Two hours later, the expedition team had hiked to an elevation of 11,650 feet. Strung out single file on a narrow dirt path skirting the midsection of a towering treeless ridge, they had clear views as far to the north and east as the eye could see. To their immediate left was a scrubland that rose sharply toward the deep blue sky and to the right it fell away at a dizzying rate. Sarah kept her head down and focused on the trail as much as possible, though from time to time she peered across the chasm at the tan gossamer trail lines that were etched into the distant ridge.
Since the team had left Namche, the temperature had dropped into the low fifties and the steady north wind blew unimpeded by the lack of trees that had given up on the narrow ridge they had traveled alongside an hour ag
