Читать книгу Edge of the Map. The Mountain Life of Christine Boskoff онлайн

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CHRIS AND KEITH CONTINUED TO scrape together vacation time, finding long weekends to flee Atlanta for greater challenges throughout 1994 and 1995. On one such getaway, New Hampshire was the destination. Relative to the mountains of the Greater Himalayas or the Andes, Mount Washington in the White Mountains of New England pales at 6,289 feet. Yet its proximity to the intersection of several storm tracks makes it one of the deadliest mountains in the United States. Catching storms from every direction, the mountain faces brutal gusts that can come out of nowhere. Small outbuildings at the peak are chained to prevent destruction. In 1934, a wind speed of 231 miles an hour was clocked at the mountain’s observatory, a Northern Hemisphere record that still stands.

Wind buffeted Chris and Keith as they began their attempt on Mount Washington’s northern face. “Ready, Chris?” Keith called. He stood a distance from her, on a wall of steep ice.

Unanchored but roped to Keith, Chris looked down, double-checking the toe straps on her crampons. “Yeah, one sec. I wanna make sure I’ve got these tightened.” A blast of air trapped her words, carrying them away before reaching Keith. Leaning over, she caught a glimpse of the rope, furiously uncoiling. Reacting immediately, Chris jumped hard on her ice axes with her body to arrest Keith’s slide. He had been caught by the gust, knocked off balance, and was plunging down the ice in a near free fall. Digging into the ice with her crampons and tools, Chris stopped his fall, hoping the axes would hold.