The Emperor Face of Mt. Robson in water color and ink. AAC member Craig Muderlak
Mountain Sense
By Sierra McGivney
Usually, when Balin Miller encounters spindrift ice climbing, he puts his head down, waits for 10 to 20 seconds, and continues climbing. Halfway up the face of the Andromeda Strain, a line on the northeast face of Mount Andromeda in Alberta, Canada, Miller and his climbing partner Adrien Costa encountered an intense spindrift funnel. Thirty seconds passed, then one minute, two. After five minutes, he thought, f*** this, and downclimbed.
Miller was persistent, but the spindrift was relentless. They wasted a couple of hours try- ing to go around.