http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html Backpacker magazine continued to be good to me, and I was learning to piggyback climbing onto assignments, whether to Baffin Island, Europe, or finally, Tibet. Mark was an old Tibet hand, with many explorations under his belt, most of them clandestine. He’d invited me every few years to join him while he tried to sneak through Tibet illegally, usually on his way to Burma, where he wanted to make the first ascent of the country’s highest peak without the knowledge of its vicious rulers. He was arrested numerous times, had snuck out of jail at least once, and his stories terrified me. Being savaged by nature was one thing; being brutalized by prison guards was quite another. I resisted Mark’s overtures until 2002, when he broke down and agreed to let us get trekking permits to reach a range of virgin mountains, though it was still illegal to climb them. Mark knew these mountains merely from an American pilots’ map (with 1,000-foot contour line intervals) and having passed nearby years earlier while hiding under a tarp on the back of a truck that he’d bribed his way onto. (Fourth paragraph of Chapter 17, The Eiger Obsession.) http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#0 34991a9c-7d0e-40fc-a4ec-2b492decf621 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2002_NamlaKarpo_49wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2002_NamlaKarpo_49wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2002_NamlaKarpo_49wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Mark Jenkins pointing to our quarry in eastern Tibet in 2002. We reached 17,000 feet on the left skyline of Namla Karpo (a.k.a. Jieqinnalagabu, 20,720 ft/6,316m), before retreating in fear of avalanches.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#1 c88cdef2-a933-49a4-89b0-c8fffe6c9768 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2000_KonradCallanques_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2000_KonradCallanques_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2000_KonradCallanques_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Konrad Kirch in his beloved Calanques, circa 2000.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#2 a590c12b-915f-48c0-8ccf-53559525fe8f http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_ZugspitzeHut_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_ZugspitzeHut_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_ZugspitzeHut_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Siena and Adele with Joëlle and Konrad Kirch near the summit of the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain, in 2003.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#3 fd8da0f5-9f4c-47a2-8b4c-330df7ce5ec0 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_ZugspitzeSummit_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_ZugspitzeSummit_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_ZugspitzeSummit_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Siena, age 7, at the summit of the Zugspitze, which is reached via an extremely short via ferrata from the nearby lifts and restaurants.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#4 2239fcdb-088d-48ac-bd00-737b4b6efe25 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MontBlancSouthFace_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MontBlancSouthFace_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MontBlancSouthFace_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">This superb photo of the great south flank of Mont Blanc is by Olivier Masselot.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#5 78948e95-b5fc-42e8-965e-6d76dd9baf43 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MontBlancSface_bwRLwb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MontBlancSface_bwRLwb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MontBlancSface_bwRLwb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">From Dawn to Decadence takes the direct line up the Innominata Arête. The dotted line is Jenkins’ and my approach in 2003; Clyma and Payne and I took the glacier on the left in 2004. The route lines to the left and right are Dad’s from the 1960s.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#6 81113309-7514-4c53-af96-3b7ba6a8a1a3 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBhutBeforeStorm_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBhutBeforeStorm_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBhutBeforeStorm_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Mark Jenkins at the upper Eccles bivouac hut on Mont Blanc in 2003. Note how dry the rocks are before the storm.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#7 611dfc6b-3988-4dec-ac76-0dfbc9e0b178 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBdihedral029wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBdihedral029wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBdihedral029wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">The big dihedral on From Dawn to Decadence. Note the 10-foot icicle in the first roof, about 120 feet up. Mark knocked this off with his shoulder.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#8 a942b7ca-3d4a-4fb8-970b-d3885daca3b5 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MB-dihedral2_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MB-dihedral2_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MB-dihedral2_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Mark on the second roof of the big dihedral during our reconnaissance day before the storm in 2003.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#9 c86a988d-43fd-456b-baad-becdfcee648d http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_rimeInHut_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_rimeInHut_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_rimeInHut_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Rime inside the hut during the first morning of the storm.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#10 e2de1d09-dacd-4d95-b3de-0078d4018a57 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_HutDrinkSnow_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_HutDrinkSnow_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_HutDrinkSnow_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Mark in the more spacious lower Eccles bivouac hut.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#11 e2ce4c5c-5823-4f2b-bb6c-684566d389d5 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBstorm_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBstorm_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBstorm_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">The view from the hut door during the storm. This was all bare rock beforehand.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#12 9a4c948e-cdee-4a90-8316-f85dab2c65b8 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2005_MBinnominataEntire_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2005_MBinnominataEntire_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2005_MBinnominataEntire_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">The Innominata Arête on the afternoon that the storm cleared. The big dihedral is clearly visible in the upper middle of the photo. The giant pillar to the right is the Central Pillar of Frêney.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#13 1842d82e-127c-470d-84c3-19e6f936bc3f http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBdawnRappel_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBdawnRappel_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBdawnRappel_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Rappelling the Innominata Arête at dawn after we mistakenly decided a new storm was blowing in.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#14 21263eda-3146-4ef5-97e4-9a0eafbf98f9 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBsnowClimbMJ_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBsnowClimbMJ_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2003_MBsnowClimbMJ_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Mark climbing back up after freeing the ropes during our descent.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#15 159c8675-9ff6-490c-b353-c2b5d6b081e5 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_EcclesJulieAnn_50wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_EcclesJulieAnn_50wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_EcclesJulieAnn_50wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Julie-Ann Clyma in the lower Eccles bivouac hut in 2004.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#16 be8e1c2d-af96-40e2-8ad9-89bd91e40189 http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MBdarkClimb_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MBdarkClimb_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MBdarkClimb_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Julie-Ann with Roger Payne above gaining the Innominata Arête from the glacier in 2004.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#17 2649cd56-fddf-4716-977d-8996e66b9fcc http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MontBlancD2Droof51wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MontBlancD2Droof51wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MontBlancD2Droof51wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Me on the big roof in the great dihedral of From Dawn to Decadence after chipping out the double icicles in 2004. Photo by Roger Payne.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#18 486dd3ce-813d-49a3-b85b-c4a13a0c90eb http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MB-BivouacCouple_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MB-BivouacCouple_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MB-BivouacCouple_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Our lovely bivouac ledge for three at about 14,500 feet, which actually looks relatively spacious here since one can’t tell that Julie-Ann’s feet are dangling off the edge.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#19 cecafb5a-0aa1-4b34-87a8-533c2cb13bbc http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MBsummitkiss_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MBsummitkiss_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MBsummitkiss_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">Roger and Julie-Ann celebrating at the summit of Mont Blanc, 15,700 feet.</p></div></div> http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17.html#20 9dfea37b-c8d5-4392-9658-920d06c4477b http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MBgondolasTourRonde_wb/thumb.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MBgondolasTourRonde_wb/micro.jpg http://www.johnharlin.net/JohnHarlin.net/Eiger_Obsession/Pages/Chapter_17_files/Media/2004_MBgondolasTourRonde_wb/mip.jpg <div style="padding: 0px; " class="image_cluster_layout_style_default_External_0_0"><div class="image_cluster_layout_style_default"><p style="padding-bottom: 0pt; padding-top: 0pt; " class="paragraph_style_2">The Tour Ronde on the left and Mont Blanc in sunshine during our gondola crossing back to Italy from the Cosmique Hut in 2004. We had traversed Mont Blanc along the skyline the day before.</p></div></div>