Another flashback...Winter, a few years back, retreating from third of the way up El Capitan, in Yosemite Valley, California. It was a great climb, though we didn't climb the entire 3,200-foot cliff. High winds and a rain of large ice chunks breaking away from the summit (the white specks you see in the photo, by Chiu Liang Kuo) drove us down. One of these ice chunks, the size of a suitcase, exploded on a ledge just three feet to my left...not very nice. There are plenty of dangers in the Arctic Winter, but at least I don't have to worry about ice blocks hurtling out of the sky!