myself, and it was all for my father. I remember looking out into the distance and I could see the beautiful landscape all around me. The mountain peaks in the distance were almost fake looking, and it was as if I could see the world drop off and see the roundness of the mountain. It was truly a breathtaking experience. My crew and I took a moment of silence to relax and remember our fallen friend who helped guide us half way up the mountain. I made my dreams come true, now I just have to climb down.