Page 17 of Chasing the Wild
We'd been moving for maybe five minutes—though time had lost all meaning in the chaos—when I felt Amanda stumble beside me.
"Are you okay?" I shouted.
"Can't—can't breathe—" Her voice was barely audible over the wind.
I stopped, trying to help her, but the group was still moving. In the whiteout conditions, stopping for even a second meant losing sight of everyone else.
"Shane!" I shouted. "Amanda's in trouble!"
But my voice was swallowed by the storm. The group was pulling away, shadows disappearing into white.
"Go," Amanda gasped. "Go—catch up—"
"I'm not leaving you—"
"Please—I just need—need a second—"
I looked ahead. The group was disappearing. Looked at Amanda, whose face was gray with lack of oxygen, whose legs were shaking.
She needed help. Needed someone to stay with her.
But if I stayed, we'd both be lost.
"Shane!”
For a heart-stopping moment, I thought no one had heard. The shadows ahead kept moving, kept disappearing into the storm.
Then I saw Shane’s massive form turn back, saw him coming toward us.
"She can't breathe!" I shouted when he reached us.
Shane scooped Amanda up without hesitation, carrying her like she weighed nothing. "Stay right behind me," he ordered. "Don't lose sight of me for even a second."
I nodded and grabbed onto his pack, determined not to let go.
We moved forward, following the path the group had taken. But in the chaos of the storm, with visibility at zero, I couldn't tell if we were still on the trail or if we'd veered off.
Shane was focused entirely on Amanda, checking her breathing, moving as fast as he could while carrying her weight.
I held onto his pack and tried not to panic.
Then my boot caught on something hidden under the snow—a root, a rock, something—and I went down hard. My hands lost their grip on Shane's pack. Pain shot through my knee where I'd landed on something solid.
"Shane!" I shouted, scrambling to get up.
But he was already gone. Disappeared into the white chaos ahead, focused on getting Amanda to safety.
I was alone in a whiteout blizzard on a mountain I didn't know.
"Shane, Neil!" I screamed. "Kevin! Anyone!"
But the wind swallowed my voice. The storm was so loud, so disorienting, that I couldn't tell which direction I'd come from or which way I should go. This was how people died—separated from their group, lost in conditions that killed in minutes.
Stop. Think. Use what he taught you.
Okay. Okay. I needed to find shelter. I couldn't navigate in these conditions, which meant I needed to get out of the wind before hypothermia set in. I pulled out my compass with shaking hands, but it was useless. I didn't know which direction I should be going anyway. My GPS watch showed nothing but static.
I tried to stay calm, trying to remember Sam's lessons. Find a natural windbreak. Find protection. Don't keep wandering aimlessly.
