"Well, I have really got myself in a 'fix' this time...", I think to myself as I cling precariously to my wet spot on the narrow, upsloping ledge - a ledge formed when a large flake of Sinister's black rock separated away from the main summit rock by an inch or two.

I am all alone as I try to climb the first peak of my 'extended, south-to-north Ptarmigan Traverse. Ordinarily Sinister Peak - a satellite of Dome Peak in Washington's North Cascades, isn't climbed as part of the well established 'Ptarmigan Traverse'. I am doing it solo, although it wasn't planned that way, but this is how it worked out.

I am securing myself on the ledge with the fingers of my left hand locked tightly into this crack. They are getting very cold but I am crouching under the overhanging snow with no room to remove my day pack and get my gloves. "I should have put them in my jacket pockets before I stepped off the serac onto the ledge", I think, "but too late now."

I will also need my ice axe to chop through the overhang but it is secured to my inaccessible pack! "Drat, I am scared to try retreating back down the ledge (it's always harder to go down than up when climbing)... if I fall into the 'black moat' below me they

will never find me." So I inch further up the ledge and feel something loose next to the crack. With my right hand I reach in and pull out a dagger-shaped rock about ten inches long.

"This is an answer to my prayer", as I grasp the dagger firmly and begin to carve away at the snow above me. It is slow work as I have to stop frequently to let my fingers warm up.

"Do I have enough snow carved away to allow standing up?" I try, first getting my feet under me - my right foot has been hanging over the edge of the ledge - and releasing my protective left hand finger lock on the crack. I have transferred my 'protection' from my left hand to my right hand with the 'dagger' stabbed into the snow overhang.

Even with this much snow carved away I feel my body being pushed dangerously outward over the moat... "Gotta carve more snow off the overhang!", as I retreat and again secure my position with my left hand finger lock.

I carve away for another ten minutes and am finally able to stand and plunge my 'dagger' deep into the snow above me. Now if I kick a step into the recently carved snow will it hold my weight?

More to come...