Year of the Cock Expedition - Queen Maud Land, Antarctica

As I traversed a small ledge under a hollow spider web of cracks, two large, haulbag-sized flakes, balanced so perfectly that a mild wind could set them loose, stood in my way. They had to go. On a good stance with bomber gear, I barely touched one of the flakes. They both went crashing towards the ground. Before I knew anything more than the thrill of a wall trundle, the scariest moment of my life on rock erupted.

A chain reaction started as large, pool-table shaped flakes, part of splitter cracks in a dihedral corner about 10 feet to the right of me, exploded and roared and let go of their connection to the wall. Before I could really digest the intensity and adrenaline, a truck-sized mass of granite let loose and continued the domino effect, followed by more thunder of destruction and falling stone. 

At this point my eyes were closed and I tucked into fetal position. The wall and earth shook and screamed like a giant beast. The terror of the sound was worse than the sight of the chaos - it sounded like the wall was crumbling down. I was frozen in fear and hopelessness.

After the end-of-the-world explosions bellowed across the ice cap and boomed off nearby walls, I heard only ringing and the crackle of stones trickling down. Loose stones rattled down from somewhere above. I stayed curled into a ball and took the stoning like an accused witch tied to a post.

When it was all over, what seemed like seconds and yet hours later, there was silence, a small chilly breeze, bright blue sky, and a happy sun gleaming. My body completely shut down, I felt like I was in a straitjacket. I could not move. I gasped for breath as if I had been underwater for three minutes and had just made it up for air. It was the most unbelievable moment of my life. 

I rappelled the route shivering from fear and shock, tears slowly seeping out of my eyes and freezing onto my face as I thought of my daughter. I crawled into my bag, drank the rest of the warm liquid in my thermos, bit off a few chunks of hard salami, and tried to sleep. I lay shaking for hours. In my mind I could still hear the crashing, the roar.